Last Monday was one of the most reviled days in college baseball. I don’t know a single coach who likes the mid-August signing deadline day. Not one. But I will say this, the day ultimately provided some interesting results on who turned pro and who will return to our college game. 

San Diego head coach Rich Hill chased his white whale and landed 1st round draftee Dylan Covey.

 

I had the chance to talk to a handful of coaches about that day and those players that were counted amongst our beloved legion of draft dodgers who will take their talents to the college game. Here are a few of the highlights of those convos.

 

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1- THE FIRST TIMER

Illinois State’s Mark Kingston took over the Redbird program last year and in his first go-round, the rookie skipper commandeered them to a Missouri Valley Conference title and their first NCAA bid since 1994. Not a bad first impression, huh?

On Monday the 16th, coach Kingston saw three of his recruits that had been drafted all say “no” to the bigs and will enroll at that school in that cool-named town known as Normal. Catcher Mike Hollenbeck (14th round, Boston), RHP Johnny Lieske (35th round, Texas) and INF Brock Stewart (40th round, Mets) form the trio of draftees that didn’t sign and are part of a very good seven-man recruiting class.

The three studs also signal a new mentality to a Redbird program that has been mostly off-the-grid in its history. In his two years (one was as one of those “coach-in-waiting” assistant positions), Coach Kingston is changing the culture in Normal, as he has seen an all-new stadium built, a rash of improved facilities, a winning attitude and a desire for players to skip the minors and head to campus as part of a renaissance to the baseball fortunes.

Me:

First question is simple, how big was it to get all three drafted players to not sign?

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Coach Kingston:

As you know, with the amount of money being thrown around by Major League Baseball, it’s hard to get kids to come to school. Having been at Miami and Tulane for so many years, I think you just have to focus on telling these kids they’ve got two really good options, you can go develop in minor league baseball or you can come develop here and also get your education. And I think ANY school that has three kids that got drafted coming in is pretty big. It also says a lot about a program that these guys are attracted to us that much.

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Me:

When it got down to the last few days, were you expecting all three to come to campus?

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Coach Kingston:

It looked like we were going to get two of the three. Hollenbeck being a 14th round pick was a guy that we thought we were probably going to lose. Because as you know the Red Sox have a ton of money to throw around. So we held our breath right down to the last minute. And Boston signed a bunch of guys on the last day, with (Anthony) Ranaudo, (Brandon) Workman and Chris Hernandez, they signed a bunch of guys. At 11:01, Hollenbeck texted me saying “Coach, I’m coming to school.” That was a great text to get.

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Me:

All three being from Illinois say anything about the talent in the state? Or is it getting better?

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Coach Kingston:

The talent in Illinois is really good. It may not be quite as developed as states we recruit like Texas or Florida where you can practice year-round. But in terms of athletic ability, there is a lot of good athletic ability in Illinois. I mean, one of the first guys I signed as a recruiting coordinator at Tulane was Brian Bogusevic. So I’ve known for a long time that there is great talent here. That was one of the reasons I thought that this job would be a good job to have, because of the talent in-state.

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Me:

Do you think the success you guys had this past season have much to do with these guys deciding not to sign and come to ISU?

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Coach Kingston:

Ya’ know, it’s hard to say. Because the kids are always going to make the best decisions for them in terms of if the money is right, is the situation right and if the team is right. Them seeing that our program has really taken off in the last year or two, it certainly hasn’t hurt, but kids are still gonna make the best decisions for themselves. Otherwise, teams like Miami or Texas would never lose a recruit because they win big every year. So while it still comes down to each players’ situation, I still think it didn’t hurt for them to look at us and say, “Wow, look at the legitimate program we’re going to.”

As opposed to what you've probably read, Coach Mainieri got his grip on a helluva lot of good talent after the signing deadline.

 

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2- THE VICTIM OF THE DOOMSAYER MEDIA

When the midnight hour rolled around last monday, the news was bad. I even texted the Doctor of College Baseball, “Today wasn’t a good day for Paul.” In the last 30 minutes before the carriage turned into a pumpkin, LSU coach Paul Mainieri and Co. lost out on 1st rounder Zach Lee and sandwich pick Anthony Ranaudo to the Dodgers and Red Sox respectively.

Earlier in the day, Lucas LeBlanc, an 11th round draftee who was considered a shoe-in for school, and SS Garin Cecchini, a 6th rounder, both signed with the Red Sox as well, drooping the shoulders of Tiger fans everywhere. 

So… bad day, right? Every outlet that I read had said so. 

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Holy hyperbole Batman!

When I finally got my hands on the entire list of signees, it turned out that LSU had seven (7) drafted players spurn the pros and want to become Tigers. Seven, man. Damn. So listen people, quit saying the Bayou Bengal empire is crumbling down. 

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Me: 

Okay coach, let me start off by saying that this is your chance to clear the air about your draft deadline day. It wasn’t as big of a disaster as some have made it out to be, right?

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Coach Mainieri:

(laughs) No, it wasn’t that big of a disaster at all, as some people made it out to be for us. It would’ve only been a disaster if we hadn’t have fulfilled any of our needs, and we did. Now, could it have been a better class? Sure. If we had signed Zach Lee, we probably would’ve had the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the country. But he had 5.25 million reasons not to come to LSU. 

You know, all summer long I didn’t think the Dodgers would sign Lee. But then about 10 days before the deadline, I started hearing rumblings in my baseball circles that they were going to put on a mad rush at the end to get him signed. Now, if it was an organization that was strapped for cash, I don’t think they would’ve done it. But them signing Lee actually helped us keep Kevin Gausman (a 6th round pick) because they didn’t have enough money to offer him what they wanted. In fact, Tommy LaSorda called me the next day and said, “Are you mad at me?” And I said, “Heck no? In fact, I might’ve given Gausman the $5.25 million to be honest.”

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Me:

So if someone would’ve told you that going into Monday, you’d come out of the signing day with seven players that got drafted that were still coming to school, you would’ve taken that, right?”

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Coach Mainieri:

Oh yeah, I would’ve felt very fortunate. Sure. ‘Coz you never know what’s gonna happen with the draft. You know one of the players that surprised me was Lucas Leblanc, an 11th round pick and J.C. All American outfielder who was in my office on Sunday saying he was 100% sure he was coming to school – it was a done deal. The Red Sox had offered him $250,000 and he said that wasn’t even close to what he wanted and they wished him well and said “Good luck with school.” Then, in the last few hours on Monday they suddenly doubled the offer to $500,000 and he decided to sign. So anything can happen on draft day.

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Me:

Of the other guys, who do you think was drafted lower because of signability or other reasons?

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Coach Mainieri:

Well I’ll tell you this, our two 19th rounders, Jacoby Jones (SS) and Ryan Eades (RHP), clearly were top-five round caliber talents, but sometimes teams will just “take a flyer” on a guy in a later round and then throw a bunch of money at them. So I didn’t feel comfortable about them until it was one minute after the signing deadline and I knew they were coming here.

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Me:

Okay, I’ve got a question for you, what were you literally doing between 10 and 11pm Central time? Lighting a candle at church? Holding a voodoo doll? What?

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Coach Mainieri:

I’ll tell you exactly what I was doing. I was sitting on my couch with my computer on my lap and my cell phone next to me. My son Tommy who is in the 10th grade and usually goes to bed about 10 or so, says to me, “Dad, I’m too nervous. I’m gonna stay up with you until the deadline passes.” 

So from 10 to 10:30 I got into a very intense text messaging session with Kevin Gausman, ‘coz he was the one I was sweating out the most. At 10:30, I stopped and told him, “call me at 11:01 and let me know you’re going to become a Tiger.”

After that I got a phone call from Zach Lee and I showed my son who it was on my caller I.D. I started talking to Zach and after a few minutes, I looked at my son Tommy and I gave him the “thumbs down” that Zach wasn’t coming to school, and of course Tommy was distraught. And then, right about at the witching hour, I got a call from Anthony Ranaudo. So again, I showed Tommy who was calling on my caller I.D. and I started talking to Anthony. A few seconds later, I looked at Tommy again and gave him the “thumbs down” again, and he was once again distraught.

Then, I hung up with Anthony and I said to Tommy, “well, I haven’t heard from Gausman yet.” And it was about 11:05 at this time. Then, it got to 11:10 and I started wondering if my clocks were set right. Finally at about 11:15, I couldn’t take it anymore so I called him. I said, “What are you doing? It’s 11:15 and I haven’t heard from you yet!” 

He said, “Oh I’m sorry coach, I’m just messin’ around on my computer.”

I said, “I told you to call me at 11:01. That was the longest 14 minutes of my life. Now I feel like I wanna kill ya’!'” (laughs) 

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Me:

Too awesome. On that note, I hafta ask, did you REALLY think you had a chance to keep Ranaudo?

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Coach Mainieri:

I thought there was a chance. He really loves LSU. And he was asking for $2.5 million and got $2.55 million. But I think he was looking for any reason he could to come back to LSU. He told me there was no way he was going pro unless he was the highest paid right handed pitcher in the draft. I know Matt Harvey went with the 7th overall pick and he got $2.525 million and Ranaudo was offered $2.55 million, so once I found that out I knew he was going to sign. To be honest, the Boston really got anyone they wanted to sign. It’s obvious that the Red Sox just print their own money. 

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3- THE SOON-TO-BE TOP DOG OF A NEW CONFERENCE.

Nebraska is a program in flux. Their years of playing in the Big 12 have seen them rise to heights never even sniffed before, including conference championships and CWS appearances. But the last two years we’ve seen them come up short of making it to the post-season. And soon, the Cornhusker nine will be moving on to the Big 10. So the players they were recruiting this year would be the ones that set the precedent for the new conference. 

Coach Mike Anderson has had his ups and downs with getting his high-profile recruits to school. But this year, the signing deadline was decidedly kind to the Husker head honcho. Losing veteran hurlers like Mike Nesseth and Michael Marriot were expected. So the onus was on Anderson and pitching coach Eric Newman to replenish a staff that was part of a .500 ball club (okay, a big part of that .500 record was due to a brutal schedule, but that’s for another discussion.).

Monday’s deadline passed by and Cornhusker coaches were found to have their big grins on. None of their big targets signed as NU will retain the services of a trio of mound workers in 8th round draftee Logan Ehlers (a LHP), 11th rounder Jon Keller (a RHP) and 26th rounder Brandon Pierce (a RHP).  

Me:

To start with a general understatement, you had a pretty big day on the signing deadline, right?

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Coach Anderson:

Yeah, we had the three high schoolers that didn’t sign with their clubs, plus we’re going to get Sean Yost back as well, who was drafted in the 24th round by the Red Sox. So we feel really fortunate. 

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Me:

How big was getting those guys? Was it vital to your teams’ hopes for 2011?

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Coach Anderson:

Well it’s kind of two-fold here. First, it’s big when you consider that an 8th rounder, an 11th rounder and a 26th rounder come to school because those kids are offered a substantial amount of money to go pro. So it’s always big to get them in your program. And secondly, it’s big because of what’s happened the last two years with the draft. Two years ago we lost eight pitchers to the draft. Last year we survived it okay, but still had some losses. So in the cycle of things, the draft has gotten us pretty good the last few years. But I’ll tell you this, Monday night and Tuesday morning, it sure felt nice to know those guys were going to give us a lot of potential on the mound.

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Me:

Were you surprised to get all three?

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Coach Anderson:

There was a strong foundation for all three of those to come here. But really, the one we were worried about most was Logan Ehlers. The reality is that he set his number with the Blue Jays, and they gave him that number. Then, he raised his number and the Blue Jays matched it again. But in the end, he just told them “Really, I just want to go to school.” And you can never anticipate that. It’s great too because he’s a small-town kid from Nebraska City. And yet he’s been a high-profile kid who has now turned down a substantial amount of money simply because he really wanted to become a Husker. That’s a big thing for us.

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Me:

Do you anticipate all three making a big impact right away?

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Coach Anderson:

We really do. You know, last year we started to get our pitching back to where it used to be after getting devastated by the draft two years ago. So we’ve got a group of sophomores that we feel strongly about. And now these high-profile arms we’ve got will be big. But I have to say there are more first year guys outside of the three drafted guys that will be part of that incoming class that we also feel strongly about. It’s certainly going to be more than just those three.

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Me:

I know it’s hard to tell now, but how does your incoming class rank with some of the ones you’ve brought in recently?

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Coach Anderson:

Really good. Really good. I mean, two years ago we probably had our best class ever, but then when signing day came around we lost every one of them. Then last year we had the highest ranked class we’ve ever had, rated at 13th in the country. I would say this year’s class ranks up there with that one, it’s certainly pitching-strong.

But I will say this, at Nebraska, we’ve had some classes come in that weren’t high-profile like these guys, but then developed into great players. When Joba Chamberlain stepped foot on this campus, nobody knew who he was, but we felt strongly about him and obviously he ended up being one of the best ever.

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Me:

You touched on Sean Yost a bit, was getting him back much of a surprise?

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Coach Anderson:

No, it really wasn’t. The Red Sox picked him in the middle rounds, but they really had their priorities elsewhere. Sean knew it would take the perfect situation and amount of money for him to sign and they just didn’t get that number done. So about halfway through the summer we felt pretty confident that he would be coming back.

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Me:

What were you doing on signing day as the deadline got closer?

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Coach Anderson:

The day was fine. I was in contact with most of those kids throughout the day. It was at night when things started to get a little bit hectic, because of some of the media attention around here and all. They had TV trucks over at Logan’s house and it was a pretty big deal. And plus you never know what is going to happen. As things got closer, at about 10:40 or so, I was on the phone with Logan Ehlers and his father. And Logan was telling me, “Coach, we turned down the offers and I’m coming to Nebraska.” So we talked for about 10 minutes and about that time the conversation is winding down. Well my wife comes over to me and says, “You’ve gotta keep him on the phone for the next 10 minutes just in case Toronto tries to call him.” So I’ve gotta give credit to my wife there. 

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4- A MID-MAJOR DOES SOME MAJOR RELOADING

For the third year in a row, the first round of the draft saw another multi-million dollar arm make the *correct* decision to not give in to the whims of the big-money MLB and spend a few years in our beloved sport of college baseball. Well, I lied, this time there were actually TWO 1st round pitchers that took the education and ran. Number nine overall pick Karsten Whitson will take his golden right arm to play for Kevin O’Sullivan’s Florida Gators. And Dylan Covey, the 14th overall draftee, will take his right arm to the best weather spot in the country and play for San Diego. 

Torero head coach Rich Hill was his usual glowing self as he started off talking about his new non-bonus baby. But unlike Whitson at UofF, his prodigal story had a twist to it. A few days before the signing deadline doctors discovered Covey had Type 1 diabetes. Yes, the same thing that former Cal pitcher Brandon Morrow and former Gonzaga round-baller Adam Morrison had. 

Dylan Covey (left center) and his family burst into celebration back in June when he got drafted 14th overall by Milwaukee. (And in case you're wondering, no, I didn't take this picture in the Covey living room. I got it from the Milwaukee Tribune.)

 

Because his parents thought he’d have better care and attention at an institution like USD, instead of in the cut-throat world of minor league baseball, Covey decided that college was the place for him. 

In other words, all of college baseball wins.

Me:

Going into the draft back in June, did you have an idea that Covey would be picked that high to begin with?

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Coach Hill:

We knew that he was going to be a 1st rounder. But every once in a while you get these off-the-charts guys that you just have to pursue. It’s signing a calculated risk of course, but there are times when 1st rounders will slip through the cracks, that’s what you hope for. But the odds were that he was going to be offered enough money to head off to pro ball.

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Me:

Were there any signs of his having diabetes before last weekend at all?

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Coach Hill:

No. None whatsoever. With the way negotiations go to the last minute, it was kind of a blessing in disguise for us because if signing day was earlier or if the negotiations with the Brewers had started earlier, it might never have been detected and we would’ve lost him. But because the negotiations started so late, we hadn’t heard anything. Then a couple of days before the signing deadline I got a call from Darrell, Dylan’s father, telling me that he had diabetes. The next day they went up to a specialist in Los Angeles and it was confirmed to be true. And that changed everything, of course. 

But I will say this, Dylan’s family is tied for first in the world in First-Classiestness. They felt strongly that the USD environment would be the best fit for their son and I applaud them for their courage to have the conviction to do what’s best for their son. They didn’t feel that the minors would be the best place for him to deal with this. And at USD, they know he’ll get the best nutrition, the best training, know when to take a shot and when to rest and that our medical staff will give him the best care possible. 

It’s an extremely manageable situation though. He’ll have six months before the season starts to get used to medications and how to handle things. In the long run, I truly believe it will be a good thing for Dylan as far as the change in his nutrition and training habits. In the next six months he’ll get to regulate things and get into a regimen. 

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Me:

Even with this diagnosis, when did you find out for sure he was coming to school?

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Coach Hill:

Well, me and Coach Jay Johnson had both gotten texts from Dylan’s father – who was handling his son’s situation – on Monday night that talks had broken off and that they were very at ease with the possibility of his coming to USD. But at the same time, things between the family and the Brewers were very good. They were first class in understanding the situation and honoring Dylan’s wishes and having what was best for him in mind. The parents couldn’t say enough nice things about the Brewers organization. 

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Me:

Other than Dylan Covey, you had some other recruits that were drafted but didn’t sign, right?

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Coach Hill:

Yes. There were actually three other guys that we feel very strongly about in left-handed pitcher Tyler Painton out of Bakersfield, who was taken in the 13th round by Toronto and right-handed pitcher Mike Wagner out of Las Vegas, who was a 28th round pick by Boston. And we also had shortstop Kris Bryant, also from Vegas, who was an 18th round pick by Toronto coming to campus.

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Me:

I know most coaches don’t like to answer this question as its stated, but is this your best recruiting class you’ve had at San Diego?

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Coach Hill:

It’s always hard to say, but I will say it is definitely one of the best ever. Jay Johnson, our recruiting coordinator, did a great job getting the guys we’ve got coming in. To be honest, some of the guys that didn’t get picked in the draft have a great chance to make a big impact. Two guys we’lre really high on are lefties Paul Paez, who you’re gonna love – he’s 5′9″ but he pitches like he’s 6′5″ – and James Pazos, a J.C. guy from Gilbert Community College in Arizona. They’re both going to play a major part in our plans.

Also, I have to credit my former pitching coach Eric Valenzuela, who is now an assistant coach at San Diego State, because he was the one responsible for recruiting Dylan Covey from the get-go, if it wasn’t for Big E we probably never would’ve had a chance to sign him.

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5- THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK “SO YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN A POWERHOUSE.”

It ain’t so easy people. No, not at all. But one man who has this national power racket down pat is Cal State Fullerton head coach Dave Serrano. The Titans lost in the Supers at UCLA, but at one point they were one out away from going on another trip to Omaha. 

Back on that June night when they were eliminated, as he sat in the UCLA media room that was once the batting cages down the right field line, Serrano was sitting right next to All American Christian Colon and I asked him if he was worried about replacing the Titan shortstop that had meant so much to his program the last three years and to some of the other guys that weren’t going to return, like outfielder Gary Brown.

“No. We just move forward. We have to say goodbye to guys like Christian and Gary and seniors like Billy Marcoe, Joey Siddens and Kyle Mertens. But it’s just part of the cycle. I hope in a few years I’m sitting next to another Christian Colon-type of guy, not that he’s replaceable, but that’s just the way things go at Fullerton.”

Sure as shootin’, Serrano went out and got some wicked-good players to re-stock the shelves. Two of the new Titans will be SS Joe Terry, a J.C. All-American who was chosen in the 8th round by the White Sox, and Michael Lorenzen, a speedy outfielder picked in the 7th round by Tampa Bay. Voila’… here’s your possible replacements for Colon and Brown.

Fullerton also got Fresno State transfer Jake Floethe, a power pitcher who sat out last season and was a 29th round pick., and Carlos Lopez, who was a Frosh All American picked in the 37th round. Both will come back to Fullerton and be dominant forces… you know, just like the typical cycle that goes on every year for the Titans.

Me:

For a team that lost guys like Christian Colon and Gary Brown, tell my readers about the two big studs you brought in from the top 10 rounds.

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Coach Serrano:

We were very lucky to have both. Terry is a guy from Cerritos College, and probably the thing that saved us with him was he had an injury his sophomore year there. He still went very high in the draft and was being courted by the White Sox. We’re hoping he can fill a hole in the middle of our infield where we had some losses. But he’s big and athletic and the best part is that he will hit in the middle of our order somewhere near or around guys like Carlos Lopez, Nick Ramirez and Tyler Pill and will provide another explosive left handed bat. Having that bat is going to help us be strong offensively.

Michael Lorenzen is going to be a treat to coach. He’s been on the Team USA 18-and-under team the last two years and is a high profile guy and a good athlete. But the thing I will say about Michael before I’ve even had a chance to coach him for one day is that he’s a tremendous young man. How he stayed strong to the figure that he gave to the Devil Rays shows the character he has and is confident in the three years he’ll spend here working toward his degree and his development at Cal State Fullerton means so much to him. 

Those two young men are class acts and will make big contributions to our future success. 

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Me:

Are you planning on these guys being replacements for Colon and Brown or do you have different plans for them?

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Coach Serrano:

Well they both have the capability to do that. But we’ll take the fall to evaluate that and take a look at where they fit. Joe has a little more development because he’s played two years of college ball, although Michael is advanced with the summer programs he’s played with. They’re going to have to come in and win jobs, but we’re hoping that their abilities take over and we can plug them in to some of the holes that we have. 

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Me: 

Talk about how close you guys came to getting Peter Tago (a 1st round sandwich pick), the pitcher from Dana Point.

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Coach Serrano:

We never really anticipated him coming in. He had some academic issues to overcome, so if he would’ve come here, school might not have been first and foremost in his mind and was a struggle for him at times. In some instances I believe it’s better for young men to go to college to develop and mature. But in his case, I think taking the sure bet of getting a great contract from the Rockies was the better decision. 

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Me:

Your pitching staff is stacked for next year, but who are some of the new guys coming in that didn’t get drafted that you’re high on?

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Coach Serrano:

We brought in a couple that we really like. We got a guy named Christian Coronado out of Hemet High School that we think the world of. He’s going to be one of those typical guys that, after a few years, people are going to wonder how he was never drafted before. Good, tall right hander with a good arm and he comes to us pitch-ready. A strike thrower.

We got another guy out of Serra High named Graham Wiest who was under the radar because of his velocity and that’s why he was bypassed by the pros. But when we were recruiting him, I categorized him as the Orel Hershiser of high school baseball. He throws three or four pitches for strikes and everything in the strike zone. He tricks hitters and because of that he’ll be a great addition to our philosophy at Cal State Fullerton. The other pitcher we like is a two-way player named Chris Devenski out of Golden West is a good athlete with a power arm and will definitely have a chance to make an impact. 

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Me:

Okay, I’ve got a dumb question for you then, is there ever a point where you have too much pitching?

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Coach Serrano:

No, Eric. Never. Never. Never! Let me assure you, never. (laughs) I will say that while we’ve had pretty good staffs over the last few years, we’ve become known more as an offensive juggernaut and scoring a lot of runs. It hasn’t hurt us, but I think we’re in a place where we’ve got the depth that is more to my liking and I’ll put this pitching staff up against any other staff in the country. 

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OTHER DRAFT DRIVEL.

A handful of knee-jerk reactions to the draft signing day and various lagniappe.

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- I asked each of the coaches I talked to for this piece to comment on the MLB’s draft deadline and how it affects the college game. To a man, each one of them responded nearly identically, “It’s ridiculous that they set the date so late in summer and it’s counter-productive to not only the college game but also to the players that get drafted.” 

All the answers were so similar that I didn’t bother to include them above. Why does the MLB bother to have the date in mid-August when all the teams and agents are going to do is wait until the 11th hour to start serious negotiations anyway? Yep, that’s reason No. 572 to hate the play-for-pay boys.

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- Meant to say something about this back in June, but it’s weird to see Florida State’s Mike McGee get drafted way down in the 41st round (by Arizona). I know it all has to do with talent, potential and tools and all, but Mike is still one of the most valuable players in the country. His being the 1,231st pick in the draft is just bizarre. Not surprisingly, he didn’t sign and will play another season in Garnet & Gold.

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- Living up to his habit, one of Tim Corbin’s biggest catches was high schooler Kevin Ziomek, a left handed pitcher who was picked by Arizona in the 13th round but will play for Vanderbilt instead. Oh, the “habit” part?… Ziomek is another one of Corb’s catches from (try to act surprised) the Northeast. He was a grad of Amherst Regional High School in Massachusetts. Going a little further South, Asheville, North Carolina’s  Joel McKeithan, a shortstop who was picked in the 39th round will also come to Nashville.

Vanderbilt's Aaron Westlake will come back in 2011 to power the Commodores again.

 

Vandy will also return the services of hard-slugging 1Bman Aaron Westlake, who didn’t sign as a 22nd round pick of Toronto (I hafta admit, that kinda surprised me) and RHP Taylor Hill, a 30th round pick by Cleveland.

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- Want a real draft oddity? UAB’s Ryan Woolley, a RHP, was drafted in the 39th round by Texas. Ironically, in the 2009 draft, he was a 6th round pick after playing his first two seasons at Georgia. Woolley will return for his senior year after going 3-4 and 7.03 on the mound this year.

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- Another surprise was Connecticut pitcher Elliot Glynn. I saw him pitch in Fenway at the Cape Cod League All Star Game in 2009 and his coach Jim Penders couldn’t stop glossing about him when I talked with him last March on a west coast roadie for the Huskies. Then, Glynn gets picked way down in the 49th round by the Padres and of course, he didn’t sign by the August 16th deadline. So I’m sure coach Penders is pretty fired-up that he will have Glynn’s services again in 2011. 

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- The Palmetto state will have some interesting returnees. First off, Clemson will have hard-slugging Jeff Schaus (a 27th rounder of Cleveland) and INF John Hinson (a 13th rounder of Philadelphia) both coming back to make up for the loss of Kyle Parker to the Rockies. Elon has lately been known for its offensive prowess (like the 86 dingers last season), but will get saves specialist Thomas Girdwood back after the Twins couldn’t sign him as a 15th rounder and 9-game winner Ken Ferrer after the Indians didn’t sign him out of the 35th round. The College of Charleston will look to get past that pain of losing the Regional title game by getting back RHP Casey Lucchese, a 39th round pick of the Cubs, and battery mate Rob Kral, a 16th rounder of the Reds. Finally, one of the more exciting players in the country I saw last year, Coastal Carolina’s Scott Woodward, is also returning for his senior campaign after not signing with the A’s out of the 15th round. Bloody good show Scott… I dig that.

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- With scholarship restrictions and the NCAA mandating how much money they can split their scholarships into, it’s rare to see classes like the one San Diego State will bring in, 22 players strong. Wow. And unlike most seasons, this year’s incoming talent is almost entirely frosh, with just two J.C. trasfers. Three of those 22 players were drafted but will come to school, in RHPs Mike Hachadorian, a 33rd round pick of the Yankees, Evan Thomas, a 39th round pick of the Rockies and Phillip Walby, a 50th rounder of the Orioles. In addition, joining those three will be San Diego High School Pitcher of the Year Keegan Yuhl, also a righty. As you might guess, all this pitching talent is quite pleasing to Aztec pitching coach Eric Valenzuela, who said, “All three were drafted low because of their asking price, but all three clubs made a big push to sign them at the end anyway. I have never been this excited to start a fall.” 

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- South Florida could be well-armed for a run next year as both of their weekend aces will return to Lelo Prado’s roster for their senior seasons. Randy Fontanez was picked in the 23rd round by the Reds. You DO recall that it was Fontanez who made headlines last April when he tossed a no-hitter vs. Notre Dame, right? ‘Course you do. Also bolstering the mound corps for the Bulls will be the return of 15th round selection Andrew Barbosa, who was 8-2 with a 2.40 ERA. That’s far out man.

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- New Houston head coach Todd Whitting has already run into a lot of good fortune in his ground-level tenure as a trio of juniors did not sign and will come back to campus in LHP Ty Stuckey (26th round, Reds), LHP William Kankel (33rd round, Astros) and RHP Jared Ray (38th round, Twins). That’s some valuable arms to help the transition of the new staff. Especially Ray, who was 2nd team All-Conference USA in 2009, but had to sit out last season. 

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- Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall would certainly have to be labeled one of the guys with the biggest smiles after last Monday’s happenings. His program was able to keep a hold of six incoming signees after getting drafted, led by 4th round hurler Matthew Grimes and 14th rounder DeAndre Smelter, both righties who Aaron Fitt wrote can both reach the mid-90s. Speaking of hard-throwing righties, Kevin Jacob was picked in the 18th round by the Yankees, but will come back for his senior campaign. 

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- What is it about being the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year that makes you less attractive to the pros? The last two P.O.Y.’s from C-USA both got drafted rather low and are going back to school for another season. The 2010 P.O.Y. Seth Maness of East Carolina didn’t get selected until the 41st round by the Marlins and 2009 P.O.Y. Todd McInnis of Southern Miss didn’t get drafted ’til the 32nd round by the A’s. (Though a lot of that had to do with a strained elbow he suffered near the end of the season, causing him to drop 15-to-20 rounds by some estimates). Great news for ECU, USM and college baseball in general, of course. So I’m not gonna hassle it.

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- Unfortunately, one of my favorite players to watch from last season, won’t be back for 2011, as Florida’s Kevin Chapman, a strapping lefty that could fire a ball through the Great Wall of China, signed with the Royals after getting picked in the 4th round. Although my guess is that the other nine SEC coaches don’t agree with my assertion that this is bad news. 

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- Ah, but don’t shed any Crocodile tears for the Gators as they were chosen as one of the “winners” from last Monday draft dodger rake. The biggest catch was getting one of those all-more-common 1st round pitchers to forego the pros for three years when No. 9 overall pick Karsten Whitson became the highest pick not to sign. Unlike Covey at USD, there didn’t appear to be any extenuating circumstances with his not signing, he just digs the college scene. Following in the footsteps of Gerrit Cole of UCLA and Matt Purke of TCU, look for Whitson to help lead the Gators back to Omaha – and will pull some wins this time around.

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- Don’t expect the Detroit Tigers to send Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn any thank you cards soon. Though they did sign 2nd round pick Drew Smyly from the UofA, OF Collin Kuhn didn’t sign as a 15th round pick and high schoolers Dominic Ficociello – a shortstop from, of all places, Fullerton, California – and OF Nolan Sanburn both turned down offers after being selected in the 23rd and 34th rounds. 

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- To hear Wayne Graham tell Aaron Fitt that RHPs Austin Kubitza (a 7th rounder) and John Simms (a 39th rounder) were “two of the best arms coming out of high school we’ve ever had” is downright scary to everybody who has Rice on their future schedule. Yeah, my open letter to Jameson Taillon didn’t work, but evidently these two should make up for that loss. Especially if they’re going to live up to the Big Man’s praises. Ho hum, the Rice parade of bitchin’ pitchin’ will continue to roll on unabated. 

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- Okay, I didn’t mean to save this for the very end, but I think UCLA head coach John Savage might be pissed at me if I didn’t mention something about the haul of players that will be coming to the Westwood campus this fall, ‘coz these guys are so decorated they’re making “clinking” noises from all the hardware they’ve earned. And it’s not like this team isn’t loaded for 2011 already, but Monday saw them hold on to all five of their high school signees that got drafted, including three that were chosen in the top 10 rounds in 6th round RHP Adam Plutko, 9th round OF Brenton Allen and 10th round RHP Zach Weiss. No pressure coach. 

Damn. Why did I just say that?

G’night.