Seeing guys like Kemp get drafted in the 6th round , Pujols in the 13th, Piazza in the 52nd, et al. and become All Stars got me thinking. If we go round by round, picking one player per round for the 25 man roster, what would we end up with. Surely the first couple rounds will be debatable, so let's start with round 25 and work our way forward and use the first couple rounds to fill in the holes with some real MLB talent! For the purposes of this exercise, I only included players who were drafted in that round and signed with an MLB club that year. This is not the Top 25 Players to Ever Be Drafted List. Rankings are boring and lead to endless, mindless debating that will never and can never reach a conclusion. This is simply to see if I could fill out an actual team by taking only one person from each of the first 25 rounds of the MLB Draft. The hardest rounds for me were rounds 6 and 16.

Bolded players are the ones I chose for the 25 man roster. Players that are struck-through were not signed after being drafted in that round.

Round 25: Mike Hargrove, Darren Daulton, Paul Lo Duca, Randy Wolf, Ryan Franklin, Michael Young
Round 24: Brian Wilson, Richie Sexson, Rich Aurilia, Jorge Posada, Jeromy Burnitz, Mark Grace

Round 23: Jeff Reardon, Mitch Webster, Howard Johnson, Brett Butler, Jason Varitek, Roy Oswalt, Ted Lilly, Ryan Franklin

Round 22: Jason Bay, Aaron Harang, Andy Pettitte, John Smoltz, Jeff Fassero, Jeff Nelson, Bill Lee, Freddie Patek

Round 21: Bruce Sutter, John Tudor, Eddie Guardado, Otis Nixon, Charlie O'Brien

Round 20: Jose Bautista, Cliff Lee, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, Jeff Kent, Brian Jordan, Jack McDowell, Vince Coleman, Tom Henke, Don Slaught, Ryan Sandberg, Glenn Hubbard, Gene Tenace

Round 19: Ron Cey, Kevin McReynolds, Don Mattingly, Bob Tewksbury, Bret Saberhagen, Placido Polanco, David Eckstein

Round 18: Lyle Overbay, Mike Cameron, Bobby Higginson, Chuck Knoblauch, Tim Salmon, Doug DeCinces, Ken Forsch

Round 17: Rick Honeycutt, Gary Redus, Kent Hrbek, Orel Hershiser, Bud Black, Kenny Lofton, Brian Giles, Mark Grudzielanek, Jermaine Dye, Russell Martin, Ian Kinsler

Round 16: James Shields, Mike Stanley, Terry Steinbach, Oil Can Boyd, Jim Eisenreich, Frank Viola, Tony Phillips, Dave Stewart, Buddy Bell, Steve Stone, Oscar Gamble,

Round 15: Ted Sizemore, Rick Dempsey, Mike Flanagan, Jason Thompson, Ernie Whitt, Dwayne Murphy, Bob Horner, Mark Langston, Jose Canseco, Chuck Finley, Jose Cruz Jr, Bill Mueller, Jeremy Guthrie, Jake Peavy

Round 14: Jamey Carroll, Keith Foulke, John Jaha, Charlie O' Brien, Bob Welch, Rick Honeycutt, Dave Parker, John Milner, Bruce Kison

Round 13: Darrell Evans, Jack Clark, Lenny Dykstra, Jeff Brantley, Rey Sanchez, Steve Finley, Paul Byrd, Jim Thome, Darin Erstad, Carl Pavano, Juan Pierre, Albert Pujols

Round 12: Joel Pineiro, Bobby Higginson, John Wetteland, John Smiley, Roger Clemens, Dave Magadan, Johnny Ray, Bump Wills, Jim Gantner, Jay Howell, Mike Caldwell, Bill North, Nolan Ryan

Round 11: Jim Barr, Eric Soderholm, Chris Speier, Al Bumbry, Ben Oglivie, Bill Madlock, Scott Sanderson, Andre Dawson, Chili Davis, Doug Drabek, Kevin Seitzer, Steve Finley, Mike Mussina, Trevor Hoffman, Jeff Cirillo, Joe Randa, Mark Grudzielanek, Casey Blake, Craig Counsell, Kevin Millwood, Dan Uggla

Round 10: Howie Kendrick, Marlon Byrd, Doug Davis, Mike Sweeney, Rusty Greer, Brady Anderson, Walt Weiss, Jimmy Key, Greg Harris, Steve Braun, Tom Seaver*

Round 9: Ken Forsch, Doyle Alexander, Rich Gossage, Bob Stanley, Jesse Barfield, Charlie Leibrandt, Fred McGriff, Mark McLemore, Tom Browning, Terry Steinbach, Jeff Montgomery, Jay Buhner, Kevin Tapani, Jon Lieber, Keithe Foulke, Mark Teixeira

Round 8: Kevin Youkilis, Brandon Webb, Dontrelle Willis, Cliff Lee, AJ Burnett, Jason Schmidt, Derek Lowe, Brad Radke, Steve Traschel, Tim Wakefield, Jody Reed, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Eric Davis, Tim Wallach, Alvin Davis, Mike Boddicker, Mike Krukow, Jim Sundberg, Phil Garner, Joe Ferguson, Davey Lopes, Charlie Hough

Round 7: Willie Randolph, Mike Flanagan, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, Willie McGee, Von Hayes, Don Slaught, Terry Pendleton, Erik Hanson, Reggie Sanders, Jim Edmonds, LaTroy Hawkins, Casey Blake, Matt Holliday

Round 6: Matt Kemp, Shane Victorino, Tim Hudson, Joe Nathan, Mike Hampton, Troy Percival, Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, Jamie Moyer, Lance Johnson, Alvin Davis (x2), Devon White, Bill Doran, Mike Boddicker, Jim Sundberg, Bob Boone, Cecil Cooper, Sal Bando, Hal McRae

Round 5: Amos Otis, Dave Cash, Burt Hooten, Dwight Evans, Jim Barr, Randy Jones, Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris, Tim Raines, Dave Stieb, Greg Gagne, Mickey Tettleton, John Franco, Bill Wegman, BJ Surhoff, Pat Hentgen, John Valentin, Ryan Klesko, Ray Durham, Bret Boone, Nomar Garciaparra, Javier Vazquez, Michael Young, Ryan Howard

Round 4: Josh Johnson, Jonathan Papelbon, Cliff Lee, David Dejesus, Chone Figgins, Paul Byrd, Garrett Anderson, Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez, David Justice, Ron Gant, Randy Johnson, Will Clark, Paul O'Neill, Doug Drabek, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson, Graig Nettles, Ken Holtzman

Round 3: Andy Messersmith, Steve Garvey, Bert Blyleven, Fred Lynn, Rick Reuschel, Ron Guidry, Dennis Eckersley, Gary Carter, Eddie Murray, Carney Lansford, Tony Gwynn, Sid Fernandez, David Cone, Jimmy Key, Ken Caminiti, Tino Martinez, Ray Lankford, Tim Salmon, John Olerud, Barry Zito, Grady Sizemore, Curtis Granderson

Comp 3rd: Wally Joyner

Round 2: Dustin Pedroia, Brian McCann, Jon Lester, Dan Haren, Carl Crawford, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Beltran, Troy Glaus, Scott Rolen, Todd Helton, Kevin Tapani, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Al Leiter, Dave Magadan, David Wells, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds, Mark Langston, Frank Viola, Cal Ripken, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Fred Lynn, George Brett, Mike Schmidt, Vida Blue, Jerry Reuss, Johnny Bench

Round 1: Rick Monday, Reggie Jackson, John Matlack, Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson, Darrell Porter, Frank Tanana, Jim Rice, Rick Rhoden, Chet Lemon, Robin Yount, Dave Winfield, Lonnie Smith, Dale Murphy, Lance Parrish, Willie Wilson, Rick Sutcliffe, Harold Baines, Paul Molitor, Bob Welch, Dave Henderson, Kirk Gibson, Andy Van Slyke, Tim Wallach, Darryl Strawberry, Dwighty Gooden, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Will Clark, Barry Larkin, BJ Surhoff, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Ken Griffey Jr, Craig Biggio, Robin Ventura, Brian Jordan, Frank Thomas, Chuck Knoblauch, Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Jason Kendall, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Todd Helton, Roy Halladay, JD Drew, JD Drew, Troy Glaus, Lance Berkman, CC Sabathia, Barry Zito, Chase Utley, Adrian Gonzalez, Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira, David Wright, Zach Greinke, Matt Cain, Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver, Troy Tulowitski, Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, Evan Longoria, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum

Comp 1st: Shawn Green

Teams may miss a lot with picks, but when they hit big, it's usually with a high pick. There are few surprise talents that slip passed everyone for more than a couple rounds. Maybe Baseball America is just playing the odds when they bump up guys based on draft pedigree. The hardest rounds for me were rounds 6 and 16. Also, looks like the 20th round is the choice round to take a flier on a guy you don't expect to sign. On to the roster!

Starting Lineup:

CF: Brett Butler - 23rd

3B: Wade Boggs - 7th

LF: Barry Bonds - 1st

1B: Albert Pujols - 13th

RF: Dave Parker - 14th

C: Posada - 24th

2B: Ryan Sandberg - 20th

SS: Ozzie Smith - 4th

SP: Nolan Ryan - 12th

SP: Greg Maddux - 2nd

SP: Orel Hershiser - 17th

SP: Bret Saberhagen - 19th

SP: James Shields - 16th

CL: Trevor Hoffman - 11th

RP: Dennis Eckersley - 3rd

RP: John Smoltz - 22nd

RP: Tom Gordon - 6th

LOOGY: Eddie Guardado - 21st

RP: Jake Peavy - 15th

1B/3B: Kevin Youkilis - 8th

OF: Mike Cameron - 18th

LH: Fred McGriff - 9th

RH: Mike Sweeney - 10th

Util: Michael Young - 5th

C: Darren Daulton: 25th

*Fuck Tom Seaver for not signing with the Dodgers in 1965 after they picked him in the 10th Round.