Tribe picks hard-hitting infielder in draft

6/8/2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians selected infielder Beau Mills from Lewis-Clark State with their first round pick yesterday in the first-year player draft.

Mills, a left-handed hitter, was the 13th overall pick.

"We think we were lucky to get him at [No.] 13," said John Mirabelli, the Indians' assistant general manager of scouting operations. "We held our breath for a couple picks. He was on our short list of players, actually one of the last guys we added to the short list."

Mills, 20, played two years at Fresno State before transferring to Lewis-Clark State, an NAIA school in Idaho. He just completed his junior season, batting .458 (110-for-240) with 100 runs scored, 22 doubles, 38 home runs and 123 RBIs in 62 games. He was named the NAIA player of the year.

Mills, a native of Visalia, Calif., is 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.

"He played only at third base, but we're going to switch him to first," Mirabelli said. "That's where he's best suited. He had a shoulder injury two years ago and that's affected his throwing."

Mirabelli doesn't think the Indians will have a problem signing Mills.

Mills is the son of former major leaguer and current Boston Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills.