Draft could bring returns for some talented Knights

Stephen Strasburg may be the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB's First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday, unless his agent, Scott Boras, gets Strasburg's price too high for the Washington Nationals' blood.

And while the first round will be littered with superb college talent and prep standouts, UCF players hoping to hear their names called will have to wait a little bit longer; that's if recent history is any indicator.

The Knights have had four players selected in the first round of the draft, most recently when the Minnesota Twins used a supplemental first-round pick to take pitcher Matt Fox in 2004. In the next four years, three Knights were selected before the 10th round, highlighted by the third-round selection of pitcher Mike Billek in 2005.

UCF, which came on late in the season to finish 22-35, could have a couple players selected come Tuesday.

"I think there are several seniors on our team who are hoping that they'll have the opportunity to sign a professional contract," UCF Baseball head coach Terry Rooney said in phone interview Saturday. "I think there are a couple of kids worthy of that, but that's up to the professional team to make the decision."

UCF had one senior selected last year, infielder Dwayne Bailey. The Knights have a couple of seniors who could be picked this time around, including first baseman Kiko Vazquez, outfielder Colin Arnold and catcher/outfielder Brandon Romans.

Romans led the Knights with 14 home runs last season, and Vazquez was right behind him with 13. Both players had an OPS of more than 1.000.

Within the rules of the draft, third baseman-cum-outfielder Chris Duffy and third baseman-cum-second baseman Shane Brown, both juniors, could be selected.

According MLB.com, students who have completed their junior year or are at least 21 years old can be selected, and high school students "in the United States or Canada who have exhausted their eligibility to participate in high school athletics are eligible for selection." All junior college students are eligible.

"I think there's a possibility of one or two of those guys getting picked," Rooney said of the juniors. "You know, there's a lot that goes into that. There's a lot of different things that go into the draft. One is signability. There's a bunch of different factors. I think we have some kids on our team who have the ability to play professional baseball, we have a few of them. Whether or not someone wants to sign them as a junior is up to them."

 

Brown, a former walk-on, was UCF's best hitter during the season, leading the team with a .341 average, 73 hits and a .431 on-base percentage.

 

Duffy has heard his name called before, when the Chicago White Sox pick the Orlando Sentinel All-Central Florida First Teamer in the ninth round with the 285th pick.

 

Duffy elected to join the Knights, a choice many of the UCF recruits that have been drafted do not make.

 

Including the 2005 draft, the Knights have had 19 signees selected, and a total of nine of those have elected to enroll at UCF.

 

Of those nine, eight were on the 2009 roster, including Vazquez, who was selected in 30th round of the 2005 draft, and pitcher Kyle Sweat, who picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 42nd round of the same draft.

 

But one place the draft hammers home its importance is with recruits and signees.

 

Two signees drafted last season, two-way player D.J. Hicks and outfielder B.J.

Zimmerman, joined Rooney's squad, and now Rooney will wait to see what the draft brings for his first recruiting class.

 

"Listen, every single player that I've ever recruited, that signs with UCF, I want their aspirations to be to play professional baseball and reach the Major Leagues," Rooney said.

"I want that to be one of their personal goals. I tell them that in the recruiting process.

"With that being said, we are only going to sign players who first and foremost priority is to receive an education and have the college experience. Every single player I've always  signed, that's what their No. 1 priority is, and will continue to be."

 

But Rooney stressed that in order to build the program, he will need to sign high school players with the talent to get drafted.

 

"You have to sign players that are good enough to play professional baseball out of high school. You certainly need to sign a high percentage of those guys. So when you sign those caliber of players, there's certainly going to be a risk, it's a risk-reward in signing them."

 

Rooney said he advises players about the draft but leaves the ultimate decision up to them.

 

"Every situation is different, whether it's a recruit, whether it's a junior and whether it's a senior, all three are kind of different scenarios," Rooney said. "You try to educate the kids on the process a little bit, and really that's my biggest thing is trying to educate the kids on what they can expect, and then, obviously, they have to make their own decisions along with their family with what they think is the best situation possible."