The Indians can't negotiate with first-round pick Jeremy Guthrie until Stanford's season is over. (Gonzalesphoto.com)

Still, the promise of potential can leave club officials giddy. It did the Indians.

"We are excited by the infusion of talent that this draft afforded us," general manager Mark Shapiro said. "John Mirabelli and his staff were prepared to capitalize on our bonus picks, and with the addition of the players we added, we will quickly realize the boost to our farm system's depth of talent."

The "quickly" part of it, however, might be a tad trickier. Because drafting young talent is just the first step in the process of restocking a farm system, Shapiro must now sign the 50 players they selected.

The expectations are that the Indians can and will sign all of their first day's picks. Twenty-two rounds were completed Tuesday.

"But we realize there could be some hurdles, there could be some roadblocks," said Mirabelli, the Tribe's scouting director and its draft architect. "Our intentions, with all the information we have today, is that all these guys are signable."

Mirabelli said the Indians crossed out about two dozen or so names of high school and college players who the organization believed were not "signable." He said they listened to scouts and to people and coaches who knew a player before deciding whether to select that player.

		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

"That's a funny thing," he said. "We try everything short of pinning these kids down to an exact dollar figure, but even that you can't do because you really don't know where anybody's going to be selected."

The higher the selection, the more money a talent can fetch in the bargaining. The Indians try to ensure they don't waste high picks on players who want more than their draft slot calls for.

Last season, the Tribe lost pitcher Alan Horne, the No. 27 pick overall, when he decided not to sign and attend college instead. Of their top 20 picks last season, the Tribe signed 16 players, including pitchers Dan Denham (No. 17), J.D. Martin (No. 35) and Jake Dittler (No. 51).

Until a team actually drafts a player, it can't make a concrete dollar assessment, unless the team has the No. 1 pick overall, as the Pirates did this season. Pittsburgh took Ball State right-hander Bryan Bullington with its first pick.

Still, figuring out how the Indians must budget the estimated $8 million set aside for signing draft picks, which included seven selections among the first 100, is a priority. Team officials must assess how much a young player might be worth and what the odds are of that player blossoming into a Major Leaguer.

It's a high-risk game of craps, and the consequence, if handled badly, could doom the franchise to mediocrity years on down the road.

Mirabelli said he had gotten assurances that top pick Jeremy Guthrie, a right-handed pitcher from Stanford, will sign. Guthrie, who had been drafted twice before, can't talk contract until after his college season is over. He and the Cardinal are in the NCAA Tournament.

But the Indians can talk to 18-year-old infielder Matt Whitney (No. 31), 19-year-old second baseman Micah Schilling (No. 43), Florida third baseman Pat Osborn (No. 72) and others, and Mirabelli said his information is that all of the top selections are willing to sign. But most of them have options, even if it means players like Whitney and Schilling might follow Horne and pick college ball over the minor leagues.

That's the risk Mirabelli and the Indians take.

"We turn over every single stone we possibly can on a player's signabililty," he said.

	INDIANS 2002 DRAFT PICKS
	22	JEREMY S GUTHRIE	RHP	STANFORD U
	33	MATTHEW J WHITNEY	1B	PALM BEACH GARDENS HS
	41	MICAH C SCHILLING	2B	SILLIMAN INSTITUTE
	63	BRIAN J SLOCUM	RHP	VILLANOVA U
	72	PATRICK B OSBORN	SS	U FLORIDA
	82	JASON M COOPER	RF	STANFORD U
	94	DANIEL E CEVETTE	LHP	ELKLAND AREA HS
	124	FERNANDO PACHECO	1B	MONTGOMERY HS
	154	LOUIS B FRANCISCO	OF	U CALIFORNIA
	184	MICHAEL K HERNANDEZ	LHP	FRESNO ST U
	214	BRIAN G WRIGHT	OF	NORTH CAROLINA ST U
	244	BLAKE T ALLEN	LHP	UNION U
	274	SHAUN M LARKIN	2B	CALIFORNIA ST U
	304	KEITH RAMSEY	LHP	U FLORIDA
	334	WILLIAM PEAVEY	1B	U SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
	364	RANDALL C LONGWORTH	LF	JJ KELLY HS
	394	REID G SANTOS	LHP	SADDLEBACK CC
	424	MICHAEL D MITCHELL	RHP	ST CHARLES JC
	454	NATHAN E PANTHER	OF CF	MUSCATINE CC
	484	OMAR CASILLAS	C	ANA J CANDELAS
	514	JEFFERY W OSTRANDER	LHP	PATRICK HENRY HS
	544	JAHSEAM GEORGE	LHP	SAN JOSE ST U
	574	CURT T MENDOZA	OF	REDLANDS HS
	604	CHRIS WHITE	LHP	KENT ST U
	634	EZEKIEL A PARRAZ	SS	CC SOUTHERN NEVADA
	664	CLAYTON A MCCULLOUGH	C	EAST CAROLINA U
	694	AARON TENNYSON	LHP	MILAN HS
	724	DANIEL N DONALDSON	LHP	MEMORIAL HS
	754	NICHOLAS J PESCO	RHP	COSUMNES RIVER COL
	784	JOSE CARDONA	LHP	AMERICAN MILITARY ACADEMY
	814	DEREK A DUNNE	RHP	SULLIVAN HS
	844	TIM R SABO	RHP	DON BOSCO PREP
	874	RUBEN FLORES	RHP	RIVERSIDE HS
	904	DANIEL EISENTRAGER	RHP SS	CALIFORNIA ST U
	934	JEFFREY B DAVIS	RHP	U KANSAS
	964	ROBERT S DOUGLAS	LHP	U SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
	994	JENSEN D LEWIS	RHP	ANDERSON HS
	1024	CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS	C	MARCUS HS
	1054	KEVIN D HAWKINS	RHP	EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL
	1084	AARON J BRAITHWAITE	OF	INDIAN RIVER CC
	1114	LUIS A DEJESUS	SS	NEW MEXICO CC
	1144	JOHN E MORAN	SS	SOUTHAVEN HS
	1174	BLAKE G TAYLOR	RHP	U SOUTH CAROLINA
	1204	SHEA S MCFEELY	SS	FEDERAL WAY HS
	1234	ANDREW J KNIGHT	LHP	MAIZE HS
	1264	CHRISTOPHER A ROSARIO	CF	PINE RIDGE HS
	1293	MATTHEW D PAZ	RHP	CALIFORNIA ST U
	1321	RICHARD F WELLS	3B	GLENDALE COL
	1348	TRUAN J MEHL	CF	HUTCHINSON CC
	1375	AARON C DAVIDSON	2B	U FLORIDA
	1401	JAMES M MAYER	SS	SOMERSET SR HS
	1427	BRYCE Z KARTLER	LHP	ARIZONA ST U
	1452	DANIEL S LINDNER	RHP	POTOMAC ST COL
	1476	RICARDO CONCEPCION	RF	PETRA CORRETSER HS

Justice B. Hill, a senior writer, covers the Indians for MLB.com. He can be reached at jbernardh@aol.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.