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PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

BIG EXPECTATIONS. Josh Fields, pitching for the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the NCAA playoffs, is the first-round pick of the Seattle Mariners.

Josh Fields trip planner: en route to Tacoma?

First-round picks don’t always take the shortest path to the majors

By Karen Westeen

What do Ken Griffey, Jr., Roger Salkeld, Marc Newfield, Ron Villone, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Jose Cruz, Jr., Gil Meche, Ryan Anderson, Matt Thornton, Ryan Christianson, Michael Garciaparra, Adam Jones, and Jeff Clement have in common? All are Mariners’ first-round draft picks who played with the Rainiers.

Only Clement is still in the Mariners’ system. The others have been lost to trades, injuries, or signed with other organizations when their Mariner contracts were up. All but Anderson, Christianson and Garciaparra played at least a few games at the major-league level.    

Brandon Morrow, the first round pick in 2007, jumped straight from Single-A to the bigs. Last year’s first selection in the draft was LHP Phillippe Aumont from Quebec. Aumont participated in the Arizona Instructional League last fall. This season he is with Single-A Wisconsin, where he has a 4-4 record, 2.62 ERA. Appearing in 12 games, Aumont has made six starts, striking out 43 in 44 2/3 innings. He also has two saves.

As the above list demonstrates, the draft is an imperfect animal, and the trip from collegiate baseball to actual success with the team that drafts a player is often full of detours and dead ends. When they do get to the majors, players taken in the first round are rarely the greatest thing since Griffey and Rodriguez, the players taken first overall in their respective drafts – 1987 and 1993.

So now all eyes will be on Josh Fields, the Mariner’s 2008 first-round pick from the University of Georgia, drafted with the 20th pick overall. Vice President of Scouting Bob Fontaine said, “Josh is a power pitcher and we are confident he will be able to contribute to the success of our organization very quickly. We have seen him pitch on numerous occasions. He has a power arm, a power curve ball and he is a good competitor.”

Fields was selected the 2008 Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and helped take the Bulldogs to this year’s College World Series finals against Fresno State, which Georgia lost, two games to one. During the CWS (elimination rounds and finals) Fields pitched 4 2/3 innings, with a record of two saves and an ERA of 7.71. The high ERA reflects one bad outing against Stanford. Fields was 18-for-18 in save situations during the 2008 season.

Fields, following his selection by the Mariners, said, “I am just super excited for the opportunity to play and I am just so pumped to see what the Lord has done for me the past year.  It’s an honor to be chosen by the Seattle Mariners as their first pick.”

Seattle has had great expectations for some of its other first-rounders, especially those players selected first overall. Al Chambers (OF-1979), Mike Moore (RHP-1981) and Calvin Jones (RHP-1984) played a combined total of 11 seasons with the Ms, and their names do not come immediately to mind when fans think of memorable players.

On the other hand, Varitek, Meche, and, to a lesser degree, Villone have been big time players but for other teams. (Meche did have four winning seasons with Seattle before going to Kansas City in 2007.) The jury is still out on Jones, who was traded to Baltimore in February 2008.

The expectations, from those who know him, are high for Fields. David Perno was Fields’ coach during all four years at Georgia. He called Fields “very special” and said he could play anywhere on the field, but excelled at pitching in the closer role. “He’s definitely a power pitcher who mows down batters with a fast ball (in the 92-95 mph range, topping out at 98 mph) combined with a breaking ball.”

“Josh is a very coachable athlete,” Perno added.

When Fields first got to the U of G, Perno did not know if he would do better as a pitcher or a position player. Perno said Fields’ great hand speed enabled him to be a good hitter. He is six feet tall, weighs 180 pounds and has a whip-like delivery. Perno compared him to Astros’ pitcher Roy Oswalt as far as pitching style is concerned.

Fields has earned many honors in the past few months. He was named as a First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper following his senior season. He was also honored as the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year for 2008 after recording 16 saves with a 2-2 record and a 2.27 ERA (8 ER, 31.2 IP). This season he struck out 56, while limiting opponents to a .112 average in 30 regular season games.

Fields ranks second in the NCAA in saves this year with a school record of 16. He also holds the SEC career saves record with 39, seventh-most in NCAA history. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association presented him with its National Stopper of the Year award.

Each year’s draft begins long before the two-day period in early June, when scouts and front office personnel gather in each team’s “war room” to choose players to stock their farm teams. This year the Mariners chose 50 players. As of July 21, they have signed 34, not including their first-round pick.

Scouting reports come in for months, even years, from all over the country. Players are evaluated as to how they would fit into the system. Of course the player the Mariners figured to take first could be gone by the time their turn comes. Then it is back to plan B or maybe C.

Once the picking is done, the signing process begins. Signing bonuses are involved, and if players (and their agents and lawyers) do not feel the initial offers are what the players deserve, this process can go on for months. Or at least it could until last year, when the signing period was shortened from 11 months (May of the following year) to less than three (August 15.) Sometimes the two sides cannot come to terms; then the player can choose not to sign, return to school, and go back into the draft the following year.

Assuming the signing process is completed soon, Fields would probably head to Peoria, Ariz., for fall instructional league. After that, his career rests on his right arm and from all that has been said about him, it should take him a long way, and likely through Tacoma.

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