Daniel Carte

Carte, who led Hurricane High to its first West Virginia state title in any sport in 2002, emerged as one of the safer college picks in the draft after his dominating performance in the Cape Cod League last summer. Showing tools that are at least average across the board, Carte was BA's Summer College Player of the Year after hitting .301-11-38 and becoming just the sixth player in Cape history to reach double figures in homers and stolen bases in the same summer. His strong hands and forearms generate excellent bat speed, giving him power to all fields. Carte battled a strained oblique muscle in his torso this spring that affected his plate coverage, causing him to swing and miss more than usual. As he got healthier toward the end of the season, he showed more of his Cape form and was expected to go in the second round. He runs well enough (4.2 seconds to first) that scouts think he could play center field, and he has enough power to play a corner if he can't. He has flashed a plus arm at times as well.