Sunday, June 10, 2012

34th Round pick Jankowski to sign

34th Round pick Jordan (or J.J., as we have seen in some places) Jankowski has signed with the Astros, and will report to Greeneville.

In our original post on Jankowski's getting drafted, we noted some controversy from the Salisbury Post in which it seems as though Jankowski asked for his next start to be pushed back a day in order to attend a pre-draft workout. His teammates didn't appreciate that so much, and voted him off the team.

Now we have some back-story.

First, the Astros had drafted Jankowski - coincidentally - in the 34th Round in the 2008 draft following his senior year of high school. He didn't sign (of course). Last year the Astros invited him to a pre-draft workout, which he missed, and went undrafted. The Astros extended the same invitation this year, but the workout coincided with the first game of the post-season for Jankowski's Catawba College.

Jankowski:
"I told him I'd pitch as much as he wanted me as soon as I got back. The year before, I missed the workout and didn't get drafted. He told me if I couldn't (start) when I was supposed to that I can't be on the team. I looked at this as my last shot to get drafted. I think if other players were in my shoes, 95 percent would have done the same thing."

Hard to argue...