The last few years things have looked pretty good for Texas baseball the day after the MLB draft. As a result we've written pieces shortly after the draft projecting the potential for good things to happen if just one or two pieces fall Texas' way in the signing process. With a much shorter signing period this season we figured a conclusive post on just how well (or badly) Texas baseball did in the MLB draft could wait until mid July when the exact results would be known.
Sadly it didn't even take a month, and the results weren't good.
With Spencer Edwards signing on the dotted line with the Tampa Bay Rays for just around slot money, the Horns will get just one elite prospect to see the 40 Acres in 2013. In addition to Edwards, Austin Dean signed with the Miami Marlins, Tyler Gonzales signed with the Blue Jays, Courtney Hawkins predictably signed with the White Sox, and catching prospects Steve Bean and Wyatt Mathieson signed with the Cardinals and Pirates respectively.
That leaves Holden Helmink (this class' best name), CJ Hinojosa, Chad Hollingsworth, Ty Culbreth and Travis Duke as the incoming freshmen for 2013 plus whoever the Horns are able to add from the JUCO ranks. Hinojosa coming to campus is at least a win as he fell to the 27th round due to a mix of injuries a recent injury and his strong commitment to Texas. The future shortstop was rated by Baseball America as this draft's 70th best prospect and potentially completes the Texas infield for 2013 along with Weiss (3B), Marlow (2B) and Silver (1B).
The Horns will need to rely on improvements to their very talented but very young pitching staff from 2012 to go along with significant improvements from every hitter not named Weiss or Payton if they're going to have a bounce back year in 2013. To that end Texas recently announced former Longhorn Tommy Nicholson will take over Tommy Harmon's role as assistant coach in charge of hitting and recruiting. Though he lacks a real strong resume, there's a lot to like about the Nicholson hiring. He is young, has recent MLB experience, played for Augie and his last stop (Sacramento State) showed improvement offensively under Nicholson's tutelage.
Only a few more months till Fall Ball.