BASEBALL AMERICA: ELITE PROGRAMS DOMINATE THE RANKINGS

Cadyn Grenier turned down $1.5 million from St. Louis to play at Oregon State.  That was unbelievable.  The Cardinals indicated that they would draft Grenier in the first round, if he took the money.  Grenier wanted more, so the Cardinals drafted Nick Plummer.

There was some chatter that Madrigal could be a first rounder.  According to Coach Casey, Madrigal told him that he thought that he could be a first rounder.  Casey told him that, if he came to Oregon State, he would be a first rounder.

Despite the fact that most teams saw that Madrigal was probably going to go to Oregon State, the Indians still thought enough of Madrigal to pick him in the 17th Round.  The Cardinals picked Madrigal in the 21st Round.  The Padres picked Larnach in the 40th Round.

Everyone knew that those three were going to be great players at the college level.  If anything, though, Grenier never really played to potential.  Namely, his hitting never really materialized.  He was college fast and he was a phenomenal fielder.  Fortunately, Casey got Grenier to basically perfect bunting, during his three years, which helped him to become a bit more dangerous at the plate.  Madrigal and Larnach developed, though, much like Casey knew that they would.  Larnach was more work than Madrigal.  Madrigal was basically great from the get-go.  They needed to overhaul Larnach's swing to get the most out of it.