Four more Deacons, two commits picked in MLB draft
Recapping the rest of the draft from a Wake Forest angle
Four more Wake Forest players were drafted in the second half of the truncated MLB draft, while two commits also were selected.
Players selected were: pitcher William Fleming (11th round, 324th overall, Mariners); first baseman Bobby Seymour (13th, 401st, Rays); pitcher Antonio Menendez (14th, 431st, Rays); and catcher Shane Muntz (15th, 438th, Diamondbacks).
All of them are expected to sign and begin their professional careers.
The commits were: right-handed pitcher Peter Heubeck (3rd, 101st, Dodgers), a 6-3, 170-pounder from Baltimore who was named the Gatorade Maryland Baseball Player of the Year; and shortstop Daniel Corona Jr. (16th, 463rd, Pirates), a 6-2, 193-pounder from Brooklyn, N.Y. (though he attended high school in Tennessee).
This is where it gets interesting for the future of Wake Forest’s baseball program.
Once Josh Hartle removed himself from consideration for the draft — first unofficially in an interview, and then officially — Heubeck became the most likely Deacons commit to be drafted early. The slot value for the 101st overall pick is $577,000 and it’s worth noting that Heubeck was only the Dodgers’ second pick of the draft — they forfeited their second-rounder to sign Trevor Bauer.
The Dodgers have the second-lowest bonus pool of any team, but the lack of a second-round pick should increase the likelihood they’ll have enough money to meet Heubeck’s desired signing bonus.
Corona, on the other hand, tweeted Monday night that he will attend Wake Forest.
Other undrafted Wake Forest players who were eligible for the draft — such as Chris Lanzilli, among others — can sign with teams, just as DJ Poteet and William Simoneit did after last year’s draft.
The deadline for teams to sign players is Aug. 1.