As Friday night’s signing deadline drew closer, the UCLA baseball team lost yet another player ““ this time shortstop Brandon Crawford ““ to the major leagues.
By signing a professional contract on Thursday with the San Francisco Giants, Crawford followed in the footsteps of his former teammates Ryan Babineau, Alden Carrithers, Jermaine Curtis and Tim Murphy. All of them signed with teams after being selected in June’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Following a solid junior campaign, Crawford ““ a senior-to-be who started every game for the Bruins played since he arrived in Westwood ““ was drafted in the fourth round. In three years, the Bay Area native totaled a .319 batting average, hit 20 home runs and started all 179 games.
Aside from losing an experienced core of players, three high school standouts ““ outfielder Cutter Dykstra, right-handed pitcher Tyler Chatwood, and first baseman Clark Murphy ““ had committed to play baseball at UCLA but will never don Bruin uniforms.
Instead, the three prep players, like the four underclassmen, elected to sign professionally following the draft. All three players were selected early in the 50-round marathon, with Dykstra and Chatwood hearing their names get called in the second round by the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, respectively. Murphy was taken in the fifth round by the Texas Rangers.
But the deadline was not entirely bad news for the Bruins.
Once the 9 p.m. deadline passed, incoming freshman Gerrit Cole remained unsigned by a Major League team ““ putting his professional career on hold ““ and will enroll at UCLA in the fall.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to get my education and play baseball at UCLA,” Cole told UCLAbruins.com, “Coach (John) Savage has really established UCLA as one of the nation’s top college baseball programs, and that’s something I want to be a part of. His knowledge as a pitching coach is only going to help my development, and I’m excited to get started with the Bruins this fall.”
Leading up to the draft, Baseball America labeled Cole as the fourth-best high school player in the country. On draft day, after many teams passed on him due to signability concerns, Cole was finally taken by the New York Yankees with the 28th overall pick, making him the highest selection amongst the nine UCLA-affiliated players.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told MLB.com that Cole was not interested in playing professionally.
“Gerrit Cole is not going to sign with us, it’s as simple as that,” Cashman said. “Unfortunately, he wants to pursue college, and he does not have an interest in pursuing professional baseball. It’s not a money-negotiating issue as much as a life choice at this moment in time.”
With the addition of Cole, Savage and his staff undoubtedly gain a promising athlete that figures to be an essential part of the program’s future.
Most notably, Cole becomes part of an already-strong pitching staff that returns 17 of 18 pitchers from last season.
“We are looking forward to having Gerrit start his career at UCLA,” Savage told UCLAbruins.com. “We look for him to become a key contributor this spring and in the years to come. Gerrit is clearly one of the best young right-handers to enter college this season.”
Although he has yet to take the mound, Cole is already making Bruin history. By failing to reach a contract agreement with the Yankees, Cole becomes the first player to attend UCLA after being selected in the first round. On the hill, the right-handed pitcher is notorious for hurling a dominant fastball that lights up the radar gun.
As a senior at Orange Lutheran High School, Cole was a hitter’s worst nightmare, posting a .46 ERA and striking out 121 hitters in only 75.2 innings.
Along with Cole, infielders Chris Amezquita of Servite and Tyler Rahmatulla of Mater Dei, along with catcher Steve Rodriguez of St. John Bosco, make up this fall’s class of incoming freshman.
Just a day before receiving the favorable news on Cole, the coaching staff learned that Crawford had signed with the Giants.
The departures of Crawford, Carrithers and Curtis leave first baseman Casey Haerther as the only returning starter on the infield next season.