Devil Rays draft McGlinchy from Braves

DALLAS (AP) _ The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected right-hander Kevin McGlinchy from Atlanta on Thursday with the first pick in the major league draft. <br><br>McGlinchy, 24, missed last season with a partially

Thursday, December 13th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected right-hander Kevin McGlinchy from Atlanta on Thursday with the first pick in the major league draft.

McGlinchy, 24, missed last season with a partially torn right rotator cuff. In two seasons in the majors, he is 7-3 with a 2.75 ERA.

Twelve players were chosen in the major league portion of the draft. Players picked for $50,000 must remain on the active rosters of the teams that drafted them throughout next season or be offered back to their former teams for $25,000.

Teams occasionally find stars in the draft. George Bell, Kelly Gruber, Mitch Williams, Matt Mantei and Jeff Fassero were all selected in past years.

Seattle lost four players in the draft: righties Jeffrey Farnsworth (Detroit) and Jorge Sosa (Milwaukee), left-hander Steven Kent (Anaheim) and third baseman Jason Grabowski (Oakland).

The Mariners did get a player when Pittsburgh selected shortstop Luis Ugueto from Florida and sold him to the Mariners.

Kansas City was the only other team to lose more than one player. Toronto selected right-hander Corey Thurman and San Diego picked righty Ryan Baerlocher.

Others selected were right-hander Miguel Asencio by Kansas City from Philadelphia; right-hander Joe Valentine by Montreal from Charlotte; shortstop Felix Escalona by San Francisco from Houston; and outfielder Ryan Christenson by Milwaukee from Arizona.

Eligible for the draft are players not on 40-man rosters who have three or four years of professional experience, depending on whether they were older than 18 when they signed.