1997 NPB Amateur Draft

The 1997 NPB draft was held November 20, 1997.

Pre-Draft - Reverse Draft Phase

Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Notes
Chunichi Dragons	Kenshin Kawakami	P	Meiji University (Col.)
Yomiuri Giants	Yoshinobu Takahashi	OF	Keio University (Col.)
Seibu Lions	Masanori Ando	P	Senshu University (Col.)
Nippon Ham Fighters	Shimizu Akio	P	Kindai University (Col.)
Hiroshima Carp	Ryuji Endo	P	NTT Kanto (Ind)
Daiei Hawks	Tomohiro Nagai	P	JR Tokai (Ind)

First Round - initial picks

Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Notes
Kintetsu Buffaloes	Tomoya Kawaguchi	P	Heian High School (HS)	Lost lottery for Kawaguchi to Orix
Chiba Lotte Marines	Masato Watanabe	IF	Uenomiya High School (HS)
Yakult Swallows	Tomoya Kawaguchi	P	Heian High School (HS))	Lost lottery for Kawaguchi to Orix
Orix Blue Wave	Tomoya Kawaguchi	P	Heian High School (HS)	Won lottery for Kawaguchi's rights over 3 teams
Hanshin Tigers	Jin Nakatani	C	Chiben Wakayama High School (HS)
Yokohama BayStars	Tomoya Kawaguchi	P	Heian High School (HS)	Lost lottery for Kawaguchi to Orix

First Round - redraft

Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Notes
Kintetsu Buffaloes	Masaki Maki	P	Hosei University (Col)
Yokohama BayStars	Kuniyuki Taniguchi	P	Machino High School (HS)
Yakult Swallows	Shinji Mikami	P	Tsuruga Kehi High School (HS)