Colorado Rockies 2008 Draft: The drafting of Charlie Blackmon

For the remainder of the draft, the Colorado Rockies only had one player that they drafted to make it to the majors with them.

That was infielder Thomas Field. Field was drafted in the 24th round and signed. He made it to the majors for the Rockies and played in 18 games in parts of two seasons with them. Overall, he played in 47 games and parts of four seasons in the majors with an rWAR of -0.2.

In the 48th round of the draft, the Rockies drafted a shortstop by the name of Austin Nola, who didn’t sign. He eventually by the Marlins in the 5th round of the draft in 2012. He later became a catcher for the Padres and Mariners, where he is today.

Some of the best players who were drafted and signed in the third round or later in the 2008 Draft include:

• RHP Craig Kimbrel, 3rd round, 96th overall, Braves (eight-time All-Star, five top 10 finishes in MVP voting, active saves leader entering 2022, 21.9 rWAR)
• SS Brandon Crawford, 4th round, 117th overall, Giants (three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger Award winner, one top five NL MVP finish, 30.1 rWAR)
• SS Dee Strange-Gordon, 4th round, 127th overall, Dodgers (two-time All-Star, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger winner, 2015 NL batting title
• C Alex Avila, 5th round, 163rd overall, Tigers (one-time All-Star, Silver Slugger winner, 17.1 rWAR)
• INF Josh Harrison, 6th round, 191st overall, Cubs (two-time All-Star, one top 10 MVP finish, 16.2 rWAR)
• LHP Will Smith, 7th round, 229th overall, Angels (one-time All-Star, 6.5 rWAR)
• RHP Nathan Eovaldi, 11th round, 337th overall, Dodgers (one-time All-Star, one top 5 finish in Cy Young voting)

Next up in our draft series is the 2009 Draft, when the Rockies and more than a dozen other MLB teams passed up on the best players of the 2010s but the Rockies drafted a future All-Star in the 2nd round.