Second day of MLB Draft sees little action for local hopefuls
NORTHWEST GLENDALE — When Stanford pitcher Mark Appel, who was widely projected as a potential No. 1 pick, fell all the way to eighth on the first day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Monday, the writing was on the wall for some draft day disappointment.
The theme certainly carried over for local prospects hoping to hear their name called on Tuesday when the draft resumed for the second through 15th rounds.
Right-handed pitcher Alex Muren, a member of last season’s inaugural Glendale Angelenos squad, was the only player with local ties to be selected Tuesday, as he was scooped up by the Minnesota Twins with the 370th overall pick in the 12th round.
Even that was a slip from what some had prognosticated for the Cal State Northridge junior, but not compared to the waiting-in-vain game that befell some other local athletes.
“I’m definitely surprised not just about myself, but there’s guys that I’ve played with that definitely should have gone a lot higher and didn’t,” said Crescenta Valley High senior Troy Mulcahey, who had hoped to be taken early on Tuesday, but instead will have to wait until today when rounds 16-50 play out. “In my eyes the draft was really [unpredictable]. No one knew that a bunch of these guys that were supposed to go in the first round were going in the 10th and 11th, so it’s a big shock to a lot of us.”
Mulcahey was referring to fellow high school seniors Trey Williams from Valencia and Virant Hunter from Adolfo Camarillo, who both ended up going later than expected in the 11th round.
A four-year starter for the Falcons, Mulcahey seemed to indicate he is now leaning toward playing college ball whether or not he is drafted today.
“[I’ll be watching] just to see where I’m going to go,” Mulcahey said. “As of right now, obviously I’m looking at the draft, but now I’m starting to look at colleges. Maybe [I’ll] go for a year and try to get drafted higher. As of right now, I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Muren, an Angelenos all-star last summer, went 5-8 for the Matadors with a 5.30 earned-run average while striking out 47 batters in 91 2/3 innings.
“I can’t comment as to his decision until he makes that decision, but I would say that we discussed prior to the draft letting him just see what happened during the draft and if he got drafted I thought that he would go out and play professional baseball,” said Angelenos Coach Tony Riviera, who has Muren listed on his current roster, but that will eventually be a wait-and-see development considering Muren’s signing decision. “Alex has shown velocity as high as 95 miles per hour this year. ...I just think that this kid is a strong competitor and he needs to go out and start his professional career. I think that going higher next year is always a possibility, but why prolong the inevitable?”
Riviera had high hopes for a host of other Angelenos going in Tuesday’s rounds, including Matthew Young (Cal State Dominguez Hills), Randall Fant (University of Arkansas), Crescenta Valley graduate Chad Nacapoy (Cal State LA), Hoover graduate Sako Chapjian (Cal State Dominguez Hills), Devon Ramirez (Cal state Dominguez Hills), Greg Fowler (New Mexico Highlands) and Glendale Community College’s Alonzo Gonzalez and Cameron Gardner, but there have been no takers so far.
“I’m very surprised that Matthew Young wasn’t taken much higher,” Riviera said. “That kid is a true five-tool player with star power.
“I’m very surprised that Alex wasn’t taken much higher, but I think from speaking to scouts and scouting directors, I think that nobody really had a handle on how the draft was going to play out based on money and based on slots and everything else. Nobody had a concrete plan and it seemed like everybody had a different philosophy on how to approach the draft.
“I think what you’re going to see [today] is a lot of [college] seniors taken. The reason that I believe that is based on the way slot money is right now and the collective bargaining agreement, it’s not gonna make sense to draft a high school player and not know signability.”