Take a peek at the pre-Draft scouting report that pegged Eric Hosmer as a future shutdown closer

Before Eric Hosmer was a Gold Glove Award-winning, World Series title-holding first baseman with a great head of hair, he was just another amateur baseball player dreaming of Major League glory. Except, unlike you or me, he had enough talent to get drafted third overall by the Royals in 2008.

Three months before the 2008 Draft, the Major League Scouting Bureau compiled a report on an 18-year-old Hosmer's on-field ability. The uptake: Very good. Very, very good. Graded on the 2-8 scouting scale, where a '5' is average, a '6' is a starter and '7' is All-Star caliber, Hosmer easily stood out against his peers.

(view full size)

It's a pretty spot-on report. While the 30-35 home run power hasn't shown up yet, Hosmer has become an even better defender than was expected. All in all, this is a player that was pegged with above average future potential, and he's lived up to it.

What you may not realize is that Eric Hosmer was very nearly drafted as a pitching prospect. That's right, the same scout also caught Hosmer on the mound about a month after the above hitting report.

That's right, we were a mere twist of fate away from a Royals bullpen that included Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Luke Hochevar, Joakim Soria and Eric Hosmer.

(view full size)

While he lacked the secondary stuff that signals a big league starter, his mid-90s sinking fastball was enough for the lanky lefty to be tagged with "Big upside," as a potential set-up man or closer. That's right, we were a mere twist of fate away from a Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Luke Hochevar, Joakim Soria and Eric Hosmer shutdown bullpen.

At the very least we can now hope to see this coming out to pitch during the next Royals blowout. How 'bout it, Ned?

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. Click here to view original GIF