Bonita High School’s Jiovanni Mier, who was drafted in the first-round and 21st overall by the Houston Astros, wasn’t the only area player drafted in Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft. Former South Hills pitcher Brian Slover (CS Northridge) was taken in the eighth round (250th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays. Former Charter Oak shortstop Scott Lyons (Arkansas) was taken in the 15th round (452nd overall) to the Kansas City Royals, and fresh off of winning the CIF-SS Division IV title, San Dimas’ Josh Leyland was selected in the 16th round (483rd) by the Oakland A’s.

To sign or not to sign: This question was asked by several people yesterday. If you were Jiovanni Mier, would you go to USC or sign, and probably get a signing bonus in the range of $1.5 to $2 million? With that much on the table I would sign, no question about it. My feeling is you can always put $150,000 grand away for college if baseball doesn’t work out. Your dream is to play pro baseball, and someone is giving you life-changing money to pursue it? Take it, be smart with the money, and chase your dream. The bigger question is what will Josh Leyland do? He signed a letter of intent with Washington State. He has a scholarship on the table. My answer to that is it is completely up to him. Is it more risky to sign? Yes, because the financial value of the scholarship is more than will be offered by the A’s. This is probably the hardest decision for families to make, but you know what, it’s not a bad situation to be in is it?

Below: San Dimas’ Josh Leyland