MLB Draft Day: Frisco RoughRiders in the Draft

In honor of today’s draft, we decided to take a look back at the drafting of today’s Frisco RoughRiders, where they went in the draft and next to whom. Eleven RoughRiders were international non-drafted free agents, and therefore, not subjected to the MLB June Amateur draft. Zach Zaneski, went undrafted in 2008, the lone RoughRider from the US/Canada/Puerto Rico (subject to the draft) not to be drafted by a major league organization.

(Tonight’s draft coverage begins at 5:00 pm CT on MLB Network and at www.MLB.com, by the way)

Here goes the rest of the team, in chronological order:

2006 Draft

2nd Round, 64nd overall: OF Joe Benson (Joliet Catholic Academy) selected by the Minnesota Twins

Selected directly after Thomas Hickson (Marlins), directly before Drew Carpenter (Phillies)

17th Round, 506th overall: RHP Kevin Pucetas (Limestone College) selected by the San Francisco Giants

Selected directly after Tony Watson (Orioles), directly before Brett Reynolds (Diamondbacks)

47th Round, 1392 overall: RHP Justin Miller (Bakersfield College) selected by Colorado Rockies (DID NOT SIGN)

Selected directly after Ryan Cisterna (Royals), directly before Brandon Brown (Devil Rays)

2007 Draft

Supplemental 1st Round, 44th overall: RHP Neil Ramirez (Kempsville HS) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Jackson Williams (Giants) and directly before Justin Jackson (Blue Jays)

2008 Draft

6th Round, 179th overall: 2B Alex Buchholz (University of Delaware) selected by the Cincinnati Reds

Selected directly after Graham Johnson (Marlins) and directly before Kenneth Williams (White Sox)

6th Round, 183rd overall: LHP Richard Bleier (Florida Gulf Coast University) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after J.B Shuck (Astros) and directly before Tyreace House (Athletics)

16th Round, 483 overall: RHP Justin Miller (California State University Fresno) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Josh Poytress (Astros) and directly before Matthew Fits (Athletics)

32nd Round, 963rd overall: RHP Tyler Tufts (Indiana University-Bloomington) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after B.A. Vollmuth (Astros) and directly before Ben Hornbeck (Athletics)

2009 Draft

4th Round, 116th overall: RHP Randy Henry (South Mountain Community College) selected by the Baltimore Orioles

Selected directly after Zack Dodson (Pirates) and directly before Jason Stoffel (Giants)

5th Round, 154th overall: RHP Nick McBride (Ragsdale HS) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Steven Parker (Pirates) and directly before Austin Adams (Indians)

2010 Draft

6th Round, 196th overall: C Brett Nicholas (University of Missouri Columbia) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Logan Darnell (Twins) and directly before Rett Varner (Marlins)

7th Round, 226th overall: LHP Jimmy Reyes (Elon University) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Matt Hauser (Twins) and directly before Mark Canha (Marlins)

10th Round, 316th overall: SS Jared Hoying (University of Toledo) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after J.D. Williams (Twins) and directly before Aaron Senne (Marlins)

15th Round, 446th overall: RHP Ryan Rodebaugh (Kennesaw State University) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Thomas Girdwood (Twins) and directly before Ryan Fisher (Marlins)

16th Round, 496th overall: CF Ryan Strausborger (Indiana State University) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Clint Dempster (Twins) and directly before Randy LeBlanc (Marlins)

22nd Round, 676th overall: RHP Ben Rowen (Virginia Polytechnic Institue and State University) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Dillon Moyer (Twins) and directly before Jeremy Heatley (Marlins)

2011 Draft

30th Round, 924th overall: RHP Phil Klein (Youngstown State University) selected by the Texas Rangers

Selected directly after Justin Miller (Padres) and directly before Joe Terry (Reds)

A few notes:

• Neil Ramirez is the highest RoughRiders player drafted
• The lowest drafted RoughRiders roster man was Justin Miller his first time, but he did not sign in 2006. The lowest drafted player to sign is Tyler Tufts.
• The Frisco roster (as of 6/6/13) consists of:
• (1) one high school hitter (Benson)
• (2) two high school pitchers (McBride, Ramirez)
• (9) nine college pitchers (Bleier, Henry, Klein, Miller, Pucetas, Reyes, Rodebaugh, Rowen, Tufts) — including two junior college pitchers (Henry, Pucetas)
• (5) five college hitters (Buchholz, Hoying, Nicholas, Strausborger, Zaneski)
• (4) four international pitchers (Font, Mavare, Mendez, Pimentel)
• (7) seven international hitters (Alberto, Chiang, Herrera, Martinez, Rodriguez, Selen, Telis)
• The players were drafted out of the following years:
• 2006: 3 (if you include Justin Miller who didn’t sign)
• 2007: 1
• 2008: 4
• 2009: 2
• 2010: 6
• 2011: 1
• Of the 16 drafted players, 12 were selected by and signed with Texas.
• Henry (Orioles) came over in the Teagarden trade on December 1, 2011.
• Buchholz (Reds) was taken in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft on December 8, 2011.
• Pucetas (Giants) played with three major league organizations before signing with Texas in the offseason.
• Benson (Minnesota) was taken off of waivers by Texas on May 25, 2013.
• Phil Klein, the lone 2011 draftee on the team, is one of just three players from his round that year to have played at Double-A or higher. Will Clinard also went in the 30th round in 2011 and was just promoted and made his Double-A debut for the Erie SeaWolves on Tuesday. Justin Miller, yes another one, has not only played at Double-A but also at Triple-A for the Padres. In fact, he played AGAINST Frisco twice this season as a member of the San Antonio Missions (0-for-3, R, BB in 2 G). He is back at Advanced-A, playing for Lake Elsinore right now.

Enjoy the draft and go ‘Riders!

______

The Frisco RoughRiders play at 7:05 tonight in San Antonio against the Missions. You can find other interesting tidbits, facts, news and notes in our daily game notes by clicking here.

And of course I would be remiss if I did not congratulate Chris McGuiness on getting his first call to the Show! Congrats to the author of one of the best season’s in recent ‘Riders history. Best of luck!

It’s also big news for us around here, as he is the 100th RoughRiders player to go onto MLB after his time in Frisco. We will have more on Chris here at the Insider Blog, and a look back at his time here, in the coming days.

- Nathan

Baseball term of the day: draftitis — an affliction that hurts a player’s draft status in the period leading up to the draft whereby the player withers under scouts’ scruitiny and fails to display his skills

(term from The Dickson Baseball Dictionary)