Major League Baseball: 2005 Draft Class the Best Ever?

The 2005 Major League Baseball draft has not waited very long to leave its mark on the Major Leagues. Just pick players from the first round and you have yourself an all-star team.

The first round of the 2005 draft has already produced a great number of major league players.

Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Clay Buchholz.

How's that for a first round?

Justin Upton is in his first full season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and already people are tagging him as the next major superstar. He currently is hitting .333 with 11 extra-base hits, including five home runs. Drafted number one overall as a shortstop, Upton is finding a home for himself in right field.

Alex Gordon is making great strides in his second season for the Kansas City Royals. His first season was full of struggles, hitting just .247, but he showed that the Royals third base position should be locked down for years to come. Gordon is currently batting .310 through his first 23 games.

Ryan Zimmerman made the first appearance in the majors of any of the 2005 draft picks. The Washington Nationals picked him with the fourth overall pick in June of '05 and Zimmerman appeared in 20 games by season's end. In those 20 games he gave Nationals' fans a glimpse of what was to come. Ryan has averaged 175 hits, 22 home runs, and 100 RBIs in his first two full seasons.

Milwaukee followed Washington and selected Ryan Braun with the fifth pick. Braun made his appearance on the scene last season, appearing in 113 games. In his shortened season, Braun hit .324 with 34 home runs on his way to picking up the National League Rookie of the Year award. Milwaukee fans have a lot to look forward to with Braun in the middle of the order with fellow youngster Prince Fielder.

Troy Tulowitzki really made a name for himself during the Colorado Rockies' wild ride through the playoffs to the World Series. People began to realize how good the slick-fielding shortstop really was. While his .291 batting average may not stand out, his .987 fielding percentage in 155 games definitely will, especially at a position as difficult to play as shortstop.

Jacoby Ellsbury is just now starting to make a name for himself in Red Sox Nation. Ellsbury got his first taste of the big leagues late last season and made the most of the opportunity, hitting .353 in 33 games. He left such a good impression on the Red Sox front office that all the talk this off-season was about trading centerfield Coco Crisp to make room for Ellsbury. He's getting his chance this season, anchoring the explosive Boston line up.

Nobody in this draft made a better first impression than Clay Buchholz did. In just his second major league start, Buchholz tossed a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles, tying Wilson Alvarez for the second quickest no-hitter by a major league pitcher. Buchholz only started three games for Boston last season, but has become a part of the 2008 starting rotation that is dealing with all kinds of early-season injuries.

I'd say any team that was fortunate enough to draft one of these players has a star in the making.

But those aren't the only players to come out of the first round of the 2005 MLB draft.

Cameron Maybin (Marlins), Jay Bruce (Reds), Mike Pelfrey (Mets), Matt Garza (Rays), Colby Rasmus (Cardinals), Travis Buck (Athletics), and Luke Hochevar (Royals) are all players that have either started making a name for themselves with their respective club, or are on the cusp of being called up from the minor leagues to make their Major League debuts.

The 2005 draft has already started making its mark on Major League Baseball, but in ten years we may be looking back at this draft and saying it was the best ever.