NEW YORK — The Seattle Mariners have themselves another Griffey who makes fantastic catches. This one, though, does it on the gridiron instead of the outfield. ADVERTISING NEW YORK — The Seattle Mariners have themselves another Griffey who makes fantastic
NEW YORK — The Seattle Mariners have themselves another Griffey who makes fantastic catches. This one, though, does it on the gridiron instead of the outfield.
Trey Griffey, the son of Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., was selected Saturday in the Major League Baseball draft by the Mariners in the 24th round — fittingly, his father’s old team and jersey number.
It appears the pick on the draft’s final day was simply the Mariners paying homage to their former star. The younger Griffey is a wide receiver at the University of Arizona, but hasn’t played baseball competitively since before high school.
The 6-foot-3, 209-pounder certainly has the athleticism of his dad, though, catching 11 passes for 284 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown grab as a redshirt junior last season. The Mariners listed him as a center fielder, just like his All-Star father.
Ken Griffey Jr. will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame next month, and the Mariners plan to retire his No. 24 this season.
The last day of the draft, when rounds 11-40 are conducted, is usually filled with familiar names. And, this year was no exception.
The Los Angeles Angels enlisted Torii Hunter, their former All-Star outfielder, to announce during the draft conference call that they had selected his son, Torii Hunter Jr., in the 23rd round.
The younger Hunter is an athletic outfielder for Notre Dame who hit .182 (2 for 11) with one RBI and two stolen bases while playing in 19 games during his junior season. Like Griffey’s son, though, the 6-foot, 195-pound Hunter has had a bigger impact on the football field as a wide receiver for the Irish football team, catching 28 passes for 363 yards and two TDs last season.
Former closer Trevor Hoffman might someday see his son playing for the Padres, too, after San Diego picked California high school shortstop Quinn Hoffman in the 36th round. The younger Hoffman currently has a commitment to play baseball at Harvard.
Boston followed several baseball bloodlines, taking five players with big league ties: Nevada high school shortstop Nick Quintana (11th round), brother of Atlanta minor league pitcher Zach Quintana; Holy Cross shortstop Nick Lovullo (20th), son of Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo; Illinois high school shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (30th), son of former Cardinals first baseman Mike Fitzgerald; Georgia Southern outfielder Jordan Wren (36th), son of Red Sox executive Frank Wren; and California high school shortstop Carter Aldrete (37th), nephew of Oakland first base coach Mike Aldrete.
University of Miami outfielder Jacob Heyward, brother of the Cubs’ Jason Heyward, was picked by San Francisco in the 18th round. Heyward is hitting .229 with six home runs and 39 RBIs for the Hurricanes, who play Boston College in the NCAA Tournament’s super regionals on Sunday with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
Among other notable selections Saturday:
—The Yankees took Colorado high school right-hander Bo Weiss, son of Rockies manager Walt Weiss, in the 29th round.
—Brandon Bonilla, a left-hander from Hawaii Pacific and the son of former slugger Bobby Bonilla, was selected in the 13th round by Baltimore.
—Ball State right-hander Zach Plesac, nephew of former reliever Dan Plesac, went in the 12th to Cleveland.
—Mississippi high school shortstop Grae Kessinger, grandson of former All-Star shortstop Don Kessinger, was drafted in the 26th round by San Diego.
—San Jacinto College North second baseman Nick Shumpert, son of Terry Shumpert and cousin of Mookie Betts, went in the 28th round to Atlanta.
—Florida prep shortstop Branden Fryman, son of Travis Fryman, was taken by the Mets in the 37th round.
The final player selected in the draft was California high school outfielder Jeremy Ydens, who went in the 40th round — No. 1,216 overall — to St. Louis.
Philadelphia led off the draft Thursday night by taking sweet-swinging California prep outfielder Mickey Moniak with the No. 1 pick. The state of California had the most players drafted with 203, and just five states had no players selected during the three-day event: Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
