BaseballAmerica.com: Draft: Beau Mills, 3b, Indians

Beau Mills, 3b, Indians

June 7, 2007

B-T: L-R.
Ht: 6-3. Wt.: 205.
Birthdate: 8/15/1986.
School: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).
Class: Jr.
Previously Drafted: Red Sox, 44th round, 2004.

THROUGH THE YEARS IN BASEBALL AMERICA

2007

• Mills ended his career by hitting three home runs to lead Lewis-Clark State to the Avista-NAIA World Series championship.
• Adam Foster wrote a feature on Mills' move from Fresno State to Lewis-Clark State, and on Mills' big league hopes.
• Mills set a school record with eight RBIs in a 15-3 victory.
• In a College Top 25 Chat, John Manuel discussed why Mills' stock has continued to rise this year.
• Mills ranked 15th in our midseason report on the draft's top 30 prospects

. He ranked eighth among all college prospects

.
• In an early draft chat

, John Manuel said that Mills' value will have to come almost entirely from his bat due to his lack of a defensive position.
• Mills was No. 25 on our Top 50 College Junior Draft Prospects list

.
• In our early draft preview, Mills came it at 26th on our College Top 100 Prospects list

. We rated him among the top power prospects

among college players.
• Mills made our preseason third-team All-America team

. Mills was also our NAIA preseason Player of the Year

and our top prospect from the NAIA.

2006

• While at Fresno State, Mills was the Western Athletic Conference's preseason Player of the Year

.
• Mills ranked seventh in our Top 50 Sophomores list

.
• After playing in the Alaska League during the summer, we named Mills the league's top prospect

2005

• As a freshman, Mills recorded his fourth multi-homer game for Fresno State.
• Mills made our freshman All-America team.

2004

• Mills checked in at No. 20 on our list of draft prospects from Northern California

SCOUTING REPORT

Scouts are trained to focus on the process--the how--rather than the results. In Mills' case, though, the results must be mentioned. After two years at Fresno State when he hit 36 home runs, Mills transferred to NAIA Lewis-Clark State. Fresno State suspended him due to academic shortcomings in 2006, and Mills decided to join LCSC after playing for coach Ed Cheff in the summer in the Alaska League. He led the league in home runs (seven) and RBIs (33). The son of ex-big leaguer Brad Mills--now the Red Sox' bench coach--has proceeded to dominate inferior competition. He hit his school-record 31st home run in LCSC's 54th game, and his on-base plus slugging percentage was approaching 1.600. Mills generates well-above-average power thanks to a leveraged, balanced swing and excellent strength; the ball jumps off his bat to all fields. Defense is another matter. A shoulder injury limited him to DH last summer, and Mills' arm is still a bit tight (leading to more DH appearances) and grades as below-average. He works hard at his defense, and his hands and footwork could make him a fringe-average third baseman eventually, though most scouts believe he'll be below-average. His bat should play at first base, but it would play even better at third. In a year with few impact college bats, Mills stands out and figures to go high, no matter which infield corner he plays.

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