2010 Draft Eligibles: Peninsula Oilers

Shayne Willson could be the first Oiler
to go in the 2010 draft.
Photo credit: OilersBaseball.com

The MLB rule-four draft is looming large, coming up in just a couple weeks. We've already had a peek at who's up for grabs from the Bucs and the Miners, and now we're headed southward down to Kenai for a look at the Peninsula Oilers. The Oilers have a bunch of draft-eligible guys this year, due in no small part to the fact that their 2008 squad was composed almost entirely of sophomores and freshmen. Those guys are all now draft eligible (minus a few who have been drafted as juniors, or hung up the spikes).

Who are some interesting players from a draft perspective? I don't see any top-100 types on this list, but beyond that there are actually quite a few very solid picks that will likely go later on the first day and early on the second.

I'm predicting that the first Oiler to go this year will be Shayne Willson. Willson was drafted straight out of high school by the Minnesota Twins during the 16th round. He opted to play junior college ball, put up some great numbers, and made two NJCAA World Series appearances. Since being recruited by Canisius, he's continued to hit the cover off the ball. His one black mark stat-wise was last year with the Oilers, but outside of a couple of guys, everyone on that team struggled at the plate. Other than that he's been drafted relatively high already, he's proven himself at the collegiate level, and he's a senior this year so there shouldn't be any signability issues. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't go on the first day.