Who's No. 1?
Not even the Phils agree on who they'll pick
Posted: Monday June 1, 1998 9:43 AM
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One thing is for certain, the Phillies will not be drafting J.D. Drew with the first pick (AP) |
NEW YORK (CNN/SI) -- The baseball draft has a new name but the same sticky questions it did a year ago: What team will select J.D. Drew, and will
that club be able and willing to sign him?
The Philadelphia Phillies will have the first pick in the
selection process, which has been renamed the "first-year
player" draft instead of the "amateur" draft, a change made at
least in part due to the legal battle generated by Drew and
agent Scott Boras.
Whatever the formal name, representatives of the 30 teams will
gather Tuesday via conference call with Major League Baseball
officials in New York and begin the process of predicting who
will be the next Kerry Wood or Darin Erstad, two recent
selections that made rapid rises to the majors.
The lack of a consensus No. 1 pick further complicates an
already unusual draft. The top prospects include former Florida
State outfielder Drew, Miami of Florida third baseman Pat
Burrell, high school infielder Sean Burroughs and pitchers Mark
Mulder of Michigan State, Ryan Mills of Arizona State and Chad
Hutchinson and Jeff Austin of Stanford.
"There is no clear-cut favorite," said Phillies general manager
Ed Wade.
Ask four scouting directors, and there likely will be four
different opinions on who should be selected first.
The Phillies thought they had the next star in Drew and selected
him with the second pick in the 1997 draft. But Drew and Boras
demanded a contract in the $11-12 million range and were unable
to reach a deal by the May 25 deadline, making Drew eligible
for the draft once again.
Drew has played in the independent Northern League in each of
the last two years in an attempt to revoke his amateur status.
Baseball then changed the name of the draft and altered other
rules in order to keep players such as Drew eligible for the
process. An arbitrator recently ruled in baseball's favor, a
move that in effect preserved the draft.
Predicting future success for a baseball player is often more
difficult than it is for basketball and football, but no team is
disputing the potential for Drew, who tore up pitching at the
collegiate level, hitting .472 with 28 homers, 94 RBI and 30
stolen bases for Florida State.
The Phillies offered Drew a package worth a guaranteed $3
million over four years, but he and Boras turned that down and
will start the process all over again with another team.
While the Phillies have the first selection this year, they can
not draft Drew without his permission. The Oakland Athletics
have the second pick and will be followed by the Chicago Cubs,
Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Athletics, a team with serious financial concerns, may not
have the resources or the willingness to meet the demands of
Boras and Drew.
Signability again will play a role in deciding who is selected.
One of the reasons Detroit took pitcher Matt Anderson with the
first pick last season was the well-founded belief it would be
easier to sign him rather than Drew.
The 6-foot-4 Burrell led the nation in batting in 1996 and was
the College World Series Most Valuable Player that year. There
are concerns, however, over Burrell's lingering back injury.
Scouts like Mulder because of his control. He walked only 19
batters and struck out 113 over 84 2-3 innings.
Burroughs, the top high school prospect, is the son of former
major leaguer Jeff Burroughs. The third baseman from Wilson HS
in Long Beach, California gained national attention with an
outstanding performance in the 1993 Little League World Series.
Stanford's Jeff Austin was named College Player of the Year by Baseball America after going 12-4 with a 3.11 ERA (AP) | |
Right-handers Hutchinson and Austin were both selected in 1995
before deciding to attend Stanford. Hutchinson turned down an
offer from the Atlanta Braves to become a quarterback for the
Cardinal and could be a first-round pick in either baseball or
the NFL. Austin was named College Player of the Year by Baseball
America after going 12-4 with a 3.11 ERA in 18 outings.
Because players rarely advance directly to the major leagues,
teams usually draft according to potential talent rather than
immediate needs. The last player to move directly from the draft
to the majors was Washington State's John Olerud to the Toronto
Blue Jays in 1989.
The order is determined by the club's reverse order of finish in
their respective leagues at the close of the previous season.
The National League selects first in even-numbered years.
Minnesota will draft sixth and will be followed by Cincinnati,
Toronto, San Diego and Texas.
Expansion Tampa Bay and Arizona are among the teams that
surrendered their first-round picks due to free-agent signings.
San Francisco, which lost Roberto Hernandez, has the Devil Rays'
choice (29th overall) and Kansas City will select 30th after
losing Jay Bell to the Diamondbacks.
Houston surrendered a first-round pick (19th overall) to San
Francisco for the signing of Doug Henry, but picked up
Colorado's selection (17th) for losing Darryl Kile.
While the draft had unlimited selections in previous years --
Mike Piazza was a 62nd-round pick in 1988 -- this draft will end
after 50 rounds.
Only first-round selections are announced Tuesday. There is no
television coverage of the draft and the remainder of the picks
are released in alphabetical order approximately one week later.
In that fashion, the order of selection remains a mystery and
prevents agents from asking for more money and colleges from
offering scholarships to highly drafted high school players.
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