Hobson taken by Blue Jays in 6th round of baseball draft
| Wednesday, Jun 10 2009 09:47 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jun 10 2009 10:46 PM
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John Harte / Special to The Californian Stockdale at Centennial baseball... K.C. Hobson was a one-man wrecking crew for the Stockdale Mustangs Tuesday, here delivering his second home run of the game, a three-run shot against Centennial. Hobson drove in seven runs in a SWYL rout. CQ
K.C. Hobson woke up Wednesday morning thinking the next three years would be about books and classrooms.
After a surprise phone call, those thoughts changed to baseballs and Canada.
The Toronto Blue Jays selected Hobson, a first baseman, in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball draft Wednesday morning, with the 190th pick overall -- the first of four locals to be picked on the draft's second day.
Hobson's choice was unexpected because he has a scholarship to Texas A&M waiting if he declines to sign with a professional club. His asking price for a contract, he said, was likely too high for clubs to use a pick on after Tuesday's second round.
“There were four teams in the mix that (were looking) at me in the second round,” said Hobson, whose dad, Butch Hobson, played and managed in the major leagues. “Every team went with a pitcher, and then the St. Louis Cardinals took a college first baseman. After that I figured I was going to slide.”
Hobson’s adviser, Ryan Hamil, told him as much after the second round was completed. Hobson’s asking price was more than slot money — MLB’s recommended signing price — for anything third round or below, and teams knew Hobson wouldn’t easily drop his number with a college scholarship to fall back on. At that point, a team might gamble a low-round pick on him on the off-chance that he would sign at a low cost anyway.
The Blue Jays, though, weren’t scared.
“I woke up, and my mom told me to turn the draft on,” Hobson said. “So I did, even though i wasn’t expecting to go till later (Wednesday) or even (today), because of what my asking price was.
“Then all of a sudden, my adviser called and said, ‘Hey, dude,’ and he was laughing. ‘Hey, the Blue Jays just picked you up in the sixth round.’ It was pretty exciting.
“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.”
Hamil told him the Blue Jays made sure of Hobson’s number before taking him in a relatively high round, so he’s now optimistic a deal will get done before the Aug. 17 deadline for teams to sign their picks.
“They don’t want to waste a sixth-round pick on a guy that might not sign,” Hobson said. “They called my dad, who’s good friends with the director of scouting there. My dad told him the number, he told the (general manager) and they went with the chance.”
For now Hobson will head east, where Butch Hobson manages the South Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. K.C. Hobson will work out with his dad’s team while Hamil negotiates with Toronto. The 18-year-old said he’s optimistic a deal will get done.
“They know where I stand, and there’s a good chance they give me the number I want,” he said. “It’s really not about the money; it’s where I value myself.”
Later Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates took Bakersfield College pitcher Marcos Reyna, who went to Delano High School, in the 14th round with the 415th pick overall.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Reyna said. “All my life (I’ve) been waiting for this. Ever since I started at 4 years old, practicing every day.”
Reyna said he told scouts before the draft that he’d be willing to negotiate for a contract if he were taken in the top 15 rounds, and he plans on doing that with the Pirates. If he doesn’t sign, he has another year of eligibility at BC.
Another BC freshman pitcher, Jarret Martin from Centennial High, was picked by the Baltimore Orioles in the 18th round — one round higher than the Orioles took him last year. This year’s selection was No. 536.
Martin said he’s lowered his price from last June and that though he couldn’t pitch most of this year for BC because of inflammation in his elbow, he was hopeful of signing this time around — especially considering the Orioles said they’d be willing to pay out of slot for him.
“They told me, ‘We didn’t draft you not to sign you,’” Martin said. “My dream is not to be drafted high; it’s to be a Major League Baseball player.”
BC coach Tim Painton said both pitchers’ stocks would rise even higher if they returned for their sophomore years.
“But that’s not my job to persuade them one way or another,” Painton said. We’re just happy they have this opportunity.”
The Florida Marlins took former Liberty pitcher Jared Eskew out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the 29th round. Eskew just finished his final season at Cal Poly.
