by Alan Schwarz
March 16, 2006

DREAM DRAFT

BA staffers try their hand at team-building

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

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

Pick	Player, Position, Organization (Age as of April 1, 2006)
1.	David Wright, 3b, Mets (23)
2.	Carlos Zambrano, rhp, Cubs (24)
3.	Roy Oswalt, rhp, Astros (28)
4.	Brandon Wood, ss, Angels (20)
5.	Carlos Beltran, of, Mets (28)
6.	Marcus Giles, 2b, Braves (27)
7.	Travis Hafner, 1b/dh, Indians (28)
8.	Francisco Rodriguez, rhp, Angels (24)
9.	Jonathan Papelbon, rhp, Red Sox (25)
10.	Carlos Delgado, 1b, Mets (33)

My Philosophy: After 15 years at Baseball America, I've grown wary of projecting prospects too far. So I leaned toward known, all-around commodities young enough to contribute through 2010 but ready enough to contribute right away.

My Draft: This exercise has confirmed my genius, and I expect several major league owners to immediately can their GMs and hire me. You know my number, fellas.

Best Draft: Matt Meyers' group is strong, with Jason Bay and Adam Dunn on the experienced side, Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder young, and Bobby Crosby in the middle.

Worst Draft: Despite my tremendous respect for Jim Callis' baseball knowledge, I think he went with too many prospects for his position players in this draft. Too much can still go wrong.

Best Pick: Lastings Milledge in the ninth round (by Meyers), if only because he could be valuable trade bait if you couldn't find a place for him on your big league roster. Also Miguel Tejada by J.J. Cooper. He still has three or four excellent years left.

Worst Pick: Brian McCann to lead off the fifth round (by Cooper). No way he'll be more valuable than 30 players drafted after him.

He Wasn't Taken?: I'm an OBP guy, but Jose Reyes still will be one of the most 100 valuable players in baseball through 2011. Way too much room for improvement to be snubbed.

That Hurt: I would have taken Adam Dunn in the fourth round had Meyers not snagged him because I felt that he offered too much offensive value to pass up.