Rancho Bernardo High (San Diego, Calif.) catcher and Texas native Scott Heard was ready for anything when the Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft began at 10 a.m. Pacific Time yesterday (June 5). Though he couldn't track the draft's progress on the Internet because he had to keep his family's single phone line open for "the call," it took only half an hour for the Broncos' highly rated backstop to realize that his stock was falling.

So too was that of others.

	Texas native Scott Heard went in the first round at number 25 to the Texas Rangers.

Yesterday's first 20 rounds of the three-day drafting period featured more behind-the-scenes, preselection bargaining than perhaps any previous draft, as major league clubs placed extraordinary emphasis on actually signing the players they picked and doing so at a non-inflated price. Top-rated prospects like Pepperdine University catcher Dane Sardinha and UCal-Berkeley infielder Xavier Nady fell to the second round, which made Heard's first-round selection at No. 25 by the Texas Rangers all the more special.

"It was pretty tense, but yesterday couldn't have been better for me," says Heard, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder. "I was just speechless. I was so excited that it was Texas and that I was a first-rounder. I get to go home and play. I get to learn from the best. I'm just really fortunate and overjoyed. It's tough having to go back to school the next day. You kind of want to just stay around and take batting practice."

Heard, 18, wasn't the only high school pick who lived the surreal experience of earning a $1 million-plus contract on Monday and slumping into a chair today for early-morning homeroom. An eye-popping 18 of the 30 picks in yesterday's first round were scholastic players, including eight of the top 10. Factoring in the 10 "sandwich" picks that followed the first round, plus the second round, a whopping 39 of the first 70 draft choices in 2000 were high school students. The Florida Marlins chose Eastlake High (Chula Vista, Calif.) first baseman Adrian Gonzalez at No. 1.

For the record, California led the way with seven high school players taken in the first round, while Florida was next with four. Over the course of the supplemental and second round, Florida closed that deficit to 8-7, with Texas (four picks) being the next closest over that same span.

"It was a nutty day," says Palm Beach Gardens High (Fla.) right-handed pitcher Zach Miner, a 6-foot-4, 180-pounder who was expecting to go in the first two rounds, but was eventually taken in the fourth (106th overall pick) by the Atlanta Braves. "You look at the top guys in the draft this year and most of them fell. Going into it, I was kind of settled on the fact that I was going to slide, because teams questioned my signability because of my (full-scholarship) offer to play at Miami or because of my agent (J.D. Drew holdout architect Scott Boras). But I accepted that and stuck to my guns, and everybody in the Braves' organization knew I wanted to play. By the time the third round went by, I was praying somebody like the Braves would take me. I'm just thrilled to be a Brave. They do a great job of developing their pitchers. If I could have picked, that's who I would have picked."

Another player who watched as his stock fell yesterday was Coppell High (Texas) slugger Jason Stokes, who was taken with the first pick of the second round, No. 41, by the Florida Marlins.

"My heart couldn't have been beating any faster," said Stokes, who will now need to decide between pro ball and playing at the University of Texas on a full scholarship. "You just never know. The first pick in the second round is fine with me. This teaches you not to get your hopes up too high.

"Now I just have to make all the other teams pay for not picking me."

At No. 1, Gonzalez became the first high school infielder to be selected first since current Seattle Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez in 1993. Coral Park High (Miami, Fla.) shortstop Luis Montanez was taken by the Chicago Cubs at No. 3, while Mike Stodolka, a left-handed pitcher at Centennial High (Corona, Calif.), rounded out the scholastic prospects among the top five selections.

Bishop Hendricken High (Cumberland, R.I.) outfielder Rocco Baldelli, an indoor track state sprint champion and four-sport standout, went at No. 6 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, becoming the first Rhode Island player to go in the first round since Bill Almon went No. 1 in 1974. The Colorado Rockies made Palmdale High (Calif.) righty Matthew Harrington the seventh pick, while the Detroit Tigers used the next pick to select Rancho Bernardo righty and Heard battery-mate Matt Wheatland. Hanover High (Pa.) lefty Mark Phillips went ninth, thanks to the San Diego Padres. The Anaheim Angels used the 10th pick of the 2000 draft on Gateway High (Kissimmee, Fla.) lefty Joe Torres.