It has been three weeks since the MLB draft and Coach O'Connor and Co. all but know how it will affect them in the 2013 season. With only four players selected in the draft, it was the least amount of Cavaliers that had been chosen since 2006 when only Tom Hagan and Mike Ballard were selected. This is also what happens when you have eight players selected the year before.
You can look at it as a down year for the Hoos or you can look at it as a blessing for UVa fans since only four players were chosen and two seniors were signed. That means there will be a lot of familiar faces next year in the UVa dugout at the Dav.
Chris Taylor made his dreams come true by being selected in the fifth round by the Seattle CavaliersMariners. Since being selected, he wasted no time in signing for a 500k signing bonus which was well over slot value and the most (so far) for any player taken in the 5th round! The Mariners must be really high on Chris thanks to the great years other former Cavaliers (Proscia, Hicks, Hultzen, Carraway) are having in their system.
Not to be out done, Stephen Bruno was selected soon after in the 7th round by the Cubs. Bruno signed for 150K and has already been shipped to Boise.
Shane Halley was the final Wahoo taken in the draft selected by the Royals in the 20th round. I understand that Shane has signed but I can't find out any information as to how much he signed for or where he has been assigned to play.
The best news out of the draft for Oak was that none of his high school commits were drafted. Every year the coaching staff has to sweat out the draft and the signing deadline praying that none of their commits will leave. I am not highly versed on previous year's commitments since the baseball draft is affected so much by high school players but I can't remember the last year Coach O'Connor didn't lose a single player to the draft.
The only thing that is uncertain for next year will be whether Branden Kline will be back in the orange and blue uniform. Kline was selected in the 2nd round by the Orioles and has not signed yet. He has certainly been in contact with the O's on a daily basis and will have until the July 13th deadline to ink a deal. The good news for Branden is that the three college juniors taken just before him and the one taken directly after him have signed so it looks like he should get a bonus somewhere around 700-750,000. The bad news for him (but good news for us!) is that the Orioles haven't signed their first, fourth, or fifth round draftees either. Any of those players could sign for over slot which could take money away from the offer to O's could make. There is certainly a chance that Kline might not sign and could return for his fourth year but I don't see that happening. The O's will likely offer him a similar amount to the others around him and Kline will be wearing Orange and Black next spring. Sorry guys
Away from the draft but other feel good stories, both fourth years that exhausted their eligibility (Justin Thompson and Keith Werman) both signed with teams. Justin signed with the Diamondbacks and is not playing with the Missoula Osprey while Keith signed with the Cavaliers Mariners and is playing with the Arizona League Mariners. Congrats and good luck to both of them as well!
We knew going in to the season and after the season that the future was bright for UVa, but now that the draft and signings are all but over, the future might be even brighter.