Rays/MLB

Pitchers receive bulk of Rays' first-day attention

By BOB PUTNAM
Published June 7, 2006

The Devil Rays know pitching is a valuable commodity. That's why they continued to stack their deck with aces.

After selecting Long Beach State third baseman Evan Longoria in the first round (third overall), the Rays took 11 pitchers with their next 17 picks.

Last year, the Rays drafted 32 pitchers with their 50 selections.

"We got a lot of pitchers," executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "It was a numbers game, and we were aggressive in drafting (pitchers) where we thought they should be."

The first one the Rays took Tuesday was University of San Diego right-hander Josh Butler in the second round.

Butler was at his computer scrolling through picks when he found out he was selected.

"I was a little surprised because I didn't talk to the Rays that much before the draft," Butler said. "But I'm happy where I'm going."

Butler started the season strong, helping San Diego sweep Texas. But he wore down and his strikeouts dropped. He contributed that to overwork, resulting in tendinitis.

"I just needed to tweak my arm a little bit and give it time to heal," Butler said. "I missed three or four starts, but I feel like I'm now 100 percent."

In the third round, the Rays took Nick Fuller, a right-hander from Kell High in Marietta, Ga.

"I had a pretty good idea I was going there," Fuller said. "That was where I wanted to go all along. I feel like I have a pretty good shot of moving up quickly through that organization."

Butler and Fuller both said they wanted to sign quickly.

"There's no need to hold out," Butler said. "I want to get down there and play as soon as possible."

Signability, however, could be an issue with two other high school pitchers selected: Vero Beach right-hander Alex Cobb (fourth round) and Forrest (Tenn.) left-hander Michael Minor (13th round). Both have signed to play in college: Cobb at Clemson, Minor at Vanderbilt.

"We did our homework and still feel like we can get these guys in here," Friedman said.

The other pitchers chosen were James Madison's Ryan Reid (seventh round), Tomball (Tex.) High's Tyree Hayes (eighth round), Winthrop's Lewis Rollins (11th round), Hooks (Tex.) High's Antwonie Hubbard (12th round), Parkview (Ga.) High's Kyeong Kang (15th round), California State University's Ryan Owen (16th round) and Young Harris Community College's James Brown (18th round).

There was one prized pitcher from the Devil Rays' draft class of 2005 who got away.

Right-hander Bryan Morris was picked in the third round as a draft-and-follow, a rule that allows clubs to maintain exclusive signing rights to a drafted player until a week before the next draft, if that player attends junior college.

Morris, from Tullahoma (Tenn.) High, sought $1.4-million to sign last June. The Rays didn't work out a deal, so Morris pitched for nearby Motlow (Tenn.) Junior College, where his father, Ricky, is an assistant coach.

Tuesday, Morris was picked in the first round (26th overall) by the Dodgers.

The Rays are expected to load up on arms again today. The focus, however, will turn to four-year college pitchers and junior college standouts who can be draft-and-follows.

[Last modified June 7, 2006, 02:00:17]