Orioles nab pitcher with top draft pick

From combined dispatches

The Baltimore Orioles maintained a trend with the eighth pick in yesterday’s amateur draft, making right-hander Wade Townsend the third pitcher from Rice chosen in the first round.

Townsend is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound junior who went 12-0 with a 1.80 ERA this season. He pitched in 18 games, starting 15, and struck out 148 in 1201/3 innings.

Townsend and teammates Jeff Niemann and Philip Humber, who helped Rice win the Western Athletic Conference crown, were all considered to be prize prospects by the Orioles. Humber went to the New York Mets with the third pick, and Atlanta got Niemann with the fourth pick.

“I guess I’m the worst one,” Townsend said with a chuckle.

The Owls went 46-14 this season, including 24-6 in the WAC.

“Rice had a great staff, and we were just happy to get one of them,” Orioles scouting director Tony DeMacio said. “We feel very fortunate that he was available.”

DeMacio, who scouted Rice frequently this season, returned with glowing reports on Townsend, the WAC pitcher of the year.

“Great arm, bulldog mentality, a strong, physical kid who’s going to give it to you every day,” DeMacio said. “We feel like we’re very fortunate to get him.”

Elsewhere in the draft, the San Diego Padres’ decision to make California high school shortstop Matt Bush the No.1 pick came down to overall talent — and more importantly, money.

Leading up to the draft, the Padres said they narrowed their choices to three college players, including Florida State shortstop Stephen Drew and Long Beach State right-hander Jered Weaver.

Instead, they selected the strong-armed Bush from Mission Bay High School.

Padres general manager Kevin Towers acknowledged that signability played a major role. Agent Scott Boras represents both Drew and Weaver, whose brothers already are high-paid big leaguers.

The Padres were said to be close to signing Bush to a bonus worth around $3million. Both Drew and Weaver were believed to be asking for significantly more than Bush.

“We just didn’t feel that Stephen Drew and Jered Weaver were worth the amount that Scott Boras was going to ask for them,” Towers told XPRS, the team’s flagship radio station. “We felt there was better value in taking a kid like Matt Bush. Hopefully it’ll prove that we’re right.”

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