You don't have to explain to Eddie Bane what a crapshoot baseball's amateur draft can be.
He can tell you firsthand about the time the Minnesota Twins spent their first-round pick on a surefire left-hander who went 40-4 with a 1.64 earned-run average, a school-record 505 strikeouts and a perfect game at Arizona State. Kid was so good, his first start after college came before 45,000 at the Metrodome, where he held the Kansas City Royals to a run and three hits in seven innings.
Pretty good pick, huh?
Well, not really, because Eddie Bane would make only 24 more starts in the major leagues before washing out at age 24 with a 7-13 career record.
"You're going to miss," says Bane -- yes, that Bane -- who is now in his sixth season as director of scouting for the Angels. "You've got to take those kinds of chances."
Especially this year. Bane and the Angels, who have had only one first-round pick in the last four drafts, will make five selections before the second round this time around, giving them a much-needed chance to strengthen a thinning farm system. The Dodgers, conversely, will have only one pick (at No. 36) in the first 55 selections of the three-day, 50-round draft, which begins June 9.
Although the Angels have gone for pitching in the last five drafts, the team is looking for power this year, making 17-year-old outfielder Mike Trout of New Jersey a possible first-round pick. Trout batted .521 with 15 homers in 71 at-bats as a senior.
The Angels are also believed to be interested in Texas prep Everett Williams, La Verne Bonita High shortstop Jiovanni Mier and Santa Monica High left-hander Tyler Skaggs.
"It's a great opportunity," Bane says of the Angels' picks. "We're never going to pick in the top 10 that I can foresee because we're so good at the big league level. So this is a unique deal. We're looking forward to it."
The draft order is determined by a team's performance the previous season with teams picking in reverse order of their finish. So the Washington Nationals, the worst team in baseball last season, will have the first choice. That also explains why the Angels, with one losing season in Mike Scioscia's nine seasons as manager, have made only one pick in the top half of the draft since 2002.
