By John Klima
Staff Writer

The year is 1993 and you have a choice to make. There is a power pitcher at Wichita State named Darren Dreifort. There’s no need for a radar gun to see how hard this guy can throw. The secondary stuff is there, and, hey, he can even swing it, too. Maybe if the pitching thing doesn’t work out, there’s always hitting.

There is also an infielder at a silver spoon high school in Miami, a kid named Alex Rodriguez. He’s gangly, but he can hit. He’s strong, though he’s lean. Scouts argue over who is the best high school hitter they’ve ever seen. Is it Rodriguez, with that odd nickname, ‘A-Rod,’ that can’t possibly stick? Or was it Ken Griffey Jr., back in 1987? People throw around Cal Ripken Jr. comparisons with Rodriguez. Maybe he can stay at short. Maybe he’ll have to move to third.

The choice for the Seattle Mariners, who held the first round pick that year, came down to the pitcher who could hit or the hitter who could hit any pitcher. There was debate. There was shouting. There was Chinese food. In the end, the Mariners took Rodriguez and the Dodgers took Dreifort and his medical bills.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a similar choice last Thursday in the First Year Player Draft. Torn between a college pitcher, David Price of Vanderbilt, and a high school infielder, Josh Vitters of Cypress High in Anaheim, they struggled to decide between college power arm or high school power bat. Finally, they went with Price.

The Devil Rays have been quietly building a nucleus that could one day run with the expensive hogs of the American League East, stockpiling hitters with combinations of power and speed. Look ahead and the images are enticing for a franchise that has battled to move further than former manager Lou Piniella can throw first base. Without much fanfare, the Devil Rays suddenly have a future.

Manager Joe Maddon is a creative guy, so you know he can envision something like this: Delmon Young as a 30 home run hitting right fielder. Elijah Dukes as a 30-30 outfielder who has matured both emotionally, mentally and physically. B.J. Upton gliding around second when he’s not stealing it. Reid Brignac at shortstop and Evan Longoria at third base, with Longoria hitting for power, just as he has at every level since junior college baseball.

Put these players together, and, as Maddon likes to say, things can get toasty.

Just because the Devil Rays had Longoria to play third didn’t mean that taking Vitters was automatically out of the question. He has the power and enough athleticism to be a corner outfielder. There is enough defensive ability to where the Devil Rays knew they were mulling over a player that could help them win innings on both sides of the field.

This, then, was a choice that was no longer a question of scouting. This pick was a matter of philosophy and direction, as it was for Seattle in 1993. Power college arm or power high school bat? Dreifort or Rodriguez? Price or Vitters? It is a question between immediate payoff and patience.

When they chose Price, they chose what might represent the missing link. This is a club that has picked its position players well, but with this pick, Tampa had the opportunity to show that it can also pick the right arm over the right bat. They also sent a very loud message to the baseball world that they think they’re close.

You assume all risks with a college arm, because the coach has a job to keep, and he needs to ride young arms to cash a paycheck. Let us not forget that Mark Prior pitched at Vanderbilt before coming to USC. You assume all risks with high school power hitters, the main danger being that the projection you thought you saw was actually performance. The kid was as good at the age of 18 as he was going to be at the age of 26. Instead of an all-star, you have the kind of player that might play for three teams before he’s 30.

There is also the question of need, which for Tampa, has always been pitching. You can’t expect any rational human being to wet nurse the likes of Edwin Jackson and Jae Seo forever. By choosing Price, the Devil Rays suddenly have the makings of a starting four that actually look like a starting four. Price, Jamie Shields, Scott Kazmir and Jeff Niemann would give Tampa Bay two left-handers and two right-handers. Right-hander Andy Sonnanstine, who made his major league debut this week, is a gritty kid who knows how to pitch and should not be overlooked.

All of a sudden, Tampa’s talent stockpile is getting too impressive to ignore.

The Devil Rays couldn’t ignore Price’s slider, which is his put-away breaking ball. His delivery points are consistent. Pair that with fastball velocity and command and you’ve got a lefty with two goodnight pitches ready to put big league hitters to sleep in a hurry.

"All things being equal, one of the real benefits of taking the player we feel to be the No. 1 player in the country is his ability to move fairly quickly," Devil Rays VP of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said on a conference call Thursday. "It's just something where we're not going to place expectations on us or him by setting a date. But I think it's in everyone's best interest that the day he's ready to pitch in the big leagues, he is pitching in the big leagues."

But Vitters’ power still made Tampa’s choice agonizing. It wasn’t until Wednesday that word spread that Price was their man. Tampa made the call: its need for a young arm exceeded its need for another young bat. They answered their own question.

"Actually, [the slider] was the main pitch I used to put people away with last year,” Price said on a conference call with national media Thursday. “But this year, just the ability to set up a fastball in has been my main strikeout pitch. If I need a big strikeout, I'm going to throw my No. 1 pitch, and that's my fastball. I feel like I can throw it in, out. It doesn't really matter what the count is or where the catcher is setting up. I see the glove, and I'm trying to hit it."

That’s a great philosophy to have. Much like the draft of 1993, when Seattle had to choose between the college arm and the high school bat, the Devil Rays had better hope that they, too, can hit the glove.

John Klima is the national baseball writer for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.