The summer months are upon us and the wait will continue until the 2012-13 seasons start up. However, baseball as well as softball is still going strong and has given Oklahoma fans plenty to look forward to. The softball team is one win away from bringing home a nation championship while the baseball squad came from the loser's bracket to win their regional. While much of the excitement has been placed on the actual games, the future landscape of baseball is shifting without much notice. Day 1 of the MLB draft is in the books and a handful of Big XII players represented the conference and their respective schools.
Oklahoma St. LHP Andrew Heaney, who by the way is an Oklahoma City native, found himself sitting in the top ten after the Miami Marlins picked him up with the No. 9 overall pick. Heaney showed that he was capable of big time games as he allowed a 1.60 ERA throughout the season. He also chalked up an 8-2 record while wowing the pro scouts.
The next Big XII-er to come off the board was Texas A&M OF Tyler Naquin who fields as a righty but bats lefty. Naquin was taken with the No. 15 overall pick by the Cleveland Indians. The came after a season in which he boasted a team high .380 batting percentage as well as being in the top three if not the top player in almost every statistical category. Texas A&M came in as highly touted and fell short of their mark.
Still, Texas A&M had a duo go on the first day. The second of the pair was RHP Michael Wacha. He had a 2.06 ERA throughout the season with an overall 9-1 record. Wacha was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the No. 19 overall pick.
Outside of these three, Texas Tech found a man in the Compensation Round A in OF Barrett Barnes. He has a .325 batting average to go alongside a .597 slug percentage. Barnes comes off the board as the No. 45 overall pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
No Sooners have come off the board. There are still quite a few more rounds to go and the landscape of Big XII Baseball will continue to shift as players forgo a senior season to dive into the hopes of big time money or comeback for yet another season to improve their draft stock. The Majors will always continue to debate talent over sign-ability and America's past time will go on.
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