4 Hoosiers selected in MLB First Year Player Draft

Diamond and gridiron star Andrew Means finds himself in limbo as he negotiates a contract with the Cincinnati Reds.\nMeans, teammate Tyler Tufts and potential Hoosiers Blake Monar and Alex Dickerson were all selected in last week’s MLB First Year Player Draft.\nMeans was the first of the four taken. The Reds selected him in the 11th round with pick No. 329. \n“I’m not final with anything yet,” Means said of his future with IU. \nHe went on to say that he might suit up for the Hoosier football team in the fall, but “there is an option of me not playing football anymore and just doing strictly baseball. I’m just waiting out the process right now, waiting to see what (the Reds) come up with,” he said.\nThe center fielder was predicted to be taken earlier, but concerns that he is also a legitimate threat to be drafted by an NFL team lowered his stock.\n“(The Reds) called NFL scouting directors and heard things they didn’t want to hear,” Means said. “They heard that I do have the potential to be an NFL draft pick. So they waited outside of the top 10 rounds, so that there was less risk involved in the pick.”\nMeans led the Big Ten with 72 runs, eight triples and was third with 33 stolen bases. He finished the year with a .357 batting average.\nBoth Means and Tufts have one more year of eligibility at IU. Tufts was taken late in the draft. The right-handed pitcher was selected in the 32nd round by the Texas Rangers.\nFor the Hoosiers this season, Tufts tied for the team lead at 13 starts. In those starts he posted a 6-5 record on the season with a 5.65 ERA.\nBut toward the end of the year, Tufts showed his team, and the Rangers, he is reliable in the clutch. In his final five starts, he went 4-0 with a 3.99 ERA.\n“Tyler’s got a good arm,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “I think it’s a great honor to be drafted, and no one can take that away from him. He and his family have to sit down and decide what is best for him and what he wants to do. \n“Whether you are drafted in the first round or the 30-something round, it certainly is a privilege. Someone is offering you to play a game and get paid for it.”\nStud high school pitcher and IU signee Blake Monar was selected by the New York Yankees in the 25th round. \nMonar could not be reached post-selection, but said in an interview before the draft that he would not sign with a team unless offered a good deal of money.\n“It’s more the money, rather than the round,” he said. “Third round money is what I’m looking for.”\nMonar is from Rockport, Ind. and led the South Spencer High School team. In the regular season this year, the lefty posted a staggeringly low 0.49 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 43 innings. \nMonar also hit .644 at the plate and is a candidate for Indiana Mr. Baseball honors.\nDickerson was a big hitter and MVP for his Poway High School squad in Poway, Calif, which earned itself a No. 1 ranking in the state. Dickerson led his Titans with a .455 batting average, eight home runs, 12 doubles and 44 RBIs.\nDickerson was selected in the 48th round by the Washington Nationals.\nAll four draftees would be missed in Bloomington come next baseball season, but Smith said he wasn’t concerned or ready to speculate on what could happen with the players in the future. Rather, he said he was proud players tied with his program were drafted, and it means that IU baseball is heading in the right direction.