Rockies have quantity of quality picks
Colorado relishing four selections in top 60 of 2005 draft
By Thomas Harding / MLB.com

DENVER -- Any assessment of the Colorado Rockies would conclude that they need good players, and that sums up the club's First-Year Player Draft philosophy.
The Rockies will pick seventh overall on Tuesday. Early speculation is that they will pick Colorado native and University of Tennessee right-handed pitcher Luke Hochevar, although they'll have to gauge the difficulty in signing him in time to get him into the Minor League system before the summer ends.

Outfielder Cameron Maybin of T.C. Roberson High School in Arden, N.C., could intrigue the Rockies if he falls below earlier projections and is available on June 7, the first day of the draft.

But whether the club picks Hochevar, Maybin or someone else -- it operates under the "best player available" philosophy and took high school infielders Ian Stewart and Chris Nelson in the last two drafts -- the Rockies' thinking goes much deeper than the top pick.

In addition to their initial pick, the Rockies received a two "sandwich" picks after the first round as compensation for third baseman Vinny Castilla signing as a free agent with Washington. The early draft position keeps them in line for more high-profile picks.


As I said in the Cubs forum, the MLB draft is so unpredictable. Therefore I really don't care a ton about talking about it before hand. It is good to note we have a few good high picks. After the draft we can really start to talk about these players.