40 Acres Sports

As Brian already noted in the “Quick Hits” section, Adrian Alaniz has come to terms with the Washington Nationals. Adrian will be signing a contract on Friday when he reports for his Minor League assignment and will not be back for his senior year.

The Statesman also reported that seniors Nick Peoples and Chance Wheeless had signed with their respective drafting teams (the Cardinals and Diamondbacks).

I heard Coach Garrido on the radio this morning say that undrafted seniors Brett Lewis and Chais Fuller have also been offered contracts by Major League teams; he did not say which teams, however.

Adrian Alaniz won’t be back for his senior season, he will sign with Washington Nationals this week and be in single A ball soon.

Kevin Durant aiming to be the number one overall pick, wants to wow Portland with his talent and character.

Promising true sophomore safety [tag]Robert Joseph[/tag] is no longer a Texas Longhorn. Joseph was arrested Saturday morning for apparently breaking into two cars outside the Omni Hotel in Austin. It doesn’t sound like he was trying to steal the cars or anything in them, he was just sitting there. Pretty strange behavior combined with the fact that it was the wee hours of the morning makes me wonder if he was completely in his right mind. Either way, the young man may be in serious trouble.

Head coach Mack Brown wasted absolutely no time in suspending Joseph indefinitely from the team. That indefinite period ended Monday as Joseph announced he would be leaving the University of Texas. He is officially transferring, but I’m guessing just like with a few other former Horns it might not have exactly been his idea to transfer. Either way, the arrest combined with already rumored academic issues have prematurely ended Joseph’s Longhorn career.

As a true freshman Joseph made a quick impact early in the season. He was getting playing time as a backup safety and nickel defensive back. He saw the field in crunch time against Ohio State so you know the Texas coaches trusted him. A shoulder injury ended his season early and I think the secondary suffered. He was going to have a big role in this season’s defense and likely would have been the starter in 2008 and 2009.

Best of luck to Robert wherever he ends up. He’s got enough talent that some school will give him a second chance, hopefully he’ll earn it.

Big changes coming for NCAA 08 dynasty mode and recruiting. Sounds a lot more interesting and challenging.

A great new Vince Young highlight video featuring highlights from his rookie season in Tennessee. Some good clips of Merril Hoge making an ass of himself interspersed throughout.

Can’t wait to see Vince progress this fall, I’ll be tuned into every game. Team has fallen back a little around him this offseason so it’ll take big things from Vince for the Titans to be 8 and 8 again.

“Raising Cole,” is being made into a movie. The story of Marc and Cole Pittman is still in pre-production. Great book.

Vince Young invites Titans’ receivers to workout in Houston. Guy’s leadership is second to none.

Destinee Hooker wins 2nd straight NCAA high jump title with a jump of 6 feet, 3.5 inches.

A couple of quick notes. Texas signee Brandon Workman (rhp, Bowie HS) was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. [tag]Kyle Russell[/tag] and [tag]Bradley Suttle[/tag] were drafted in the 4th round. They only got through the first 5 rounds of the draft yesterday; more Horns will be drafted today.

Major League Baseball has changed their “draft and follow” rule. In the past, a team could draft a player and then take up to 51 weeks to sign him…and no other team could come knockin’ on the door during those 51 weeks. So, they could draft a player, encourage him to play another year of college ball, watch his progress, and then decide. All the while safe in the knowledge that if they wanted to sign the player, they had a year to do so. The new rule states that the teams only have until August 15th to sign a player, except for college seniors. I think the change will mean more draftees from the later rounds will go ahead and sign. But, maybe not. Some people think the rule change will mean that teams will draft fewer players. The draft goes 50 rounds. In the past, 4 or 5 teams would drop out as the draft got into the later rounds. But, most would draft all the way through to the end since teams had so long to evaluate talent. The new rule may mean they won’t bother drafting some players they would’ve drafted in the past.

If I’m able, I’ll update this post as the draft progresses today.

Update (2 pm). [tag]Randy Boone[/tag] was drafted in the 7th by Toronto; [tag]Adrian Alaniz[/tag] in the 8th by Washington; signee Taylor Grote (cf, The Woodlands) in the 8th by the Yankees; and signee Runey Davis (cf, Georgetown) in the 11th by Pittsburgh.

Update (5 pm). [tag]James Russell[/tag] was drafted in the 14th by the Cubs; [tag]Joseph Krebs[/tag] in the 14th by Cincinnati; [tag]Chance Wheeless[/tag] in the 17th by Arizona; [tag]Nick Peoples[/tag] (as a second baseman, apparently) in the 19th by St. Louis; and signee Kevin Keyes (rf, Connally HS) in the 26th by the Rangers.

Update (6 pm). [tag]Preston Clark[/tag] was drafted in the 33rd by the Cubs; [tag]Kenn Kasparek[/tag] (who was recovering from Tommy John surgery and did not play this year) in the 34th by Washington; signee Garrett Clyde (rhp, San Jacinto College) in the 43rd by the Cubs; signee Cameron Rupp (c, Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano) in the 43rd by Pittsburgh; and [tag]Clay Van Hook[/tag] in the 45th by Seattle.