One thing that I always find fascinating to follow when it comes to the MLB Draft is seeing young kids drafted who have some relation to a current or former Major League player, coach, or executive. This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s draft has had a number of such cases that I thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d take a look at. Some of the players taken I will just list, with links to their relative\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com.<\/p>\n
The first I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll touch on is a second baseman taken in the first round by the Houston Astros named Delino Deshields Jr.<\/strong> The 8th overall pick in the draft has a father by the same name<\/a> who played in the Majors from 1990-2002, most notably with the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers. Known primarily for his speed and athletic ability, the younger Deshields profiles as a very similar player to his father but with much more refinement. To give the kid credit, he is hoping to sign quickly<\/a> so that he can begin his professional career (an unusual trend that seems to be growing this year, and one that I happen to love seeing).<\/p>\n The Angels added another \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pedigree pick\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the first round when they selected Cam Bedrosian<\/strong> at #29 overall. Bedrosian, son of former pitcher Steve Bedrosian<\/strong>, profiles as a reliever with the potential to take on a closer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role somewhere down the line. The elder Bedrosian<\/a> pitched for 14 seasons in the Majors -\u00c2\u00a0primarily as a closer -\u00c2\u00a0for the Braves, Phillies, Giants, and Twins. He won the Cy Young Award in 1987 after posting a 2.83 ERA, a 5-3 record, and saving 40 games.<\/p>\n At pick #48 (Supplemental round), the Tigers selected college closer Chance Ruffin<\/strong> out of the University of Texas. Ruffin is the son of former pitcher<\/a> Bruce Ruffin<\/strong> who played for the Phillies, Brewers, and Rockies from 1986-1997. Chance is the third Longhorns closer to be drafted high in the past 8 years\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201c the others being Huston Street<\/strong> and J.B. Cox<\/strong> (who sadly burnt out last season while pitching for the Yankees AAA affiliate, he essentially walked away from the game altogether mid-season citing a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lack of desire\u00e2\u20ac\u009d).<\/p>\n At #69 overall, the Blue Jays took third baseman Kellen Sweeney<\/strong>, younger brother of current A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s outfielder<\/a> Ryan Sweeney<\/strong>.<\/p>\n At #84 overall, the Pirates selected outfielder Mel Rojas Jr.<\/strong>, son to former reliever<\/a> Mel Rojas<\/strong>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth noting that the family is closely related to the Alou family (former ML players\/coaches Moises Alou<\/strong>, Felipe Alou<\/strong>, Matty Alou<\/strong>, and Jesus Alou<\/strong>) as Mel Sr. and Moises are cousins.<\/p>\n At #122 overall, the Mets selected outfielder Cory Vaughn<\/strong> out of San Diego State (where Tony Gwynn<\/strong> coaches). Cory is the son of former outfielder<\/a> Greg Vaughn<\/strong> who was\u00c2\u00a0cousins with former first baseman<\/a> Mo Vaughn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n At #142 overall, the Dodgers selected outfielder James Baldwin<\/strong>, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father of the same name<\/a> pitched for a number of teams, most notably the White Sox.<\/p>\n At #148 overall, the Orioles selected shortstop Connor Narron<\/strong>, son of former catcher<\/a> and manager<\/a> Jerry Narron<\/strong>.<\/p>\n At #156 overall, the Blue Jays selected shortstop Dickie Thon<\/strong>, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father of the same name<\/a> played for 15 seasons.<\/p>\n At #203 overall, the Red Sox selected outfielder Kendrick Perkins<\/strong>, who isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t related to but happens to share the same name as the center for the Boston Celtics. (I just thought this one was interesting.)<\/p>\n In the 8th round, the Tigers selected catcher Patrick Leyland<\/strong>, son of current manager<\/a> Jim Leyland<\/strong>. He was the first of four sons of current managers taken this year by their fathers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 organization.\u00c2\u00a0Pitcher Brett Bochy<\/strong>, son of Giants manager Bruce<\/a>, went in the 18th round. Catcher Mark Tracy<\/strong>, son of Rockies manager Jim<\/a>, went in the 22nd round. Outfielder Ozney Guillen<\/strong>, son of White Sox manager Ozzie<\/a>, also went in the 22nd round. Ozzie, of course, held true to his boisterous sometimes-I-speak-before-thinking personality and actually criticized the organization for not taking him earlier<\/a> in the draft.<\/p>\n Jamie Moyer<\/strong>, who currently is pitching<\/a> for the Phillies and has been the oldest active player in the league for a number of years, saw his shortstop son, Dillon, taken by the Twins at #675 overall.<\/p>\n Bryan Harper<\/strong>, a pitcher, was taken by the Cubs at #820 overall. His younger brother is Bryce Harper<\/strong>, who of course was selected first overall by the Nationals.<\/p>\n The 2010 Draft will conclude tomorrow afternoon with rounds 31-50. There likely will be more additions to this list in the coming rounds and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite possible I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve missed a few that have been selected thus far.\u00c2\u00a0If you see any notable ones, feel free to leave me a note in the comments.<\/p>\n * Note: This article has been simul-posted at my personal blog, Backyard Baseball<\/a>, and at Seamheads.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One thing that I always find fascinating to follow when it comes to the MLB Draft is seeing young kids drafted who have some relation to a current or former Major League player, coach, or executive. This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s draft has had a number of such cases that I thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d take a look at. Some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":746,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[8128,2709,8126,21223,8124,1950,251,240,8125,8122,3215,3199,8127,60,1765,3221,6542,2901,571,8123,2546],"class_list":["post-5672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-2010-mlb-draft","tag-aaa-affiliate","tag-athletic-ability","tag-baseball-reference","tag-bruce-ruffin","tag-career-statistics","tag-cy-young","tag-cy-young-award","tag-deshields","tag-family-affair","tag-houston-astros","tag-huston-street","tag-longhorns","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb-draft","tag-montreal-expos","tag-player-coach","tag-professional-career","tag-second-baseman","tag-steve-bedrosian","tag-young-kids"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t