Well the draft doesn't start until 2:00 but the Rays have already announced their first. With the first pick in the 2008 Draft, the Tampa Bay Rays select Tim Beckham. Beckham is highly touted high school shortstop from Georgia. MLB.com quoted the Rays scouting director, R. J. Harrison saying:
"a really good player at a premium position...Middle of the field player, very good athlete, an advanced bat...Has a real good awareness on the field. He plays the game with a great deal of enthusiasm. And then when you spend time with him away from the field, he's the same guy. He's a fun guy to be around."
Over at Baseball Digest Daily, they have found Beckham's batting numbers from this past year, and they are amazing. In 78 AB, he has 39 hits, 40 runs, 9 2B, 5 HR, 31 RBI's and 2 SB. These numbers might be different than others that will be more readily available on the internet over the next few days because they are his batting stats with two games left in the season. Even with that, those are some amazing numbers.
Other notable number 1 draft picks the Rays have made in recent years are Josh Hamilton (High School), Delmon Young (High School), and David Price (Vanderbelt).