A run on college players and some familiar last names made Day 2 of the 2014 MLB Draft one to remember.
Day 2 of the 2014 MLB Draft may have lacked star power, but it featured some last names that baseball fanatics will likely remember.
Perhaps the most famous surname belonged to shortstop Luke Dykstra, son of former Phillies All-Star outfielder Lenny Dykstra. Catcher Shane Zeile may also bring a nostalgic twinkle to the eyes of some fans, though maybe not among the faithful of the team who drafted him. The Detroit Tigers somehow managed to miss out on being one of the 11 teams his Uncle Todd played for during his 16-year career.
A quick look at this wonderful list complied by MLB.com shows that this just continued a trend from Thursday, and one which will likely pop up again on Saturday as the sons of Manny Ramirez and Mariano Rivera are still looking to be drafted. Along with relatives of former players, college players proved popular on the second day of picks, with many of the high-reward high schoolers having left the board on Day 1.
According to MLB.com's Draft Central, 20 of the first 30 picks on the second day spent time in college.
In fact, those who managed to make it all the way through school ended up being extremely popular on Friday, as 69 of the college players selected on Day 2 were seniors. Several front office executives see this as a function of the relatively new rules governing the bonus pool that GM's can offer extra money to draftees from. Signing relatively cheap seniors can allow for the money allotted to their draft slots to be used on other later, younger draft picks which may require more money to sign than they are "allowed" to spend on the player at that draft position without money from the bonus pool.
Seniors, unlike younger players with remaining eligibility, are not in a position to simply go back to school as a negotiation tactic, which makes them easy choices for "bonus" budget-conscious GMs. Brewers scouting director Bruce Seid summed it up when talking to MLB.com. "Not speaking for everyone, but of course, based on the new rules, you have to be a little more cognizant of the senior players. They're a big part of the Draft now," he said.
However, although they may be drafted a little earlier than if they didn't provide the team a small amount of financial aid, many of those seniors picked on Day 2 were seen as legitimate prospects by the teams who selected them. As Seid puts it, "We didn't just close our eyes and take a senior, we took seniors we think can be pretty good players."
The second day also marked the first pick of the 2014 draft for the Orioles, who lost all of their first day picks after signing Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz away from the Indians and Rangers, respectively. They took high school lefthander Brian Gonzalez 90th overall.
Perhaps most importantly, Day Two of the 2014 MLB Draft will forever be the day that the name Brock Dyzkhoorn -- from West Virginia University by way of Ontario -- entered our lives.