March 16, 2006

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Round 10

DREAM DRAFT

BA staffers try their hand at team-building

Teams J.J. Cooper John Manuel Aaron Fitt Chris Kline Alan Schwarz Will Lingo Will Kimmey Alan Matthews Matt Meyers Jim Callis

By The Numbers

Vote For Your Favorite Draft

Here's how Baseball America's Dream Draft broke down, both pick by pick and team by team. Remember that the entire player universe was available, and each staff member's only charge was to take what he deemed the best 10 players available, regardless of position. As with any BA project, we did it with an eye to the future.

Each participant was also asked to analyze the draft. In the round by round picks, staffers wrote about their thoughts as they made each of their picks. For the team by team, we took a broader look at our own drafts as well as everyone else's. (Numbers in parentheses are players' ages as of April 1.)

We'd like your opinions as well. Read up on our analysis, then do your own and cast your ballot for the person who you thought had the best draft.

ROUND 9
Pick	Team	Player, Position	Skinny
61.	J.J. Cooper	Joel Guzman, of	OK, so he's now an outfielder. His power potential is still scary.
62.	Aaron Fitt	Rafael Furcal, ss	A shortstop with speed, defense and ability to get on base. There's a reason he got that big contract.
83.	Alan Schwarz	Jon Papelbon, rhp	He might not be a frontline starter this year, but he has the fastball and makeup to be one soon.
84.	Will Kimmey	Pedro Martinez, rhp	Maybe he'll dominate for just three more years. We'll take the present value this late.
85.	Matt Meyers	Lastings Milledge, of	Even if he does not become a great hitter he'll be a strong center fielder.
86.	John Manuel	Carlos Quentin, of	A warrior who will at least be a solid-average right fielder for a long time.
87.	Chris Kline	Huston Street, rhp	Wasn't thinking closer going into this draft, but Street available at this point was too much of a bargain.
88.	Will Lingo	Jorge Cantu, 2b	If he didn't play in Tampa Bay, Cantu would have a higher profile and wouldn't have been available this late.
89.	Alan Matthews	Nick Markakis, of	Taking the guy with the highest ceiling was paramount this late, which made Markakis a cinch pick.
90.	Jim Callis	Brett Myers, rhp	Really came into his own last year and the best is yet to come.

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