Category: Draft

North Carolina and former Chatham pitcher Matt Harvey was drafted by the Mets with the seventh overall pick in tonight’s Major League draft. Harvey is the first Cape League alum taken in the 2010 draft.

It’s an interesting choice, because by the end of last summer, Harvey was not at the top of draft boards. He had a shaky sophomore season, and his summer wasn’t particularly good, either. But Harvey bounced back in a big way this season and worked his way back into first-round discussion.

Harvey follows in the footsteps of former North Carolina and Chatham pitchers Andrew Miller and Alex White, who both went in the first round in recent years.

The Major League Baseball draft is less than a month away. The draft doesn’t have a huge impact on the current Cape League season, but it does have some impact, thanks to players who are draft-eligible as sophomores. Some are in that position because they’ve taken a redshirt year and have been out of high school the required three years. Others are older than their classmates, with a 21st birthday that falls within 45 days of the draft.

I have yet to find a comprehensive list of all the draft-eligible sophomores who are likely to get picked, but I’ve been able to cobble together a list of 2010 Cape Leaguers who are eligible for the draft. I may have missed somebody, but this is a start at least.

A few of these guys are projected to go early, namely Zack Cox, who’s likely to go in the top 10 or 15 picks. I doubt Cox will make it to the Cape, but many of the others probably will, even if they get picked.

Rob Brantly – UC Riverside – Brewster
Garrett Buechele – Oklahoma – Hyannis
Zack Cox – Arkansas – Cotuit
Erik Goeddel – UCLA – Chatham
Tommy Kahnle – Lynn – Orleans
Dan Klein – UCLA – Chatham
Matt Koch – Loyola Marymount – Orleans
Drew Maggi – Arizona State – Orleans
Burny Mitchem – Dayton – Orleans
Michael Palazzone – Georgia – Brewster
Steve Selsky – Arizona – Orleans
Jordan Swagerty – Arizona State – Wareham
Aaron Westlake – Vanderbilt – Chatham

Also, two standouts from last summer are eligible for the draft as sophomores and aren’t currently on Cape League rosters: Wichita State’s Jordan Cooper and Tulane’s Rob Segedin.