2003 Amateur Draft : First Round Picks

The first draft was held on June 8-9, 1965. The Major League franchises were able to choose from all high school seniors and college players.

Initially there were supposed to be three amateur drafts held each season. That original plan changed in 1964 and was reduced to two drafts with the first phase being held after High School graduations. The second phase was held in January of the following year and involved players who were drafted earlier, but were not signed by their franchise.

In 1986 the two-phase draft system was changed and instead of holding a second phase draft in January, franchises who could not sign their first round selections were awarded a supplemental first round pick the following amateur draft.

The first pick of the first round is awarded to the worst team in the American or National League. Each season the two leagues alternate the first pick and proceed through the first round in reverse order of finish from the previous season's standings.

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the 2003 first round draft selections, the team they were chosen by, their position(s), and their college or home town at the time of the amateur draft.

"Delmon (Young) has the makings of a pretty darned good player. Hey, he isn't owned by the Devil Rays yet. He can come out and take batting practice or shag fly balls with us (the Detroit Tigers) anytime he wants." - Alan Trammell
2003

First Round Draft Picks

# Selected By Name Position College or High School

1.

Devil Rays

Delmon Young

RF

Adolfo Camarillo High School

2.

Brewers

Rickie Weeks

2B

Southern University

3.

Tigers

Kyle Sleeth

RHP

Wake Forest University

4.

Padres

Tim Stauffer

RHP

University of Richmond

5.

Royals

Christopher Lubanski

CF

Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic

6.

Cubs

Ryan Harvey

CF

Dunedin High School

7.

Orioles

Nick Markakis

OF

Young Harris College

8.

Pirates

Paul Maholm

LHP

Mississippi State University

9.

Rangers

John Danks

LHP

Round Rock High School

10.

Rockies

Ian Stewart

3B

La Quinta High School

11.

Indians

Michael Aubrey

1B

Tulane University

12.

Mets

Lastings Milledge

CF

Lakewood Ranch High School

13.

Blue Jays

Aaron Hill

SS

Louisiana State University

14.

Reds

Ryan Wagner

RHP

University of Houston

15.

White Sox

Brian Anderson

CF

University of Arizona

16.

Marlins

Jeffrey Allison

RHP

Veterans Memorial High School

17.

Red Sox

David Murphy

CF

Baylor University

18.

Indians

Bradley Snyder

RF

Ball State University

19.

Diamondbacks

Conor Jackson

3B

University of California

20.

Expos

Chad Cordero

RHP

Cal State Fullerton

21.

Twins

Matthew Moses

3B

Mills E. Godwin High School

22.

Giants

David Aardsma

RHP

Rice University

23.

Angels

Brandon Wood

SS

Horizon High School

24.

Dodgers

Chad Billingsley

RHP

Defiance Sr. High School

25.

Athletics

Bradley Sullivan

RHP

University of Houston

26.

Athletics

Brian Snyder

3B

Stetson University

27.

Yankees

Eric Duncan

3B

Seton Hall Prepatory School

28.

Cardinals

Daric Barton

C

Marina High School

29.

Diamondbacks

Carlos Quentin

OF

Stanford University

30.

Royals

Mitchell Maier

C

University of Toledo

2003 First Round Draft Picks



The players who DO NOT have links to their Major League statistics DID NOT make it to the Major League level.

The #1 draft pick, Delmon Young, has an older brother named Dmitri Young who plays for the Detroit Tigers and he commented on draft day, "From the stand point of a big brother, to see your kid brother reach something like that. It was special. I mean, you have to be a shallow individual if you don't have any love for your brother."

There were six-hundred seven players selected through the first 20 rounds of the 2003 Draft. More than 70% (70.3%) came from four-year and two-year junior colleges. Thats four-hundred twenty-seven of the six-hundred seven picks. Only one-hundred seventy-seven (29.1%) came from the high school ranks, with three players being selected without a school affiliation.