In a couple of hours (5 p.m. local time) the Major League Baseball draft will start. It’s doubtful if anyone in Okaloosa County will be watching the draft more closely than the family of Crestview and current Louisiana State star Blake Dean.

Most people know that Dean has done it all at the amateur baseball level. As a teen he played for Team USA as a member of the junior national squad. He was an all-state player for the Bulldogs, and has been tabbed All-Southeastern Conference and All-America while at LSU.

It surprised many people when Dean wasn’t drafted three years ago after his senior year at CHS. The surprise of 2006 will turn to shock in 2009 if Dean’s name isn’t called sometime between the time the draft starts today and ends Thursday. From what I’ve seen on draft boards and heard through the grapevine, Dean will go somewhere between the latter part of the second round to the middle of the fourth round.

All of that is speculation. It’s not until his name is called that a player can be sure he’ll be drafted at all.

Having covered the Northwest Florida State baseball program for the better part of seven years I’ve seen more than my share of kids I thought were “can’t miss,” end up not being taken. And then there are some, such as a former infielder at Chipola circa 2003, that I never gave a second thought about, who is now in his third or fourth season as a big league catcher. That player? Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It seems nobody can really figure out the draft. I’ve been told I’m a pretty good baseball man, but I’m often left scratching my head about why someone wasn’t drafted. I’m not the only one. It seems in talking with high school and junior college coaches that they are often as baffled by the draft drama as the average fan.

The thing is the baseball draft is as much about projecting the potential of players as it is what they have done so far in their amateur career.

Someone who is deemed a greater athlete might be considered to project better than a player that has put up big numbers at every level, but might be a couple of steps slower, or as having a weaker arm.

Hopefully, for Dean’s sake, the draft drama won’t last two long. Maybe he’ll go to bed tonight knowing his professional baseball future will start in the St. Louis organization or perhaps with the Cleveland Indians.

If Dean isn’t drafted today, surely he’ll be drafted early tomorrow, but with the draft one never knows. So left the drama unfold.

And Good Luck Blake!

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