By RONALD BLUM
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Australian second baseman Travis Bazzana was taken by the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday night with the top pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.
A former cricket, rugby and soccer player who came to the United States to play baseball for Oregon State, the 21-year-old hit .407 with 28 homers and 66 RBIs this season.
Baseball’s top pick this year had a slot value of $10,570,600 under the bonus pools system that began in 2012.
Cleveland had the top pick for the first time since the draft began in 1965, winning a weighted lottery in December despite having a 2% chance. The lottery began last year as part of a collective bargaining agreement provision to discourage struggling teams from deliberately trying for a top draft pick by getting rid of veterans.
Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns went to Cincinnati with the second pick. The 21-year-old was 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 191 strikeouts and 30 walls over 100 innings in 16 starts. The Reds took Demon Deacons right-hander Rhett Lowder with the seventh overall selection last year.
Colorado took Georgia third baseman Charlie Condon with the third pick. Projected first by some, the 6-foot-6 Condon led the NCAA this year with a .433 average and 37 homers. The 21-year-old homered in eight straight games from April 26 to May 9, one shy of the NCAA record, and won the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player.
Teams were to make the first 74 picks Sunday at the Cowtown Coliseum, with the remainder of the 20 rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Cleveland also picked 36th and 48th.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred was booed by the roughly 2,000 fans on hand when he emerged on stage through the set’s saloon doors.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
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