Let’s keep this short and as bitter as the Seattle Mariners are obtuse.

with the 20th pick in the first round of the 2008 First-Year Players Draft, your Seattle Mariners select…

The worst pick in the entire first round.

No, not because University of Georgia closer Josh Fields isn’t a really good pitcher, it’s because he’s a reliever and the club has no chance to compete in 2008.

Once again, the M’s make very clear that they have no plan, no vision, no direction and no clue how to truly build a successful Major League Baseball team.

And if at first you don’t succeed, do it again in round two, says the Mariners.

Dennis Raben is an anti-athletic outfielder who projects defensively at first base, but probably doesn’t have the bat to play there regularly.

The knock on him, aside from a lengthy swing, late load and restricting trigger, Raben often finds himself in pitcher’s counts, perhaps due to being too patient. He doesn’t square up balls with consistency and struggles to hit line drives regularly, even in batting practice.

He’s basically Matt Mangini all over again.

The Mariners did better in rounds three-through-six, starting with Ben Pribanic, a 6-4, 200-pound righty with an above-average fastball and the makings of an above-average slider.

In round four, Seattle stayed on the college pitcher trail, taking Elon, North Carolina product Steve Hensley who sits low-90s with his fastball and uses a curve, slider and change. His slider is said to be ahead of his low-70s curve ball.

Perhaps the best value in their draft came in round five when the M’s took Brett Lorin, a right-handed starter from Long Beach State. Lorin is 6-7 and 250 pounds and could follow the career path of since-trade righty Kameron Mickolio, though the Mariners are expected to let Lorin start his career in the rotation.

Sixth rounder Jarrett Burgess is an interest athlete, but you know how that goes sometimes.

Round 1, No. 20 overall - Joshua Fields, RHP - Georgia - D

The sole reason it’s not an F is that Fields is actually a top 25 talent. It just made no sense for a team destined to lose 100 games this season would desire a reliever that high when much of his value is wrapped in the lack of risk in probability and timetable.

Round 2, No. 66 overall - Dennis Raben, 1B - Miami - D

The M’s are clearly trying to find lightning in a bottle with a left-handed corner bat, but Raben invoked this out of a scout that saw him at the ACC tournament: “Not nearly as much to like as I expected. His swing doesn’t bother me too much - (there are) things we can do to fix that - but he didn’t show any intelligence up there, no game plan. It seemed he wasn’t really thinking about the pitcher he was facing or looking at his current count. His physical tools are fine, but he’s not a high schooler with time to develop. We left early on day two to get some food, if that tells you anything.”

Round 3, Benjamin Pribanic, RHP - Nebraska - C+

Not a bad selection, especially this far down in the draft when it’s sometimes barely more than a guessing game with college talent. Most scouts think he’s a No. 4-5 starter or a 7th-inning relief arm.

The best move for the M’s for the second straight round would have been to take prep righty Tim Melville and pay him. Kansas City, a small market club, is planning just that.

Round 4, Steve Hensley, RHP - Elon - C-

At this stage, Seattle could have gone in several directions but are clearly drafting for organizational need. Without a lot of experienced arms in High-A and Double-A ball that project as starters, despite doing the same “draft a bunch of college pitchers” thing three straight years, they continue the trend, I guess hoping to get lucky once.

These types of arms do serve a valuable purpose however. When there is no need to rush such pitchers as Phillippe Aumont, Juan Ramirez, Michael Pineda, etc, you have to fill out a roster with someone.

This way, you can avoid pitching someone in a bad environment, such as High Desert, at all or for too long because there are other competitive pitchers to place at that level.

Round 5, Brett Lorin, RHP - Long Beach State - C-

Really, guys? Really? How many college pitchers do you need to draft before you realize you actually suck at getting value out of them.

The prep pitchers (Aumont, Tillman, Butler, Adcock) seem to be destroying your belief system that college arms are a good idea, especially after round one.

It’s much easier to find a hidden gem from the prep ranks.

Round 6, Jarrett Burgess, OF - Florida Christian HS (Miami, Fla.) - D -

The Mariners scout even said he was a day two guy at best, though he had intriguing physical skills. WTFSMs?

Overall Grade: D+

Passing on Melville and his money demands is one thing, but letting left-hander Christian Friedrich go by, too?

Inexcusable.

A southpaw with three major league average pitches and - a fourth on the way - and above-average command? My goodness, that sounds like a tailor-made slot in the rotation behind Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez, and probably ready by July, 2009 when you’d like to boot out another of your veteran starters.

Drafting Morrow is one thing, because there is the chance he can start effectively. Drafting Fields, who has two pitches and no semblance of a third, durability concerns - even in relief - and n ultimate role as a setup man or closer, is insane.

As an organization, the Mariners get an F, and that doesn’t only stand for the worst grade in the book.