Draft drumroll for Sun Devils
May 19th, 2008, 10:12 am · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
Catcher Petey Paramore, third baseman Brett Wallace and first baseman/pitcher Ike Davis could give Arizona State three first-round selections in the June draft.
Ike Davis and Brett Wallace were having lunch together recently when when it dawned on them that Major League Baseball’s amateur draft is less than three weeks away.
Considering that Davis and Wallace have been projected to be first-round selections during the June 5-6 draft, one might think that the Arizona State stars would be counting the minutes. But Davis said that the Sun Devils’ present — competing for a national championship — supersedes his personal future.
“The juniors and seniors on the team know it’s going to happen, so we try not to think about it,” Davis said. “Me and ‘Wally’ couldn’t believe the draft was coming so quickly. It still seems so far away, and if you get too caught up in it, it can be a distraction that can hurt your play.”
Davis, a first baseman/pitcher, and Wallace, a third baseman, are considered among the top 10 hitting prospects. Petey Paramore, the second-best college catching prospect behind Buster Posey of Florida State, is rated among the top 35 players available on some boards and could sneak into the first round.
Since the major-league draft went to its current format in 1987, ASU has not had three first-round choices in one year. It has had a pair of first-rounders three times: pitcher Sean Lowe and outfielder Todd Steverson in 1992, infielder Antone Williamson and outfielder Jacob Cruz in ’94 and pitcher Ryan Bradley and outfielder Dan McKinley in ’97.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had three prospects this good at once,” ASU coach Pat Murphy said. “But I never look at it like that. For me, they are ballplayers, not prospects. Those three ballplayers have helped us win a lot of games.”
Among ASU’s other draft prospects, outfielder Jason Kipnis, catcher Kiel Roling, infielder Marcel Champagnie and pitcher Reyes Dorado have eligibility remaining but figure to be picked high enough that they will opt to sign. Outfielder Ryan Sontag and pitchers Josh Satow, Dustin Brader and Tommy Rafferty are seniors.
This year’s draft commences the day before super-regional play begins.
“It can be a big distraction,” Murphy said. “But we’ve been really authentic with the kids about it. It’s an important and exciting day for them, so let’s not try and diminish it. At the same time, we want to identify what it is. It’s not the defining moment of your career. It is one day, an exciting day, but it’s not a day that changes whether you are going to get to the big leagues or not.”
There is always chatter about college coaches and Major League Baseball working together to find a draft date that does not conflict with the NCAA tournament.
However, MLB does not want to have the draft too early because scouts feel that players from cold-weather locales cannot be properly evaluated early in the season. It does not want the draft too late because that means less time for players to sign and report to short-season rookie ball.
“We’ve been doing it this way for so long, there’s really no sense in bellyaching about it,” Murphy said.
As usual, the draft impacts ASU beyond its current roster, as a handful of 2009 signees are potential high picks. Infielder Eric Hosmer of Plantation, Fla., and catcher Kyle Skipworth of Riverside, Calif., will likely never don ASU colors; they are top-10 high school prospects and first-round projections.
Closer to home, signee Riccio Torrez of Phoenix Brophy Prep has been considered likely to come to ASU to potentially form a double-play combination with his brother, Raoul, the Sun Devils’ starting second baseman. However, Raoul Torrez said that the draft winds are starting to blow in his family’s home.
“I’ve been home a couple times, and there have been scouts there,” Torrez said. “He’s having fun letting it play out, but I’m working him. I want him to come here because I think it will benefit him. I think he’ll make the right choice to come here.”
Murphy reiterated what he said in November: He believes that most of the Sun Devils’ key signees will enroll in school.
