1996 Amateur Draft

1996 First Round Picks

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Pittsburgh Pirates	Kris Benson	RHP	Clemson University (Col.)	Superior, WI
2	Minnesota Twins	Travis Lee	1B	San Diego State University (Col.)	San Diego, CA	Did not signsee notes
3	St. Louis Cardinals	Braden Looper	RHP	Wichita State University (Col.)	Weatherford, OK
4	Toronto Blue Jays	Billy Koch	RHP	Clemson University (Col.)	Rockville Centre, NY
5	Montreal Expos	John Patterson	RHP	West Orange-Stark High School (HS)	Orange, TX	Did not signsee notes
6	Detroit Tigers	Seth Greisinger	RHP	University of Virginia (Col.)	Kansas City, KS
7	San Francisco Giants	Matt White	RHP	Waynesboro Area High School (HS)	Waynesboro, PA	Did not signsee notes
8	Milwaukee Brewers	Chad Green	OF	University of Kentucky (Col.)	Dunkirk, NY
9	Florida Marlins	Mark Kotsay	OF	California State-Fullerton (Col.)	Whittier, CA
10	Oakland Athletics	Eric Chavez	3B	Mount Carmel High School (HS)	San Diego, CA
11	Philadelphia Phillies	Adam Eaton	RHP	Snohomish High School (HS)	Snohomish, WA
12	Chicago White Sox	Bobby Seay	LHP	Sarasota High School (HS)	Sarasota, FL	Did not signsee notes
13	New York Mets	Rob Stratton	OF	San Marcos (CA) High School (HS)	Santa Barbara, CA
14	Kansas City Royals	Dermal Brown	OF	Marlboro Central High School (HS)	Marlboro, NY
15	San Diego Padres	Matt Halloran	SS	Chancellor High School (HS)	Fredericksburg, VA
16	Toronto Blue Jays	Joe Lawrence	SS	Barbe High School (HS)	Lake Charles, LA	Compensation from Baltimore Orioles for Roberto Alomar
17	Chicago Cubs	Todd Noel	RHP	North Vermilion High School (HS)	Maurice, LA
18	Texas Rangers	R.A. Dickey	RHP	University of Tennessee (Col.)	Nashville, TN
19	Houston Astros	Mark J. Johnson	RHP	University of Hawaii (Col.)	Worcester, MA
20	New York Yankees	Eric Milton	LHP	University of Maryland (Col.)	State College, PA	Compensation from California Angels for Randy Velarde
21	Colorado Rockies	Jake Westbrook	RHP	Madison County High School (HS)	Danielsville, GA
22	Seattle Mariners	Gil Meche	RHP	Acadiana High School (HS)	Lafayette, LA
23	Los Angeles Dodgers	Damian Rolls	3B	Schlagel High School (HS)	Kansas City, KS
24	Texas Rangers	Sam Marsonek	RHP	Jesuit High School (HS)	Tampa, FL	Compensation from New York Yankees for Kenny Rogers
25	Cincinnati Reds	John Oliver	OF	Lake-Lehman High School (HS)	Lehman, PA
26	Boston Red Sox	Josh Garrett	RHP	South Spencer High School (HS)	Richland, IN? Richland City, IN?
27	Atlanta Braves	A.J. Zapp	1B	Center Grove High School (HS)	Greenwood, IN
28	Cleveland Indians	Danny Peoples	1B	University of Texas (Col.)	Round Rock, TX
29	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Paul Wilder	OF	Cary High School (HS)	Raleigh, NC
30	Arizona Diamondbacks	Nick Bierbrodt	LHP	Millikan High School (Long Beach, CA) (HS)	Long Beach, CA

Supplemental First Round

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
31	Toronto Blue Jays	Peter Tucci	1B-OF	Providence College (Col.)	[[]]	Compensation for Roberto Alomar
32	Texas Rangers	Corey Lee	P	North Carolina State University (Col.)	[[]]	Compensation for Kenny Rogers
33	Cincinnati Reds	Matt McClendon	P	Dr. Phillips High School (HS)	Orlando, FL	Did not sign/Compensation for Ron Gant
34	Boston Red Sox	Chris Reitsma	P	Calgary Christian High School (HS)	Calgary, AB	Compensation for Erik Hanson
35	Atlanta Braves	Jason Marquis	P	Tottenville High School (HS)	Staten Island, NY	Compesation for failure to sign 1995 pick Chad Hutchinson

Other Notable Selections

Milton Bradley, Jacque Jones; Jimmy Rollins (2nd round); Alex Cora, Scott Schoeneweis (3rd round); Joe Crede, Brad Penny (5th round); Casey Blake, Mark DeRosa (7th round); Doug Davis (10th round); John McDonald (12th round); Chad Bradford (13th round); Jamey Carroll (14th round); Kevin Gregg (15th round); Ted Lilly, Roy Oswalt (23rd round); Kyle Lohse (29th round); Travis Hafner (31st round); Dan Wheeler (34th round)

Draft Notes

This was the first draft in which the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays took part, and the longest draft overall with 1,740 players selected across 100 rounds.

Four players selected in the first round (Lee, Patterson, White, and Seay) did not sign with the teams that selected them and were declared free agents according to Rule 4 (E). Lee and Patterson ultimately signed with the Diamondbacks, and White and Seay made deals with the Devil Rays.

Travis Phelps was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 89th round and in 2001 became the lowest round draftee to ever play in the majors. Scott Seabol, drafted in the 88th round by the New York Yankees, also made his major league debut that year.

Clay Condrey was selected by the New York Yankees in the 94th round, but failed to sign. He later signed with the San Diego Padres as an amateur free agent, and made his major league debut in 2002.