06-11-07

June 11, 2007

Los Angeles Dodgers Select 40 Players in 2007 First-Year Player Draft - National League

MLN Newswire

ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that they selected 40 players during the two-day 2007 First-Year Player Draft which concluded this afternoon, according to Dodger Assistant General Manager, Scouting Logan White.

“It was a very exciting draft and we feel really good about the organizational needs we were able to fulfill,” said White. “It was also great to work side-by-side with our Director of Amateur Scouting, Tim Hallgren, as we conducted our first draft in our new positions. I know how we felt in 2002 and this draft left us with a very similar feeling.”

In 2002, White’s first with the club, the Dodgers selected eight players currently on the 40-man roster: Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton, James Loney, Mike Megrew, Greg Miller, Eric Stults, Delwyn Young and Zach Hammes.

Of the 40 players selected by the club in 2007, the Dodgers chose 21 pitchers (17 right-handed and 4 left-handed), eight infielders, seven outfielders and four catchers. Twenty-one were selected out of college while 19 were high school players.

The Dodger draft class included several Southern California products. Among them were left-handed pitcher Michael Watt (2nd round) from Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, outfielder Andrew Lambo (4th) from Newbury Park HS, shortstop Jaime Pedroza (9th) from UC-Riverside, right-hander Paul Koss (11th) from USC, catcher Matt Wallach (22nd) from Cal State Fullerton, left-hander Robert Rasmussen (27th) from Pasadena Polytechnic School and outfielder John Hay (39th) from College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.

Wallach is the son of former Major Leaguer Tim Wallach, who played third base for the Dodgers from 1993-96 and then became Los Angeles’ hitting coach for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The elder Wallach led Cal State Fullerton to their first national championship in 1979.

Another interesting selection came in the 19th round when the Dodgers selected Joris Bert, a native of France. Bert is a product of the MLB European Academy (2005 and 2006) and although 10 other players have signed contracts or gone to college in the United States, Bert becomes the first player drafted out of the academy after playing at Frank Phillips CC in Borger, TX.

Yesterday, the Dodgers selected Midland Christian High School (TX) right-hander Chris Withrow with the 20th pick of the first round. The Dodgers then used their first round compensation pick (39th overall) on University of Tennessee left-hander James Adkins from Mt. Juliet, TN.

A complete list of the Dodgers’ selections follows:

Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2007 First-Year Player Draft Picks Overall Rd. Player School DOB POS B/T Ht Wt Scout 20 1 Chris Withrow Midland Christian HS (TX) 04/01/89 RHP R/R 6-3 195 C. Jones 39 1# James Adkins University of Tennessee 11/26/85 LHP L/L 6-5 195 Lamb 86 2 Michael Watt Capistrano Valley HS 02/24/89 LHP L/L 6-1 185 Stephenson 116 3 Austin Gallagher Manheim Township HS (PA) 11/16/88 3B L/R 6-5 210 Rierson 146 4 Andrew Lambo Newbury Park HS 08/11/88 OF L/L 6-3 198 Crim 176 5 Kyle Blair Los Gatos HS 09/27/88 RHP R/R 6-4 170 Costello
206 6 Justin Miller Johnson County CC (Kan.) 08/02/87 RHP R/R 6-3 190 Webster

236 7 Danny Danielson Russell County HS (ALA.) 12/12/88 RHP R/R 6-4 220 Moeller

266 8 Alex Garabedian College of Charleston 08/26/85 C R/R 6-2 210 Joyce

296 9 Jaime Pedroza UC Riverside 09/12/86 SS S/R 5-10 175 Stephenson

326 10 Erik Kanaby Lamar University 07/26/85 LF L/R 6-1 185 Smith

356 11 Paul Koss Southern California 06/17/85 RHP R/R 6-4 215 Darwin

386 12 Jessie Mier Lewis & Clark 03/05/85 C R/R 6-1 215 H. Jones

416 13 Bobby Blevins Le Moyne College 01/16/85 RHP R/R 6-0 200 Rierson

446 14 Devin Fuller Gilbert HS (AZ.) 12/15/88 RHP R/R 6-2 220 Stephenson

476 15 Cal Stanke Wisconsin-Oshkosh 03/15/85 RHP R/R 6-0 180 Sergo

506 16 Andres Santiago Colegio Carmen Sol 10/26/89 RHP R/R 6-2 200 Estrada

536 17 Franklin Jacobs Robert B. Glenn HS (NC) 11/25/88 1B R/R 6-5 260 Joyce

566 18 Given Kutz University of Portland 11/05/84 RHP R/R 6-3 220 H. Jones

596 19 Joris Bert Frank Phillips College 05/16/87 CF L/L 5-10 165 Fryer

626 20 Sean Koecheler Palm Beach Gardens HS (FL.)09/29/88 RHP R/R 6-3 190 Estrada

656 21 John Doyle Boston College 11/02/85 RHP R/R 6-4 225 Kosciak

686 22 Matt Wallach Cal. St. Fullerton 2/17/86 C L/R 6-2 210 Darwin

716 23 Nathan Carter De La Salle HS (CA.) 01/24/89 CF R/R 5-11 175 Costello

746 24 Parker Dalton Texas A&M 07/07/83 SS R/R 6-1 175 Smith

776 25 Timothy Sexton Miami Dade (CC.) South 06/10/87 RHP R/R 6-6 185 Estrada

806 26 Taylor Cole Bishop Gorman HS (NV.) 08/20/89 RHP R/R 6-0 170 Darwin

836 27 Robert Rasmussen Polytechnic School (CA.) 04/02/89 LHP R/L 5-11 155 Crim

866 28 Nathan Woods Xavier HS (IA) 03/28/89 RF R/R 6-6 210 Webster

896 29 Chad Keefer North Central Texas College 08/25/87 1B R/R 6-3 215 C. Jones

926 30 Justin Coats Seminole St. College 02/04/88 SS R/R 5-8 180 Stephenson

955 31 Rafael Thomas Lufkin HS (TX.) 11/20/88 CF R/R 5-9 170 C. Jones

984 32 Mathew Gardner Oklahoma St. 11/02/84 RHP R/R 6-2 230 C. Jones

1013 33 Jonathan Gonzalez Cardinal Hayes HS (NY.) 09/19/89 RHP R/R 6-1 170 Kosciak

1042 34 Garrett Poe Silver City HS (NM) 12/12/88 1B R/R 6-0 210 C. Jones

1071 35 Ryan Christenson Arnett HS (OK.) 01/11/89 LHP L/L 6-1 185 C. Jones

1100 36 Timothy Jones Redan HS (GA.) 11/13/88 RHP R/R 6-4 235 Joyce

1128 37 Gabriel Casanova Barry University 07/29/84 2B R/R 6-1 190 Hennessey

1156 38 Matthew Szczur Lower Cape May HS (NJ.) 07/20/89 C R/R 6-1 190 Kosciak

1184 39 John Hay College of the Canyons 11/25/87 RF R/R 5-10 190 Crim

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