I did my annual mock-draft column for the magazine. It hasn't been posted
online yet, but here's a sneak preview of my selections:



         2006 Mock Draft (Picking 19th Each Round)

Round  Player           Pos     School              Real Life Draft
1st    Brett Sinkbeil   rhp     Missouri State      Fla, 1st
2nd    Wes Hodges        3b     Georgia Tech        Cle, 2nd
3rd    Matt Sulentic     of     HS/Texas            Oak, 3rd
4th    Ryan Morris      lhp     HS/North Carolina   Cle, 4th
5th    Chris Archer     rhp     HS/North Carolina   Cle, 5th
6th    Zach Daeges       of     Creighton           Bos, 6th
7th    Luke Gorsett      of     Nebraska            StL, 7th
8th    Kent Gerst        of     HS/Missouri         CWS, 8th
9th    Kyle Gibson      rhp     HS/Indiana          Phi, 36th
10th   Justin Woodall   lhp/of  HS/Mississippi      Mets, 19th

For the record, below are my three previous drafts. I signed all of the
players except for Luke Hochevar in 2005 and Myron Leslie in 2003.


         2005 Mock Draft (Picking 17th Each Round)

Round  Player           Pos     School              Real Life Draft
1st    Luke Hochevar    rhp     Tennessee           LA, s.1st
S.1st  Michael Bowden   rhp     HS/Illinois         Bos, s.1st
2nd    Bryan Morris     rhp     HS/Tennessee        TB, 3rd
3rd    Jordan Schafer    of     HS/Florida          Atl, 3rd
4th    Seth Johnston     ss     Texas               SD, 5th
5th    Aaron Cunningham  of     Everett (Wash.) CC  CWS, 6th
6th    Jeremy Slayden    of     Georgia Tech        Phi, 8th
7th    Paul Phillips    rhp     Oakland             Tor, 9th
8th    Daniel McCutchen rhp     Oklahoma            StL, 12th
9th    Mark Wagner        c     UC Irvine           Bos, 9th
10th   Mike Bell         3b     Grayson County      Mil, 15th
                                (Texas) CC
Note: Supplemental first-rounder was 35th overall choice.


         2004 Mock Draft (Picking 21st Each Round)

Round  Player           Pos     School              Real Life Draft
1st    Jon Zeringue      of     Louisiana State     Ari, 2nd
2nd    Erik Cordier     rhp     HS/Wisconsin        KC, 2nd
3rd    Andrew Dobies    lhp     Virginia            Bos, 3rd
4th    Mike Butia        of     James Madison       Cle, 5th
5th    Brad McCann       3b     Clemson             Fla, 6th
6th    Jason Quarles    rhp     Southern            Pit, 7th
7th    Grant Plumley     ss     Oral Roberts        NYY, 9th
8th    Richard Mercado    c     Arizona             Ari, 12th
9th    Jeff Gogal       lhp     Montclair State(NJ) Fla, 12th
10th   Micah Owings     rhp     Georgia Tech        ChC, 19th


         2003 Mock Draft (Picking 31st Each Round)

Round   Player          Pos     School              Real Life Draft
1st     Ryan Sweeney     of     HS/Iowa             CWS, 2nd
2nd     Tony Richie       c     Florida State       ChC, 4th
3rd     Cliff Davis     rhp     HS/Mississippi      Hou, 6th
4th     Justin James    rhp     Missouri            Tor, 5th
5th     Clark Girardeau rhp     South Alabama       SD, 7th
6th     Andy D'Alessio   1b     HS/Florida          Cin, 10th
7th     Matt Maniscalco  ss     Mississippi State   TB, 8th
8th     Chris Durbin     of     Baylor              Bos, 10th
9th     Michael Brown    of     William & Mary      Det, 13th
10th    Myron Leslie     ss     South Florida       Phi, 11th


There won't be an Ask BA next week because my two sons and I are making our
annual pilgrimage to the College World Series. I'm picking Cal State
Fullerton to defeat Clemson in the finals of the bracket that begins play
Friday, and Georgia to beat out Oregon State on the other side. Though my
heart says Bulldogs (I did graduate from Georgia), the Titans are my choice
to win the national championship.




         What do you think of Preston Mattingly? Was he an overreach by
         the Dodgers with the 31st pick? What do you think of their draft
         as a whole?

         J.V. Siegel
         Sherman Oaks, Calif.


We dealt with the most surprising choice in the first round, Clemson
outfielder Tyler Colvin to the Cubs at No. 13, in last week's Ask BA. So it's
only natural to take a look at Mattingly, the biggest shocker in the
supplemental first round.

You'd think if a player were a three-sport star and the son of a former
batting champion and MVP, he'd draw a lot of attention from scouts. But
Mattingly flew under the radar at Evansville (Ind.) Central High for most of
the spring, with only a few clubs seriously following him.

His profile is somewhat unusual, which is why he didn't make our Top 200
Prospects list His bat speed, power and advanced approach all bode well for his future at
the plate, but he may have a hard time finding a defensive home. His footwork
and actions aren't very smooth and his arm grades out as slightly below
average. He definitely will have to move from shortstop, with third base or
center field likely to be his next stop. But he may not fit at those spots
either, which might make him nothing more than a very athletic left fielder
or first baseman.

Rumors about where Mattingly would get picked were swirling in the days
before the draft. There was talk that the Yankees, for whom his father Don
once starred and currently serves as batting coach, had orders from owner
George Steinbrenner to make sure they didn't let Preston wind up in the
clutches of another team. There was speculation that the Red Sox would try to
stick it to their bitter rivals by grabbing Mattingly with one of the four
picks they held before the second round.

Los Angeles, which took Mattingly at No. 31, didn't choose again until No.
113 in the fourth round. So much like the Cubs (who didn't have choices
between the first and fifth rounds) with Colvin, the Dodgers had to take
Mattingly where they did to ensure they'd get him. That's just the nature of
the baseball draft, which doesn't allow trades. There's a good chance the
Yankees would have popped Mattingly at No. 41 had he been available.

All in all, it was a typical draft for scouting director Logan White, who
isn't afraid to invest in high school talent. Los Angeles had two first-round
picks and landed two pitchers with huge ceilings in Texas prep lefthander
Clayton Kershaw (the best high school prospect in the draft) at No. 7 and
Motlow State (Tenn.) CC righty Bryan Morris at No. 26. If the Tigers had
taken Kershaw right ahead of the Dodgers, they might have selected Morris
with the seventh pick.

After that, the Dodgers' next choice was high school first baseman Kyle Orr,
Canada's top prospect this year, who offers a ton of lefthanded power. Los
Angeles also has its usual share of intriguing later-round possibilities in
California high school shortstop Nick Akins (13th round), North Carolina prep
righty Alex White (14th), Florida high school righty Billy Bullock (20th) and
Texas A&M righty Jordan Chambless (43rd).





         What's the deal with Red Sox second-base prospect Jeff Natale?
         He ripped up low Class A pitching, hitting .343/.487/.571 with
         10 homers, 41 RBIs and twice as many walks (41) as strikeouts
         (20) in 50 games. Is he a real prospect?

         Paul Montanari
         Newington, Conn.


Natale has raked since signing with Boston as a 32nd-round pick last summer.
He broke into pro ball by going 20-for-41 (.488) at short-season Lowell, then
moved up to low Class A Greenville and hit .338/.463/.544 with an excellent
BB-K ratio (28-14). He returned to Greenville this year and lit up the South
Atlantic League before moving up to high Class A Wilmington. He has cooled
off in his first 13 games with the Blue Rocks (.231/.333/.423) but still is
controlling the strike zone (11 walks, eight whiffs).

Natale never hit less than .412 in any of his four seasons at NCAA Division
III Trinity (Conn.), where he set numerous school records, including his .446
career batting average. Natale also played hockey for three seasons at
Trinity.

His bat makes him a prospect, as his uncanny hand-eye coordination allows him
to make consistent hard contact. He's similar to fellow Red Sox infield
prospect Dustin Pedroia in that regard. But there are two strikes against
Natale. One is that he's already 23, so while his performance has been
impressive he also has been quite old for his leagues. Two is that he's a
below-average defender, and if he can't cut it at second base he doesn't
profile well at another position.





         Mets fans have been hearing about Mike Pelfrey and, to a lesser
         extent, Philip Humber as potential future stars in the New York
         rotation. However, I've noticed that a prospect I'm not familiar
         with, lefthander Evan MacLane, has put up very impressive Triple-A
         numbers this year and was rated by Baseball America as having the
         best changeup and control among Mets prospects. What can you tell
         me about him and his ceiling?

         Josh Marker
         San Francisco


Like Natale, MacLane has a humble draft pedigree. A 25th-round pick out of
Feather River (Calif.) CC in 2003, he went 23-10, 2.74 in the lower minors
and reached Double-A in mid-2005. He seemed to hit a wall there, going 3-2,
4.14 in nine starts. MacLane didn't fare any better in six starts at
Binghamton this year, but he has been lights-out since arriving at Triple-A
Norfolk, posting a 6-0, 2.11 mark in seven starts. His other numbers (47
innings, 42 hits, 14 walks, 33 strikeouts) aren't as impressive as his record.

MacLane, 23, is a typical finesse lefthander. His mid-80s fastball and his
curveball are fringy pitches most notable for his ability to locate them in
the strike zone. His changeup is his best offering and he has little margin
for error. He'll probably pitch in the majors but I don't see a huge ceiling.
He looks more like a middle reliever than a starter to me.