TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rays take Gainesville high schooler with first pick

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 9, 2009

Updated: 06/09/2009 10:18 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - The Rays went for the best player available on their board -- Gainesville Buchholz High's LeVon Washington -- when the No. 30 selection in the draft came around, and they were quite pleased to do so.

Even if they weren't quite as animated about the pick as Washington was.

"I was jumping up and down," Washington said. "I broke two of my necklaces and I was screaming for about two minutes straight."

Though concerns about how quickly the Rays might be able to sign Washington are certainly valid since he has retained the notoriously tough negotiator Scott Boras as his advisor, the 17-year-old indicated tonight he has no plans to follow through on his commitment to play college ball at Florida.

"I'm pretty much signing right now," he said, meaning in the near future, not right at the moment.

"I'll be a Ray," he said.

The Rays were similarly confident about their chances of bringing Washington into the fold.

"We feel confident we're going to be able to sign him," said Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman. "We're the home team for him, and the home-field advantage certainly can't hurt in terms of his family being able to come here one day and watch him play. We feel confident we're going to add him to our organization shortly and get him out playing."

The Rays may have a bit of extra help in their push to sign him, as Washington's mother, LaGenia, is a first cousin of Rays special advisor Fred McGriff.

Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison said the team will start Washington as a center fielder, though the player said he would prefer to get a crack at shortstop. The shoulder surgery he underwent last September, which limited him mostly to designated hitter duties for Buchholz this season (he said he played 11 games in center field), likely will keep Washington from doing much of anything in the field this summer.

The speedster said he has modeled his game after Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and hopes to have a chance to play his favorite position once his arm is fully healthy, but he understands he might simply be called upon to play center field and go from there.

"I'm fine with it, but I would like to play shortstop – or at least have a chance," he said. "I had a pretty good arm before I had surgery. "

Wherever he ends up defensively, the Rays expect him to make a contribution with his bat and his legs.

"First of all, he's a premium athlete, and you all who have been around here for a while know that we like that kind of player," Harrison said. "He fits right in with the kind of players we've signed in the past. He's a well-above-average runner and we really like that. We think he's going to hit and hit for a high average, and he does some things as a young hitter [that are] advanced as far as getting good pitches to hit. We saw an advanced young hitter."

Washington apparently put on a pretty good show when the Rays had him in for a workout at Tropicana Field last Wednesday – a preview of things to come, he hopes.

"I think I did pretty good," Washington said. "I swung it real well, I hit a few balls out and showed, I guess, a little bit of power. I don't think they were expecting it."

With their second-round pick at No. 78 overall, the Rays selected shortstop Kenny Diekroeger of Menlo School in Atherton, Calif. – a Stanford signee. He hit .586 with 10 doubles, three triples and four homers for Menlo this season and also collected six saves as a pitcher.

It sounds like he might be a tough sign for the Rays.

"I'm definitely planning on going to Stanford," Diekroeger told the Contra Costa Times a few weeks ago. "Unless I'm a top-round pick and offered a big bonus, I won't even consider it. I really want to go to Stanford."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT