Now that the dust has settled on the 2010 LSU baseball season, the waiting game begins.Teams selected 10 LSU prospects out of a possible 19 during the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, held Monday through Wednesday. The prospects have until Aug. 16 to sign with the team or decide to enroll in college.Three prospects went in the first round. The Houston Astros selected outfielder Delino Deshields Jr. with the eighth pick. The Los Angeles Dodgers selected right-handed pitcher Zach Lee with the 28th pick, and the Los Angeles Angels selected right-handed pitcher Cameron Bedrosian with the 29th pick. Lee, arguably the most highly touted of the recruits, committed to play quarterback for the LSU football team. The freshman from McKinney, Texas, has already arrived on campus for school and summer workouts with the football team. LSU coach Paul Mainieri said the Dodgers’ selection of Lee surprised him because of Lee’s reputation of being the “toughest player to sign in all of the country.” “From my knowledge, they had not really had any conversations with him about whether or not he was signable,” Mainieri said. The Dodgers’ owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt, are currently going through a divorce, which has prompted speculation that the team might not be able to afford its first round pick.”It’s no secret that the Dodgers are having a little bit of a difficult time right now because of the divorce between the McCourts, who own the team,” Mainieri said. If the Dodgers fail to sign Lee, they will receive a compensatory pick in next year’s draft. LSU football coach Les Miles sounded optimistic in a news release about Lee’s chances to enroll in school in the fall.”Zach wants to come to LSU, get a degree and play football and baseball for the Tigers,” Miles said in a news release. “Zach is an outstanding student, and he’s excited about the college experience.” If Lee signs with the Dodgers, LSU will have no quarterback commitments for the 2010 recruiting class. Mainieri said he thought DeShields would likely sign because of his early selection. “DeShields surprised me just a little bit. I thought he’d probably go in the second round,” Mainieri said. “He’s asking for the moon. My guess is he’s probably going to get it where he got drafted, and we’ll probably end up losing him.”As for Bedrosian, Mainieri seemed uncertain because of the Angels’ draft choices.”The Angels have an exorbitant amount of picks, so I have no idea of what their intentions are,” Mainieri said. “They seemed to have drafted a lot of right-handed pitchers with those early picks. I don’t know if they’re going to say ‘This is it, take it or leave it’ and move on to the next guy, or if they’re going to try to sign him for what he’s asking for.”LSU had seven prospects selected on day two of the draft. The Boston Red Sox selected shortstop Garin Cecchini in the fourth round and outfielder Lucas LeBlanc in the 11th round.The Dodgers picked pitcher Kevin Gausman in the sixth round. Infielder Jacoby Jones went to the Houston Astros in the 19th round, outfielder Austin Southall to the San Francisco Giants in the 19th round and pitcher Ryan Eades to the Colorado Rockies in the 19th round.The last of the prospects, catcher Ty Ross, went to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 46th round. Mainieri said he knows it will be a long summer of waiting before the team is put together. “That’s what happens when you recruit good players,” Mainieri said. “Obviously we recruited a lot of good players.”Mainieri said the coaches will hit the recruiting trail again if they need to, but will wait to see how the draft plays out.”You spend all this time recruiting kids, and then with just a decision, teams draft players and start throwing money their way,” Mainieri said. “At the end of the day, if the kid wants to sign, he’s going to sign. In the end all you can do is be the best team you can be with who you have.”
 
 
 
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