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Pitt All-American Sedon knows the MLB draft-day drill
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Chris Sedon set a Pitt record with 22 home runs this spring.
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If all goes as planned next Wednesday, Pitt junior infielder Chris Sedon will be reclining on an oversized chair as his name is called on the second day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
"I have to get a cavity filled that day, so I might be laid back in a dentist chair when I get drafted," Sedon said. "Can you believe that was the only appointment they had available? The team might call me and I can't even answer my cell phone because I'll be in the dentist chair with people filling my cavity. But, honestly, it would be a dream come true just to get a call like that, even if I can't answer the phone."
And with the draft running three days this year -- the first four rounds Tuesday, fifth through 30th Wednesday and 31st through 50th Thursday -- the projections that have trickled down to Sedon from scouts are that it is highly likely he will be selected Wednesday, somewhere between the 10th and 30th round.
As such, Sedon, a Lackawanna Community College transfer who just completed his first year at Pitt, which was one of the finest for a Panthers infielder, could be facing a quandary. He has a year of eligibility remaining with the Panthers, but the Plains, Pa., native -- a town of about 10,000 in Luzerne County near Wilkes-Barre -- said the threshold as to whether he signs or returns to Pitt is "the rounds around the late 20s or so."
• What: MLB First-Year Player Draft.
• When: Tuesday-June 11.
• First pick: San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg is expected to be taken by the Washington Nationals.
• Pirates: Select fourth in the first round.
• TV: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Rounds 1-3, MLB Network.
NBA Finals
• Matchup: Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Lakers.
• Game 1: 9 p.m. tomorrow.
• TV: WTAE.
• The skinny: Jeff Van Gundy, brother of Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, will continue in his role as analyst for ESPN/ABC. "I said, 'Hey, listen, if you guys [at the network] don't think it's best for me to call the Finals, I'm fine with that, and I understand,'" Jeff said. "I don't want to compromise anything. They said they wanted me to do it."
If he's drafted in, say, the 13th round, his days as a Panthers second baseman are done and he will turn pro; if it's the 28th round or thereabouts, the decision isn't as much of a no-brainer and he just might return to Pitt for that final year.
"The way I look at it, it is a great situation either way," Sedon said. "Because if I get drafted where I want and I have to leave, I fulfill a dream of playing professional baseball. But the hardest thing I would have to do is tell my [Pitt] teammates and the coaches that I am going, because we have been through a lot this past year together. Honestly, they mean so much to me."
Sedon also meant a lot to the Pitt program this past season. He became just the third player in program history to be named to the Louisville Slugger TPX All-America First Team, joining second baseman Jim Negrych (2006) and outfielder/pitcher P.J. Hiser (2004).
Sedon, a right-handed batter, set single-season school records for home runs (22), total bases (160) and runs scored (65), and placed among the top five in slugging percentage (.796) and RBIs (62). An all-Big East first-team pick, Sedon batted .402 in the regular season and hammered at least one home run in 12 of Pitt's final 16 games, including each of the last four. The Panthers finished 28-21.
"I could not be happier for Chris," Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said. "It is a testament to his work ethic, dedication to our program here at Pitt and the incredible season he had. It is well deserved and I am certain that Chris is extremely appreciative of being named a Louisville Slugger All-American."
Sedon also appreciated the chance that Jordano gave him at Pitt, whether or not his time with the Panthers is up.
"He gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, there is nothing more that I could say about what he's done for me," Sedon said. "Pittsburgh was the first school I visited and I just kind of looked at [Jordano] and was like, 'OK, where are the [signing] papers, let's get this done, I want to play for you and I want to play in this program.'
"I don't know what's going to happen [in the draft] and I can't worry myself thinking about it. I know that I came into this past year just wanting to hit above .300 and I did much better than that, but more important to me is that I became part of a team and was around a group of guys and coaches who I really, really liked."
First Published June 3, 2009 12:00 am
