Wednesday, June 02, 1999
Preps at head of draft class
Hamilton, Beckett should be picked 1-2
USA Today
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays appear poised to use the first pick in the major league draft today to take high school outfielder Josh Hamilton.
He's a 6-foot-4 left-handed hitter compared favorably to New York Yankees star Paul O'Neill and Oakland's American League Rookie of the Year, Ben Grieve.
“I'm very impressed by the skills and the makeup of this young man,” Devil Rays General Manager Chuck LaMar said after a scouting trip to his home of Raleigh, N.C.
He made no comment Tuesday about his choice, nor about Hamilton's size-19 feet, a source of amused conversation about a draft in which scouts look at every aspect of a prospect's ability, makeup, build and dollar demands.
Hamilton, 18, is also an accomplished hard-throwing pitcher, but the finest pitching prospect is Josh Beckett of Spring (Texas) High. The Devil Rays included him in their final deliberations. He is expected to go to the Florida Marlins, who pick second.
Either Josh will be the first high school player picked first overall since Seattle selected future star Alex Rodriguez in 1993.
The Devil Rays and Marlins give the draft a Florida flavor likely to be enhanced by three or four first-round picks coming from Florida schools.
That could be surpassed by an unusual player source, the Pacific Northwest. High school teammates, outfielders B.J. Garbe and Jason Cooper of Moses Lake, Wash., could lead a landslide of high picks from their region.
The draft is top-heavy in pitchers from high school and college ranks. One team said 40 of its 50 top-rated prospects are pitchers.
In short supply are quality collegians at every-day positions, especially catchers and middle infielders. It's possible the only collegiate first-rounder who is not a pitcher will be Southern Cal catcher Eric Munson. He is a left-handed power hitter who is expected to be taken third overall by Detroit.
The draft will be conducted by conference call, starting at 1 p.m. It will not be televised.
Because the drafted players are rarely known nationally — even the biggest college stars — the proceedings lack the glamour of the NFL and NBA drafts.
The draft will last two or three days, depending on how long it takes 30 teams to work through 50 rounds.
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