2012 MLB Draft: Alberta preview

With the MLB draft coming up next week, here is a quick preview of local baseball players to keep an eye on.  

Last year, seven players from our province were drafted.  Stay tuned to this blog as I will post updates as Albertans are selected.  

According to the Canadian Baseball Network’s draft list, Alberta has four players ranked in the top 20 in the country and several more who may be selected.  Many of these are familiar names who have been mentioned on these pages and elsewhere previously.  

The following are among the players expected to be drafted:

7 players from Alberta taken in annual MLB draft

Yesterday, Adam Paulencu, Ethan Elias and Jake Hansen were selected on day 2 of the draft.  Joining them as MLB draftees from Alberta today were LHP Sheldon McDonald from Spruce Grove,  outfielder Cory Scammell from Edmonton, Ryan Thompson who I previously wrote about, and Brendan Hendricks.

Some other names notable to Albertans including LHP Sean Dartnell who went to Vauxhall Academy and 1B Trevor Gretzky who I'm told had a dad who was a professional athlete in our province.

Here's a summary of Albertan's drafted in the 2011 MLB draft:

Name	Position	Hometown	Round	Team
Adam Paulencu	RHP	Spruce Grove	13	Giants
Ethan Elias	RHP	Entwistle	20	Cubs
Jake Hansen	LHP	Fort MacLeod	30	Mets
Sheldon MacDonald	LHP	Spruce Grove	33	Cubs
Cory Scammell	OF	Edmonton	35	Mariners
Ryan Thompson	RHP	Fort McMurray	36	Yankees
Brendan Hendricks	3B	Cochrane	40	Phillies

Albertans in MLB

There are 16 Canadian players on opening day rosters.  From new household names such as defending MVP Joey Votto to those who were around BEFORE the Blue Jays had won a World Series (Matt Stairs).  And these players come from coast to coast, but not a single one of these is from Alberta.  Hopefully this will change in the next few seasons, as the Canadian Baseball Network has released its annual list of Canadians playing college ball, and there are 74 Albertan baseball players on the rosters of schools playing college south of the border.
Among the notables are RHP Ryan Thompson, LHP Ryan Kennedy and 3B Jesse Sawyer who are all on the

Ryan Thompson - From the Prairies to dominating the Northeast-10 Conference

Right handed pitcher Ryan Thompson has a future that is much brighter than those rare summer days in Fort McMurray.

Originally from Calgary, he played ball in Fort McMurray before moving to New Hampshire and playing High School baseball at Souhegan High in Amherst.  He then started his College career at UConn with mixed success.  His highlight was pitching a perfect inning of relief in a win at Hartford, but he ended up only appearing in 5 games, and had a 9.53 ERA.  Subsequently he transferred to Franklin Pierce to play for the Ravens of the Northeast-10 Conference in Rindge, NH.   Things have been looking up ever since!

As a newcomer and just a sophomore, he was designated one of the team’s captains which was “a testament to his leadership qualities”, said Ravens  Coach Jayson King, adding that Ryan “ is one of the hardest working guys on our team and is totally dedicated to pitching and our program”.  And the accolades kept coming.  

Many Albertans projected to be among first Canadians drafted

The Canadian Baseball Network has an updated Canadian draft list.  12 young players from Alberta are on the list, including 5 of the first 17.
Those 5 are:
#8 - Ryan Thompson - a right handed pitcher from Fort McMurray, playing at Franklin Pierce University

#10 - Adam Paulencu - also a RHP, from Spruce Grove and playing at the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute