If Major League Baseball's draft were weighed purely by 2008 performance, there is little doubt Florida State University catcher Buster Posey would be the No. 1 overall pick: He has burst from middle-of-the-pack status a year ago to hit as well as anyone in the NCAA and handle his position comparably.

Run-up to
MLB's Draft 2008

Monday: Beckham's tools raw but impressive

Tuesday: Alvarez would be 'honored' if Pirates pick him

Today: It is not often that a superior athlete goes behind the plate. But that is where Buster Posey, a converted shortstop and pitcher, has excelled at Florida State.

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He just might be the No. 1 pick, too. The Tampa Bay Rays, who own that slot tomorrow, are thought to have him and Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham on their final list.

The Pirates?

They pick second, and they also have Posey on their final list, along with Beckham and Vanderbilt University third baseman Pedro Alvarez, their presumed favorite. But there has been scant indication that he ranks higher than third on their list.

From Posey's perspective, as one might guess for someone who has climbed so quickly, being taken at No. 2 would be just fine.

"It would be very exciting," Posey said yesterday from Tallahassee, Fla. "I would love to have the opportunity to play for the Pirates organization."

There are, to be sure, plenty of reasons why teams might love to have Posey, a 21-year-old, 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior with a smooth, swift stroke from the right side.

Consider his numbers this season, which range from outstanding to outrageous: He has a .468 average, with 24 home runs and 86 RBIs. He had 20 doubles and four triples, meaning 44 percent of all his hits went for extra bases. He struck out only 23 times in 233 at-bats, while walking 53 times to sustain a .572 on-base percentage.

Moreover, his performance -- as well as what observers describe as an intense competitive edge -- rose with the level of competition.

When Florida State was stunned Friday by Bucknell in the opener of the NCAA regional in Tallahassee, the Seminoles needed to go undefeated in the rest of the tournament to advance. And they did exactly that, winning four in a row with Posey going 9 for 19 with five home runs and 13 RBIs.

By the time the regional ended Monday with a victory against Tulane, it might have been difficult to determine which was more flattering for Posey, being a unanimous choice as tournament MVP or being walked three times in that final game.

Small wonder that Mike Martin Jr., a Florida State assistant, was quoted as saying of Posey, "He's Jason Varitek behind the plate, and he's Derek Jeter as a hitter."

The Pirates have been watching all this, notably Darren Mazeroski, their northern Florida scout and son of Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski.

"With the bat, he's probably performed to the top level of anyone in the country," general manager Neal Huntington said. "Coming into this year, I don't think scouts would have given him a middle-of-the-lineup type of bat, and I'm not sure they give him that going forward. But he has performed well."

Certainly, the power is new: Posey hit four home runs as a freshman, three as a sophomore.

His catching has been no less impressive in its progress, particularly since he is a relative novice.

He was a shortstop and closer for his high school team in Leesburg, Ga., but Florida State moved him behind the plate in early 2007 because of a positional need, and his athleticism served him well enough that, after just one year, he became the first sophomore nominated for the Johnny Bench Award as the NCAA's best catcher.

The Pirates sound impressed, too.

"Buster has taken to catching really well," Huntington said. "He brings great presence to the position, and he can really throw."

Huntington and Posey met two months ago, and each seemed to come away impressed with the other.

"We talked about the future goals of the organization and their determination to compete and win," Posey said.

Florida State will open its NCAA super-regional round 2 p.m. Friday against Wichita State in Tallahassee. The game that will be televised by ESPN2.

NOTES -- The Pirates, officially, still have San Diego State University pitcher Brian Matusz in the running for their first-round pick, but he is seen as being on the fringe. ... Baseball America's latest rankings: 1. Alvarez. 2. Matusz. 3. Beckham. 4. Posey.