Baseball Recruiting Round-up

Going to find some links to articles about some of the players, will post these at the bottom of the page.

SS Niko Vasquez, third round, 91st pick, St. Louis Cardinals.

• Vasquez will not be coming to Oregon State, though it would have been nice to have him if he could get his academics figured out. It had been said that Vasquez is talented enough that if he had come to OSU, Joey Wong could have moved back to second base.
• .477 avg., 9 HR’s, 41 RBI, 18 Extra-base hits, 16 stolen bases.

• Vasquez told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I want to sign. I can’t wait to play. It’s just an honor to be mentioned in those top four rounds.”

RHP BJ Hermsen, sixth round, 186th pick, Minnesota Twins.

• Hermsen is an imposing figure on the mound at 6’6” with a good fastball and an average breaking ball so far. Hermsen was drafted in a position and by a team which may keep him from Corvallis. The fact that his season is just getting started should worry Beaver fans as well, knowing that the Twins can follow him for a while in the summer while he recovers from his football collarbone injury.

• The Twins are as close to a hometown team as Iowa has, and Hermsen could easily come down to the wire.

IF, Carter Bell, twenty-second round, San Francisco Giants.

• Bell is another that may or may not be heading to Corvallis. In comments recently with his local paper, Bell made it seem like he wants to get a little more playing in over the summer and see if the Giants will make a better offer than his slot would suggest. Bell would be a nice player to get onto the field as a possible third baseman. Based on video Bell looks like he could get into the line-up early for the Beavers. He is currently coming back to an injury to his hand. My guess is he dons the orange and black of OSU rather than San Francisco.

OF, Brent Warren, twenty-seventh round. Oakland Athletics.

• Warren’s heart (physical issue) problems may have scared some teams away. Drafted that late by the A’s gives OSU plenty of hope that he will be in school come September. The A’s are not a team able to drop a good amount of money for a player that late in the draft. Warren however is in Iowa like Hermsen and should be playing throughout the summer.

• An outfielder, Warren is very fast and could potentially be a great piece in the OSU outfield. OSU has a strong outfield in the future with returning players like John Wallace and recruits like Warren who could play center, and Lotti who could play on the corners. Very likely he is in Corvallis.

Ryan Gorton, Tigard HS.

• Gorton was not drafted and is a home state kid for the Beavers. He was the ace of the Tigard pitching staff helping lead them to the state championship game for 6A. Began the year as a top-100 high school prospect before being knocked off the list later in the year partially because of fellow teammate Ty Morrison joining the Tigard squad. Major League organizations were looking at Gorton as a potential catcher.

Kyle Beverley, Utah.

• For the second straight year the Beavers have recruited one of the top prospects out of the state of Utah, and Cottonwood High. Beverley will join former Colt, Tanner Robles in Corvallis next year. The third baseman should be able to come in and compete for time at the hot corner for OSU. Beverley is a 3.7 GPA student, and was a pre-season High School All-American.

Michael Wesner, Lake Oswego HS.

• Wesner played for 6A semi-finalist Lake Oswego. Wesner was not an All-State or All-League selection.

Doug Kincaid, Jesuit HS.

• From Jesuit, Kincaid like Wesner made it to the state playoffs but was not an All-State or All-League selection. I had heard either Wesner (did play in the semi-final game vs. Clackamas) or Kincaid was injured this season, not sure who or if it is true.

Logan Lotti, Sierra College.

• Lotti won the Big Stick award for Northern California while being named to the Northern California All-American team. Lotti hit 13 home runs to go along with his 56 RBI’s, 13 stolen bases and .406 average. Lotti made it very clear prior to the draft (which he was not selected in) that he was going to be a Beaver and is sharpening his tools with the Corvallis Knights this summer. His average and home run total should excite OSU fans considering they are with wood bats.

• Lotti should have a good chance at earning a starting position for Oregon State.

Sam Gaviglio, Ashland HS

• Gaviglio was drafted by Tampa Bay in the 40th round and will most likely be in Corvallis come fall. Don’t know much about Gaviglio except he was recruited by both OSU and UO, and helped lead Ashland to the title game this year.

Eddie Crowe, Newport HS

• Crowe lead Newport to state title over a well-coached Astoria ball club. Crowe was unable to pitch much of the playoffs or in the title game due to an injury he sustained while sliding. Like Gaviglio, I don’t know a whole lot about this kid.

Devin Shepherd… As I “reported” weeks ago, Shepherd is rumored to have changed his commitment to UC Santa Barbara. He was drafted, and I have heard nothing more.

Vasquez Links –

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=1212420FF76F7F70&p_docnum=1

Hermsen Links-

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080604/SPORTS/478914000

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080605/SPORTS/819930267/0/sports

Bell Links –

http://www.canada.com/oceansidestar/story.html?id=b145a94e-811a-4ecd-bc54-0452a37540f3

http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/Royals_fourth_among_BCs_best_ball_teams.html

Warren Link-

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=365

Gorton Links –

http://blog.oregonlive.com/beavers/2008/05/ryan_gorton_to_pitch_in_todays.html

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=121229970853420600

http://www.tigardtimes.com/sports/story.php?story_id=121207942524979300

Beverley Links –

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=260

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700229300,00.html?pg=2

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700231914,00.html

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700231914,00.html

Wesner Link –

http://www.oregonlive.com/prepbaseball/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/121195051550620.xml&coll=7

Lotti Links –

http://www.sierra.cc.ca.us/Programs/divisions/HealthPERA/baseball/index.html

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/990328.html

Gaviglio Links –

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/SPORTS/805310314

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/SPORTS/805210316/-1/COMM03

http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/0604/stories/0604_ahs_parade.php

Crowe Links –

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080606/SPORTS/806060340

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/SPORTS/805210315/-1/SPORTS0103