With the first selection of the 16th round (the 473rd overall), the Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected Bears closer Matt Gorgen.  Congrats, Matt, and to the whole Gorgen family (Matt's twin brother Scott was taken by the Cardinals in the 4th round).

Here, now, lies an interesting choice.  I fully expect the three Bears taken yesterday to sign professional contracts (especially given that Josh Satin is a senior), but I'm not so sure that Gorgen will (or should) do the same.

Generally, players taken this far down in the draft are not really considered "prospects".  Instead, they're considered "organizational" guys, signed mostly to fill out rosters and such, so that the real prospects have someone to play against.  Yes, guys drafted this low do make the majors, and may even have great careers (Mike Piazza was famously drafted in the 52nd 62nd round), but the odds are long.

While there's no guarantee that either Cooper or Ross, taken in the top 2 rounds, will ever make the majors, they're both likely to get hefty signing bonuses to start out and a great opportunity to succeed; for them, going pro is not really a very tough decision (if the option to come back to school comes up at all, it'll only be as negotiating leverage by their agent to get more money).

Gorgen, however, is not likely to see anything resembling a financial windfall from Tampa Bay.  He can certainly leave now and chase his dream, and I don't think any of us would begrudge him that choice.  There's always a risk with returning to school of getting injured and not getting drafted at all next year, and pitchers certainly worry about that.  However, given his relatively long odds of making the majors, if he doesn't already have his degree, I might recommend he come back for his senior year and get that first.  Heck, he might even improve his draft stock, getting himself a better contract next year.  For him, there's little financial incentive to turn pro right now, so unless he's dead set on playing pro ball now, I'd suggest he return to school.

Then again, if the A's offered me a contract right now for $20K per year, I'd totally quit my job and move to Midland, TX or wherever.  Chasing your dream can be a powerful thing.

Again, congrats to Matt, and good luck!  Go Bears!

EDIT:  Looks like in my haste to get out of the Bay Area for the weekend, I missed a couple Bears that got drafted earlier on Friday.  The Rockies took pitcher Craig Benningson in the 9th round (do pitchers fear getting drafted by Colorado?), and the Cardinals took catcher/left-fielder Charlie Cutler in the 14th round.  The article goes on to say that while Cutler is definitely turning pro, Gorgen and Benningson have not yet decided to do so, although Gorgen has hinted that he would not be coming back for his senior season.

In any case, a belated congrats to both Craig and Charlie!

Hey, a third Bear gets taken on the first day of the draft!  With the 194th overall pick, the Mets select 2B Josh Satin near the end of the 6th round.  If you scroll down to the bottom here , you can see his MLB Draft Tracker Video. 

I tried to find what the Mets bloggers were saying about this pick.  All I could find was this (scroll down):

Update [8:56]: The Mets drafted Josh Satin in the sixth round. He’s an offense-first second baseman out of UC Berkeley. He’s an intelligent guy who put it all together this year, hitting .388/.508/.745 with 18 homers. I’m not convinced he’s going to keep it up; he’s a senior, and his extra-base hit total was still on the low side. He did, however, have a strong showing in the Cape Cod League last summer, a good indicator, so he’s worth the pick. Defensively, he’s not as advanced, and he’s probably going to wind up in the outfield. Both his range and glove are a little below average.

That doesn't really relate to how the Mets bloggers view Satin's role with the Mets.  But I figured it'd be a good recap of his time at Cal.  Congratulations to Josh and all the Golden Bears drafted today!

Tyson Ross, who was born in Berkeley, grew up in Oakland, went to school at Cal, now gets a chance to live his dream of playing professional baseball in the East Bay, as he was taken in the 2nd round of today's MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics!

The 58th overall pick, Ross will undoubtedly leave the East Bay for one of Oakland's minor league teams, but we hope to see him here back soon!

From MLB's DraftTracker:

Ross has all the makings of a front-of-the-rotation starter, from stuff to size. He's very imposing on the mound with a fastball that runs up to the mid-90s. He's got two other pitches that work well, albeit with an upright delivery that worries some, but it's worked for him to this point.

Perhaps that's a more glowing assessment than mine, but I wouldn't disagree about his upside.

Good luck to Tyson, and...

LET'S-GO OAK-LAND!!  (*ahem* and Go Bears!)

Cal 1B David Cooper was taken in the 1st round of today's MLB draft -- 17th overall to the Toronto Blue Jays.  ESPN's Keith Law had this instant evaluation:

Cooper is a polished hitter who should hit for a high average. He's shown home run power with metal but not so much with wood. He's a solid defensive player at first base. I think the draft pool forced a change in direction. The Jays have gone with high school bats in the first round the last two years, but the type of polished high school hitter they like wasn't there for them at No. 17.

A quick look at first base on the Jays major league depth chart

1. Lyle Overbay (who's making almost $7 million annually, btw.  what?  really?)
2. Matt Stairs
3. Brad Wilkerson (the starting right fielder)

I'm not at all familiar with the Jay's minor league system, but I don't see any signifcant roadblocks to Cooper's path to the Show currently on the major league roster.

Yes, Cooper has a year of eligibility left, and it's true that baseball players can be drafted and still return for their senior season.  Still, when you get taken in the first round as a college junior, you're pretty much gone.  Best of luck to David!

Rough day yesterday.  Cal ran into the buzzsaw known as Matusz.  :(!  Now, they have a long road to hoe.  Hopefully, they have a lot of experience hoeing roads.  Lord knows I do.  I've hoed so many roads, I can't keep track.  All hoes and roads kinda blur together for me.  If Cal baseball want any tips on either hoeing or roads, I would be the man to call. 

Long Beach State lost to FSU, 7-3 yesterday.  So, now Cal has to face LBSU.  It is do or die.  The game is on today at 2 PM.  There appears to be two ways to follow the game.

Either follow the gametracker at the Cal baseball website, found here.  Or listen to it on KALX Radio 90.7.  If you are not in the Berkeley area (or are, but hated the movie Radio so much you vowed never to own one), you can listen to it online.  They have a series of different methods to stream the feed.

I'll try to do some modicum of live-blogging, but my wife returns later tonight and I have like 2 weeks worth of cleaning to do in 5 hours.  Man do I have a long road to hoe!  GO BEARS!

Ok, so we're new to SBN, but they seem pretty big on these open thread thingies.  Anyway, with coverage of today's baseball game limited to just radio (KALX, 90.7 FM if you're anywhere near Berkeley), I thought it'd be worth it to give this thing a try.  Basically, I'll be sorta liveblogging this thing in the comments section, and anyone else that is listening, watching from Long Beach, or just wants to chime in is welcome.  I got nowhere to be, so if you're stuck at work, this is the place to be.

Inning and a half gone, no score.  The Bears (the visitor) have gotten one man as far as second base in their two half innings, while Ross limited the Toreros to just a bunt single in the bottom of the first.

Edit:  The Bears are down 1-0 through 6 innings, as Tyson Ross, who has looked sharp
all day, finally gives up an RBI double following a 2-out walk.  As good as Ross has been, San Diego's Brian Matusz has been better, giving up just two hits and striking out seven through six innings.

Edit 2:  San Diego has busted it open, scoring 4 times in the bottom of the 7th.  Tyson Ross just tired out or something.

Edit 3:  And it's official.  San Diego defeats California 5-0 behind a complete game shutout from Brian Matusz (3 hits, 10 Ks).  The Bears will try and extend their season tomorrow at 2pm against the loser of Long Beach State and Fresno State.

Edit 4:  (Final edit, I swear)  And the matchups are set.  Cal vs. Long Beach State tomorrow at 2pm.  Loser's season is over, while the winner still has a long road to go.

Baseball isn't like basketball.  Or even Baseketball for that matter.  If baseball were like basketball, all Cal would have to do is beat U of SD this Friday to move on to the next round.  And if baseball were like Baseketball, all the Bears would have to do is beat USD and hope that Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.

via www.movie-list.com

"STOP COMPARING US TO FAMILY GUY!!!"

But in baseball, it's a double elimination tournament.  So, not only does Cal have to worry about USD this Friday at 2 PM, they also have Long Beach State and Fresno State to be concerned with.  So, let's try to take a deeper look at them, then.

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via www.sagarmatha.com

"Riley v. Longshore seems so unimportant all of a sudden."

I hope all y'all had a great Memorial Day Weekend.  Personally, I went camping up by Yosemite.  Just to get away from it all.  And I return on Monday to find my two favorite baseball teams going in different directions.  The As had swept the most hated Boston Red Sox.  The Duke had even nearly thrown a no-no.  But over on the Cal side, things fared just a *bit* worse.

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