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Jun 8, 2006 7:00 AM

WASHINGTON - The 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was the
beginning of a new era for the Washington Nationals.


It was symbolic of the change from a small-market team to a big-market team.
More importantly, it represented a major philosophical change signifying that
the organization will be run in a first-class manner and built the right way:
from the bottom-up.

Our philosophy in the draft was simple. We wanted the highest ceiling
players. We wanted starting pitching and middle-of-the-order impact bats who
can also play defense. We feel with our first five selections we accomplished
this goal.

I saw Chris Marrero, our first pick, on four different occasions. During
spring training, Director of Player Personnel Bob Boone and Scouting Director
Dana Brown saw him play. Afterwards, they told me not to waste my time to see
Marrero because he’d go in the first five picks. They compared his bat to
that of the Marlins’ Miguel Cabrera. I told them you never know what can
happen with the draft because of injury, signability or a poor season.

Marrero slipped to No. 15 because he played with a hamstring strain which led
to a below-level performance. But, when healthy, he hit four home runs in the
postseason to help lead his team to the state title. All of our scouts
projected him as a future .280, 30-home run and 100-RBI guy.

The selection of pitcher Colton Willems, our second pick in the first round,
drew loud applause from our War Room. Our top pitching evaluators, including
Brown, former Major League pitching coach Spin Williams and cross-checker
Paul Tinnell, were especially thrilled. They felt he was a sleeper with the
upside to someday become the best pitcher taken. He has a clean delivery,
throws 91-97 mph with a plus breaking ball. The ability to locate his
fastball in the strike zone separated him from other pitchers.

In the second round, our third overall selection, Sean Black, was very close
on our board to Willems. He’s another high ceiling right-handed starting
pitcher. His fastball was consistently around 92-94 mph and he projects to
have even more velocity as he matures. Both his fastball and curveball will
be power pitches. He is also very athletic.

Our fourth selection and second pick in the second round was Stephen Englund
from Bellevue High in Washington. A year ago he was considered the best high
school hitter in the Area Code games out west. However, massive mechanical
changes led to a sub-par senior year. So he slipped to the second round. He
has well above average major league bat speed and also could develop into
another 30-homer, 100-RBI bat.

Our fifth selection and third round pick was Stephen King of Winter Park High
in Florida. His depth perception was the best of any player in the draft; his
makeup is tremendous as is his upside. Leg injuries and signability are the
only reasons he was available.

One player fans should closely monitor is third baseman Dustin Dickerson. He
informed all clubs he was going to Baylor University and did not want to be
selected. However, he too, was another first- or second-round talent, and,
well, you never know.

Now comes the most difficult and important part of the draft: signing the
players. Our assistant general manager, Tony Siegle, one of the most
respected negotiators in baseball, is in charge of negotiations. He has
already had several conversations with some of our top picks and will
continue over the next month.