The early rounds of the Major League Baseball draft have had an Arizona presence the last few years. It should continue Monday when the MLB's draft kicks off.
In years past it was Tim Alderson of Horizon (Phoenix) going No. 22 overall in the first round to the Giants in 2007, Jaff Decker of Sunrise Mountain (Peoria) going to San Diego in 2008 at 42nd overall, Taylor Lindsey of Desert Mountain (Scottsdale) at No. 37 to the Angels in 2010 or Kevin Cron of Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) going in the third round to Seattle last season.
The consensus is
Mitch Nay of
Hamilton (Chandler) will be the first Arizona high school player taken off the board. The Arizona State recruit is 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds with a quality bat with power that will continue to grow as his body fills out.
"He is a great all-around player and is right there with anyone in our state," Mountain Pointe coach Brandon Buck said. "You never know with a draft and what teams are thinking, but he is going to go high."
Most projections have Nay among the Top 100 prospects in the nation including draft-eligible college players.
Willie Ethington, Mountain View
File photo by Kevin French
The other sure thing might be
Mountain View (Mesa) righthander
Willie Ethington, another Arizona State recruit. Ethington touches 89 to 90 mph on the radar gun and has a lively ball that darts and moves.
The three other remaining in the top five picks are a little less certain as
Tony Blanford of
Boulder Creek (Anthem),
Joey Curletta of Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) and
Dylan Cozens of
Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) all have question marks.
Blanford was hot coming into the season but was kicked off his team for unknown reasons. Curletta had a huge drop off in numbers offensively (from .420 and 21 home runs to .340 and four home runs), but touched 94 on the radar gun as he had an ERA around 1.25 in just more than 30 innings. The Arizona recruit is 6-4 and 235 pounds, ran a 6.60 60-yard dash and can play every outfield position along with first base.
"There is no one more athletic in the draft," Buck said. "They (the scouts) love his body and his athleticism and when it hit the low 90s their interest cranked up even more."
Last but not least is Cozens, who wowed everyone with his power display, hitting 19 home runs, including a walk-off shot to win the Division I state title, along with a .520 average. He is a another big body (6-5, 230) and is an Arizona recruit for football, but he missed most of his junior year after being kicked off the team at Desert Mountain leading to his transfer to Chaparral.
However the draft goes, it is clear Arizona will be well represented.
"We have some big names out there that teams are going to want to take a look at," Buck said. "We had a lot of parity this year, but by no means was the individual talent down."
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Ahwatukee Foothill News staff writer, is a 17-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.
