The Mariners "war room" for the 2002 First-Year Player Draft. (Dan Wartelle)

Seattle Mariners round-by-round picks

SEATTLE -- They call it the "war room" and it's the place where the future takes center stage.

A rectangular table, large enough to seat almost 20 people and several laptop computers, fills the middle of the room located on the fifth floor at SAFECO Field.

One of the walls in the room is filled with approximately 400 names that are broken down into regions, positions and ability levels. There is a list for right-handed and left-handed pitchers, catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops, left fielders, center fielders and right fielders.

There is no designated hitter's list.

Below each position are the following categories: Outstanding, Above Average, Average, and Below Average. Each name is code-colored. Green represents a high school player. Black signifies a college player. Blue is for a Junior College player and purple designates a fifth-year college player.

As the start of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft approaches, the Mariners' front office personnel -- from general manager Pat Gillick to director of scouting Frank Mattox to secretaries -- settle in for the fast-paced draft that will consume about five hours on Tuesday and approximately that much time on Wednesday.

		JUNE 4-5 | NEW YORK CITY Draft order | Rules | FAQ FULL COVERAGE: • Bullington goes first • Drafttracker • Complete Draft coverage Round-by-round audio Round 1 Rounds 2-5 Rounds 6-10 Rounds 11-15 Rounds 16-20 Rounds 21-22 Rounds 23-27 Rounds 28-32 Rounds 33-37 Rounds 38-42 Rounds 43-50

The majority of players selected during the two-day draft never will wear a MLB uniform. But every player drafted and the organization drafting him share the same dream of someday playing in the Major Leagues.

Almost five minutes before the draft begins, club president Chuck Armstrong comes into the room and welcomes everyone to, "The 2002 Draft, starring Frank Mattox."

Several minutes later, Armstrong leaves the room just as quietly as he enters.

At precisely 10 a.m., the 2002 First-Year Player Draft begins with a roll call. All 30 MLB teams are supposed to be connected to the conference call. A voice says, "Pirates" and there is a delay. Someone in the room has a ready quip - "Pirates pass", he says and everyone laughs.

"Pirates here," booms a voice from a speakerphone.

Another pause comes after "Tigers" was announced. Someone at MLB headquarters in New York City says the Detroit representative had been disconnected and contact was being re-established. A few seconds later, the roll call continued with the Tigers' rep present and accounted for. There are no more delays.

The Pirates, drafting first, select right-handed pitcher Bryan Bullington, which surprises no one.

It is quiet in the Mariners war room as the first round goes quickly.

Unlike the NFL and NBA drafts, where teams are "on the clock", the MLB draft pace is fast and furious. The average time between picks is measured in seconds, not minutes.

As Roger Jongewaard, the vice president of scouting and player development had said a week earlier, the Mariners wanted to use their high draft picks to select position players, preferably those with excellent run-producing potential.

Baseball America's Allan Simpson (MLB's version of Mel Kiper) had predicted how the first round of the draft would go. He was right on with Bullington being the first overall pick and nailed the No. 2 choice -- B.J. Upton, a shortstop from Greenbrier Christian High, regarded by the publication as the No. 1 prospect.

As the draft continued, there continued to be mostly silence from the Mariners' quiet war room.

The Mariners had to sweat out 27 picks before it was their turn. The noise level increased when the Arizona Diamondbacks selected shortstop Sergio Santos.

Faster than you could say "your turn", the Mariners selected John Mayberry Jr., the son of former MLB star John Mayberry Sr., who played for the Houston Astros (1968-71), Kansas City Royals (1972-77), Toronto Blue Jays (1978-82) and Yankees (1982).

Gillick, who acquired the elder Mayberry when he was the Blue Jays' GM, stepped out of the room and pumped his fist in obvious elation.

And Mattox was all smiles as he stepped outside the war room to talk about the organization's first-round draft choice.

"Right after the 20th or 21st pick, I said, 'OK, he's there, he's there," Mattox said. "I didn't want anything to happen at the last moment to cause a time out. When it got past 20, I had one guy in mind and that's the guy we got. I'm pretty happy."

	MARINERS 2002 DRAFT PICKS
	28	JOHN C MAYBERRY	1B	ROCKHURST HS
	69	JOSHUA D WOMACK	CF	CRAWFORD HS
	100	EDUARDO H MARTINEZ-ESTEVE	RF	WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN SCH
	130	RANDALL R FRYE	RHP	LAKE ORION HS
	160	KENDALL L BERGDALL	LHP	CIMARRON HS
	190	TROY P CATE	LHP	RICKS COL
	220	EVEL BASTIDA-MARTINEZ	2B	NO SCHOOL
	250	BRANDON R PERRY	LHP	GRAHAM HS
	280	TERRY E FORBES	RHP	AUBURN DRIVE HS
	310	BRIAN G STITT	RHP	INDIAN RIVER CC
	340	JARED R THOMAS	LHP	OAKLAND U
	370	MATTHEW M HAGEN	3B	LIBERTY U
	400	THOMAS A FULMER	RHP	THE CITADEL
	430	THEIBORH G ALMANZAR	C	BRONX CC
	460	GABRIEL SANCHEZ	3B	BRITO MIAMI PRIVATE SCHOO
	490	RYAN M LEAIST	RHP	NO SCHOOL
	520	COREY M HARRINGTON	SS	NEW MEXICO ST U
	550	EDWARD G HARRIS	CF	GEORGIA COLLEGE
	580	CHRISTOPHER A KROSKI	C	ST PETERSBURG JC
	610	DAVID C VIANE	RHP	OAKLAND U
	640	ERIC BLAKELEY	2B	INDIANA U
	670	ANDREW H BROWN	3B	RICE U
	700	TRAVIS G BUCK	SS	RICHLAND HS
	730	JOHNNIE C BASSHAM	LHP	GRAYSON COUNTY JC
	760	CORY T VANDERHOOK	C	EDISON HS
	790	DAVID BERNAT	RHP	SOUTH MIAMI HS
	820	ROYCE DICKERSON	CF	KALAMAZOO CENTRAL HS
	850	VANCE A HALL	LHP	ALLDERDICE HS
	880	MICHAEL D NESBITT	OF	LOS ANGELES PIERCE JC
	910	THOMAS J BOHN	CF	BELLEVUE COL
	940	CLAYTON E STEWART	RHP	SAN JACINTO COL NORTH
	970	DANE I AWANA	LHP	WAIANAE HS
	1000	KILE A PATRICK	RHP	APOPKA HS
	1030	BRADY M BURRILL	C	MICHIGAN ST U
	1060	PATRICK C PFEIFFER	RHP	BRENTWOOD SCHOOL
	1090	JERMAINE M SMITH	SS	KING HS
	1120	BRADLEY A ROSE	RHP	WALTERS ST CC
	1150	DEANDRE GREEN	CF	ENCINAL HS
	1180	BRYAN A LAHAIR	RF	ST PETERSBURG JC
	1210	JOSHUA COOPER	RHP	PUEBLO SOUTH HS
	1240	ANDREW T EDWARDS	RHP	FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL U
	1270	BRANDON O JONES	1B	GRAYSON COUNTY COL
	1299	ADAM PERNASILICI	RF 1B	ST ANNE HS
	1327	OMAR BORGES	LF 1B	BRITO MIAMI PRIVATE SCHOO
	1354	RAYMOND L LOCKHART	CF	COMPTON HS
	1380	ROBERTO MENA	2B	PEDRO FALU ORELLANO
	1406	JASON R GODIN	RHP	NORTH STAFFORD HS
	1432	CARDOZA F TUCKER	RHP	BULLARD HS
	1457	AARON J RUCHTI	C	SAN JACINTO NORTH JC
	1481	OLIVER A ARIAS	RHP	RHODE ISLAND CC

Jim Street covers the Mariners for MLB.com and can be reached at mlbjstreet@aol.com. This story was not subject to the approval of MLB or its clubs.