KFDM COOP Posted June 6, 2006 Report Posted June 6, 2006 www.southeasttexaslive.com Angelle has eyes on state, MLB draft Bridge City baseball player Kevin Angelle better remember to bring his cellular phone with him on the team bus today. Otherwise the left-handed pitcher might have to wait until he arrives with his teammates in Round Rock for the UIL state tournament to find out where he was selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Angelle is projected to be selected as high as the fourth round of the draft, a two-day, 50-round process that begins today. Then he'll likely be handed the ball to start the Cardinals' Class 3A semifinal game against Texarkana Liberty-Eylau at 4 p.m. Wednesday. "Right now I'm just worried about the state baseball tournament and the team," said Angelle, who is 12-1 with a 1.74 earned-run average. "That's all I'm worried about. "If I get drafted, I'll just get a phone call, so it's not that big a deal. I'm real focused right now on winning a state championship." Angelle is rated the No. 90 pitching prospect nationally by Baseball America. The publication rated him No. 136 among all players. He's the 23rd left-handed pitcher on the list. Also a first baseman, Angelle is batting .440 with 41 runs batted in. Angelle said he hopes to be selected in the top five rounds but acknowledged his asking price might be higher than most teams are willing to pay. His mother, Connie, said the family determined a dollar figure that would make skipping college worth it, and she said the bar was set rather high. "We told them our price, and some teams said that's too high," she said. If Angelle is selected, he said he hopes to be designated as a draft-and-follow prospect, meaning he could play at a junior college next season and sign with the team at any time until a week before next year's draft. Angelle said he plans to attend San Jacinto College in Houston. Astros pitchers Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens also played at San Jacinto. Pettitte was a draft-and-follow who signed with the New York Yankees. Clemens transferred to Texas. Former Woodville pitcher Casey Beck, a right-handed freshman at San Jacinto, is No. 103 among all players. Angelle signed a letter of intent to play at Texas A&M last fall, but his plans shifted when scouts told him he might be drafted. Players at four-year universities are not eligible to be drafted until after their junior season or until they are 21 years old. By attending San Jacinto, Angelle, 18, could remain unsigned and be drafted again next year. Angelle acknowledged he might not be selected until later rounds today because of a high asking price. "If he proves himself and has a good year (next season), then he has a chance of getting the money that he wanted," Connie Angelle said. "What they're telling him is he'll drop down (in the draft), but (they said), 'We're going to watch you, and we'll take you (in a lower round).'" The top drafted players sign for millions. Shortstop Justin Upton was last year's No. 1 overall pick. He signed with Arizona for $6.1 million, the most ever given to a draft pick, over five years. Fifth-round picks have signed for as much as $400,000. If Angelle is drafted, Bridge City coach Billy Bryant said Angelle would be the first player he has coached to be selected out of high school. "Any time you have a kid who's 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds and can throw around 90 (miles per hour) - plus being left-handed -there's not that many like that out there," said Bryant, a seven-year high school coach. Kevin Angelle said interest from major league clubs came after his junior season at Bridge City, when he helped the team reach the state semifinal round. Angelle's first contact from a major league club was with the Texas Rangers. The Houston Astros let him pitch in a scrimmage for prospects at Minute Maid Park in the summer. "I was in disbelief," said Angelle, who faced five batters, struck out one and gave up a home run to another. "I never thought in my life I'd get to pitch on the Astros' field." Angelle's mother said 28 of the 30 major league teams contacted her son. The Rangers and a handful of other teams made personal visits to the family's home. The Astros did not visit. "The Phillies have called the most, but I don't know if that means anything," Connie Angelle said. Kevin Angelle said he commonly saw as many as eight scouts at his games this season. He said their presence initially made him nervous but he learned to remain calm. "I just started to pretend they weren't there," he said.
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