We’re back for the third and final day of baseball’s amateur draft – rounds 31-50 — and if you think a big league-quality player can’t be found in the later rounds, you could be wrong.
Jason Vargas, who has settled nicely into the Mariners’ starting rotation, was a second-round pick o
f the Florida Marlins in 2004. But before that, he went in the 43rd round of the 2001 draft to the Twins before heading off to college.
So yeah, in general today’s crop will be comprised of players who may head off to college and be drafted again in three years, or players who’ll be career minor leaguers, or guys who are the grandsons of the brothers of the cousins of a former scouting director.
We’ll update this on the half hour throughout the day until the draft ends. With that, we’re off with the Mariners picks:
• 31st round (933rd overall pick): Kyle Hunter, left-handed pitcher from Kansas State University. He went 5-5 with a 4.57 earned run average in 30 relief outings this year, holding hitters to a .218 average. The 6-2, 207-pound Hunter was drafted in the 43rd round by the Yankees last year but he decided to return to K-State.
• 32nd round (963rd): Ryan Hawthorne, left-handed pitcher from Loyola Marymount. The 6-1, 190-pounder went 0-3, 2.31 this year and held hitters to a .195 average.
• 33rd round (993rd): Jeremy Dobbs, left-handed pitcher from Austin Peay. This is the same school the Mariners found relief pitcher Shawn Kelley. Dobbs, 6-1 and 171 pounds, went 9-3, 3.59 in 18 games (13 starts) this year. The Orioles drafted him in the 30th round in 2008.
• 34th round (1023rd): Taylor Smith-Brennan, second baseman from Edmonds Community College. For the second time in this draft, the Mariners take a local player, this time Smith-Brennan, an Edmonds CC freshman who played high school ball at Meadowdale.
• 35th round (1053rd): Cory Scammell, left fielder from St. Francis Xavier High School. The 6-0, 205 pounder bats left and throws right.
• 36th round (1083rd): Bo Reeder, right-handed pitcher from East Tennessee State. Reeder, 6-0 and 175 pounds, was 0-1, 1.95 with 18 saves and 32 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings. He held hitters to a .165 average. He also made a difference with his bat, hitting .316/361/.566 with 15 homers and 59 RBI for East Tennessee.
• 37th round (1113rd): Jeremy Null, right-handed pitcher from Bunker Hill (N.C.) High School. At 6-7 and 200 pounds, he’s another of those big righties the Mariners are fond of taking.
• 38th round (1143rd): Alexander Sunderland, right-handed pitcher from Claremont McKenna College. The 6-3, 200 pounder went 5-6, 4.03 in 14 starts.
• 39th round (1173rd): Chris Andreas, first baseman at Sam Houston State. He’s a 6-3, 215 pounder who batted .332 and hit 12 homers with 54 RBI this year.
• 40th round (1203rd): Trevor Miller, right-handed pitcher from San Joaquin Delta College. He’s 6-3 and 190 pounds.
• 41st round(1233rd): Bobby Shore, right-handed pitcher from Oklahoma University. He’s 6-1, 177 and went 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA for the Sooner this year.
• 42nd round (1263rd): David Villasuso, catcher from the University of Miami. He’s a 5-10, 198 pounder who batted .217/.263/.333 this year for the Hurricanes.
• 43rd round (1293rd): Marcos Reyna, right-handed pitcher from Bakersfield Junior College. He’s a 6-1, 185 pounder who went 4-4, 2.41 in 11 starts, with 85 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings. He held opposing hitters to a .172 average.
• 44th round (1323rd): Joshua Corrales, right-handed pitcher from Cal State Dominguez Hills. He’s a 6-2, 205 pounder who went 6-2, 2.21 in 13 starts with 90 strikeouts and 26 walks in 89 2/3 innings.
• 45th round (1353rd): Charles Jimenez, right fielder from Milton (Fla.) High School. He’s a big kid with some big offensive numbers: 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds with averages this year of .402/.465/.552.
• 46th round (1383rd): Maxx Catapano, right-handed pitcher from Lee University in Tennessee. The 6-4, 215 pounder from Milford, Conn., went 9-5, 2.29 for Lee. He was a playoff pickup last summer in the Cape Cod League.
• 47th round (1413rd): Brandon Plotz, right-handed pitcher from Chabot (Calif.) College. He’s a 6-3, 200 pounder who went 8-1, 3.11 this year.
• 48th round (1443rd): Max Krakowiak, right-handed pitcher from Fordham University. He’s a 6-3, 205 pounder who went 5-6, 4.23 in 14 starts this year.
• 49th round (1473rd): Andrew Grifol, first baseman at Santa Fe College in Florida. He’s the younger brother of Mariners minor league director Pedro Grifol. Andrew Grifol, 5-11 and 195, batted .313/.406/.476 with five home runs and 38 RBI this year at Santa Fe.
• 50th round (1503rd): Esteban Tresgallo, first baseman from Colegio Marista de Guaynabo High School in Puerto Rico.
That ends three days of selections by the Mariners, although the work now begins to sign the newly drafted players. We’ll talk with Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara shortly to get his thoughts on the draft.
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