FanHouse KeithLaw

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

One of the great things about baseball is that a hundred different people can have a hundred different opinions on one particular player. Go ahead and ask ten of your friends who the best player in baseball is, and you're likely to get five to 10 different answers.

Yet at the end of every season MLB hands out awards to players proclaiming them the best in a particular area. There's the Cy Young Award for pitchers, the Gold Gloves for defense, and of course, there's the MVP award that's handed out in each league to the player deemed to be the most valuable.

The problem with this, though, is that nobody is exactly sure what MVP means. We know it stands for Most Valuable Player, and we know that most means having more of something than any other. We also know that player means guy who wears a uniform and swings a bat or throws a ball.

When it comes to the word valuable, though, there are a million different ways somebody can go when figuring out what it means. According to Webster's, valuable means "having monetary value" or "worth a good price." It can also mean "having desirable or esteemed characteristics or qualities" or being of "great use and service."

So it should be pretty easy, after all, all we have to do is find the guy who wears a uniform and swings a bat or throws a ball who has great monetary value at a good price, while having desirable or esteemed characteristics and is of great use and service.

So why the hell is it so hard to figure out who the MVP is?

Now that the exciting action of MLB's amateur draft has completed it's first round, it's time to take a look at our country's next millionaires. Here's a quick glance at the first round selections by the teams of the AL Central.

Kansas City Royals (3) Eric Hosmer, 1B, American Heritage (Fla) H.S.: Picking this early in the draft is nothing new for the Royals, as they've had a top six pick in six of the last seven drafts. They've spent a lot of those picks on position players, as they've only chosen one pitcher (Luke Hochevar) with their first pick in the last four years. Well, considering that the Royals currently have the lowest scoring offense in baseball, and have hit the least amount of home runs, it's no shock that they went after a player with a lot of power in his bat. It's been said the left-handed hitting Hosmer has more raw power than any other player taken in the first round, and he can use that power to go to the opposite field just as easily as pulling the ball. Some wonder if he'll be a first baseman in the Majors, though, as he does have a very strong throwing arm, and may eventually be moved to the outfield.

Chicago White Sox (8) Gordon Beckham, SS, Georgia: After all the trades Kenny Williams has made the last few seasons, the White Sox farm system has been left pretty bare, especially in the middle infield. That's why the Sox had to be ecstatic when Beckham fell to them at the 8th spot. Beckham can play both shortstop and second, though he'll probably stay at short, and he can swing the bat as well. He hit .307/.505/.781 for the Bulldogs this season, and according to ESPN's Keith Law, he'll be the best prospect in the White Sox organization the second he signs his contract. Considering that Orlando Cabrera doesn't plan on sticking around in Chicago after this season, and the team is never happy with Juan Uribe, it may not be very long before White Sox fans see Beckham at U.S. Cellular Field.

In an ESPN.com chat yesterday, Keith Law nonchalantly dropped a serious allegation about Vicente Padilla. The full chat is on accessible to Insider subscribers, but here's the relevant Q&A:

Ulises (Managua, Nicaragua): Keith, for two weeks I've been trying to get your thoughts on Vicente Padilla and Devern Hansack, but you won't answer me. :( Is any Nicaraguan player in your 100 prospect?

SportsNation Keith Law: I thought I answered that one a week ago, but maybe not. Padilla's got the stuff to be a #3, but his command isn't good and he has a drinking problem. Hansack's an extra guy ..."

Wait, what? That's it? I cut off the rest of his answer because it's strictly about Hansack with no explanation, no follow-up, no anything more about Padilla's drinking problem. Maybe that's all that needs to be said, but I'm surprised he just put that out there as a matter-of-fact.