Friday, February 24, 2012

Drayton didn't want Jeter

Yeah, we're back to this for now - because otherwise we'd be talking about Ryan Braun, and I just don't want to do that.

Phil Rogers had a little note this morning about the 1992 draft, and that Phil Nevin pick:

According to the guy that we spoke to, the Houston Astros were poised to select Jeter with the first overall pick in the 1992 draft. Their area scouts in Michigan had been all over him for years and scouting director Dan O'Brien Jr. was sure that the high school shortstop was the best player in the country.

Unfortunately for them , Drayton McLane wanted them to take a college player who could get to the Astrodome quickly. And because McLane had just purchased the team from John McMullen, his word was the only one that counted.


How did the four teams behind the Astros whiff on Jeter? Because the Yankees called his parents and said they'd take him with the #6 pick. So when the Indians, Expos, Orioles, and Reds called Jeter's family they said that he was intent on going to the University of Michigan. And then the Yankees called.