M's Draft | M's pick Georgia pitcher rated as close to ready

With the nosediving Mariners currently slotted for the No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft, they used this year's first-round pick — No. 20 overall — for a right-handed reliever on the fast track to the major leagues.

He's Josh Fields from the University of Georgia, and he said in a conference call with Seattle reporters Thursday that his goal is to be up with the Mariners by next year.

"I don't know if it's possible," he said. "I have to wait and see how things play out, but next year is when I'd love to be up there, if I'm ready."

That's not an unrealistic projection. Another college pitcher, Brandon Morrow, made the Mariners out of spring training in 2007 after being chosen No. 5 overall in the 2006 draft. Baseball America has Fields ranked as the college pitcher closest to the major leagues.

"Fields should be one of the first players from this draft to reach the majors, and could get there as quick as Brandon Morrow did," said Jim Callis, executive editor of Baseball America. "His fastball-curveball combination can be pretty unhittable. If he throws enough strikes in spring training, the Mariners will be very tempted to keep him next year."

Looking at a fastball that registers in the mid- to high-90 mph range, and what Mariners scouts refer to as a "power curve" in Fields' repertoire, the club definitely is eyeing him as a late-inning reliever.

"You'd like to say he's close," said Bob Fontaine, the Mariners' vice president of scouting. "I wouldn't want to say a month, a year, two years. But you've got to think, with that kind of stuff as a reliever, you're closer than if you're a starter. A lot of it depends on when he gets started."

Signing Fields could be a challenge, considering that Scott Boras is his adviser, and considering that the Braves couldn't sign him last year after they picked him in the second round (69th overall).

Fields opted instead to go back to Georgia for his senior year, where he had a superb season in helping the Bulldogs into the NCAA Super Regionals. They will face North Carolina State today in Athens, Ga.

The 6-foot, 178-pound Fields has 16 saves and a 2.27 earned-run average in 30 games, allowing just 12 hits in 32-2/3 innings with 56 strikeouts and 18 walks.

"Last year just wasn't the right time for me [to sign]," Fields said. "I felt I wasn't mentally or physically ready. I feel the timing is right this year."

He added that "I don't expect signing to be an issue at all. I don't know how long it will take. We haven't started that part of it. But I don't think it will be an issue. I'm excited to go play."

Addressing Fields' signability, Fontaine said, "We drafted him because we're planning on signing him. We're going to do what we think is right and hopefully, it will work out. There are no guarantees with anyone you draft. But we're hopeful."

The Mariners had five more picks Thursday after Fields. Their second-round selection was an outfielder, Dennis Raben, from the University of Miami (Fla.).

Then the Mariners took three more right-handed college pitchers — Aaron Pribanic from Nebraska, Steven Hensley of Elon and Brett Lorin of Cal State Long Beach. The Mariners' sixth-round pick was Jarrett Burgess, a high-school outfielder from Florida.

The draft concludes today with rounds seven through 50.

John McMichen, the Mariners' East Coast scouting coordinator, first saw Fields this year in an exhibition game between Georgia and the Atlanta Braves during spring training in Florida. Fields gave up a hit and then retired the next three batters.

"He looked like he fit in that setting," McMichen said. "It wasn't hard to imagine him being there sometime in the future. It's nice to have him in a Mariner uniform. He's not a guy you want to face. He's not the kind of guy you feel comfortable in the box against."

The primary person monitoring Fields this year for the Mariners was Chuck Carlson, their Southeast scout.

"You like his arm strength, you like the breaking pitch, you like the poise, even though he's not a real intimidating guy physically on the mound," Carlson said.

"Off the field, what a nice kid. He's a real good makeup kid. As much as he's a bulldog on the mound, the other side of the coin is that he's the nicest kid you'll ever want to meet. When I called to congratulate him, he thanked me. How many kids do that?"

With his relatively small size, Fields has been called a right-handed version of Billy Wagner, the Mets' closer. Carlson said that his hard curve is reminiscent of Roy Oswalt's, while Fields himself said that he models himself after Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera.

"I like Clemens' bulldog mentality on the mound, and the fact he's not afraid to knock guys off the plate and dominate the inside of the plate," he said.

"As far as my demeanor on the mound, I like to look at Rivera. He always looks so cool, and nothing fazes him on the mound. That's something I've worked on."

Fields couldn't name the Mariners' closer and said he's never visited Seattle, or the state of Washington.

"We played Oregon State," he said. "That's the closest I've been."

The Mariners hope Fields gets to see the mound at Safeco Field in the near future.

Notes

• Trevor May, a senior at Kelso High School, was the only Washington high-school player selected Thursday. Philadelphia took May, a powerful right-handed starter, in the fourth round with the 136th pick.

• Long Beach State junior David Roberts, a right-handed pitcher from Renton, was selected five picks later by Cleveland. Roberts is an Eastside Catholic graduate.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com. Staff reporter Tom Wyrwich contributed to this article.