The 2007 Major League Baseball Draft will be held Thursday and Friday at the Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, and a couple of local players could be selected.

Starr’s Mill shortstop Brian Fletcher, an Auburn signee and son of Scott Fletcher, who played 15 seasons in the majors, is the top prospect in the area.

Fletcher hit .412 with eight home runs and 25 RBI, a .598 on-base percentage and a .838 slugging percentage in his senior season. He was a 2006 East Coast Pro Showcase participant in Wilmington, N.C., and a Perfect Game National Showcase participant in Fayetteville, Ark.

Last week, Fletcher, along with 35 to 40 of the top prospects in the country, attended a pre-draft workout hosted by the Atlanta Braves. He also worked out for the Yankees last week.
“Brian Fletcher is the top prospect locally,” said Lloyd Thompson, a part-time Braves scout and owner of Home Plate, a baseball and softball indoor instructional facility in Peachtree City. “I expect him go in the top 10 rounds if he’s signable.”

“Brian has some of the quickest hands I’ve ever seen,” Starr’s Mill coach Brent Moseley. “He hits the ball like a guy who’s 6-4, 240. The biggest thing he has going for him is that he can really hit with a wooden bat.”

Another local player who attended the Braves’ workout was East Coweta pitcher Rico Reid. The hard-throwing right-hander was one of the primary reasons the Indians reached the state quarterfinals this year.

Reid went 6-4 with a 1.94 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched in his senior season. He consistently hit the upper 80’s with his fastball — he topped out at 92-93 mph this season, according to East Coweta coach Franklin Deloach — and has a breaking ball with movement.
“Rico is a very, very good pitcher, obviously,” Deloach said. “He’ll give any team a chance to win a baseball game. He’s definitely a difference-maker.”

Fayette County right-hander David Buchanan could get drafted late. He arguably was the top pitcher in the county this season. He went 4-3 with a 2.73 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 48.2 innings in his senior season.
Buchanan’s pitching repertoire includes a 90-plus-mph fastball, a curveball and a changeup.

“If David wasn’t the best pitcher in the county this year, he was one of the best,” Fayette coach Glenn Lindsey said. “He just had the misfortune of playing on a bad team.”
Another local pitcher who has a shot at getting drafted is Northgate’s big left-hander, Will Smith.

The draft will be televised for the first time ever. ESPN2 will carry the draft live from 2-6 p.m. on Thursday. The Tampa Bay Devils Rays have the first overall selection.

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