The Minnesota Twins had Georgia on their minds Monday night with the No. 2 pick of the 2012 Major League draft.
Byron Buxton, an highly coveted outfielder from Appling County High School who has signed a baseball scholarship with Georgia, was selected second overall. Carlos Correa, a 17-year-old shortstop from Puerto Rico, was drafted No. 1.
The Braves, after going out of state for their first overall pick for the past four years, went local and took Brookwood’s pitcher Lucas Sims with the 21st pick of the night.
Sims, a hard-throwing right-hander with a fastball clocked in the low- to mid-90s, grew up a Braves fan and idolizing John Smoltz. He led Brookwood to the Class AAAAA state championship game, where he and the Broncos lost to rival Parkview. He finished the season 8-1 with a 1.19 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 76 innings.
Sims, 6-2, 195 pounds, also a three-year starter at shortstop, has committed to Clemson.
He is the first Georgia native the Braves have taken in the first round since they selected Jason Heyward with the 14th overall pick in 2007. The Braves drafted Georgia high school players in the first round for three straight years from 2000-2002 and all three -- Adam Wainwright, Macay McBride and Jeff Francoeur -- reached the majors.
Buxton was thought by many to be the best position player in the draft.
“It really went down to the wire for No. 1, from what I understand,” said Appling County coach Jeremy Smith. “Houston decided in the last 10 seconds to go with the kid from Puerto Rico, from what I was told by some people in the know."
When Buxton’s name was announced next, a big celebration broke out among the 1,000 family members and friends who had gathered for a draft party in the small town of Baxley, located 200 miles southeast of Atlanta. Buxton, with cameras focused upon him, appeared calm and relaxed.
“It was great to be picked so high," he said. "It’s good to be a Twin. I don’t know too much about the organization but I will get to know them better. … I was relaxed about the whole [draft]. I was just ready to be picked by somebody and go play ball somewhere.”
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Buxton, a true five-tool prospect, led Appling County to the Class AA state championship. Buxton, whose fastball has been clocked at 99 mph, struck out 18 batters in last week’s clinching game. He is expected to play centerfield in the professional ranks.
There was speculation that the Twins, who sorely need pitching, might take Stanford University’s Mark Appel with the second pick. However, Minnesota Director of Scouting Deron Johnson told reporters that Buxton was “absolutely” the prospect they wanted all along.
“We targeted Byron since last summer. ... He's a five-tool player [with a] tremendous ceiling,” Johnson said. “He's a really good kid, hard worker, [and a] two-sport athlete. Everybody talks about his athleticism. He's got a really good swing. We think he's going to hit. We think he'll hit anywhere from No. 1 in the order to No. 3. Tremendous, tremendous upside."
Buxton, who said he expects to sign before the July 13 deadline, comes from a middle-class background. His father drives a truck for a living, while his mother works at a school cafeteria. This year’s No. 2 pick has a slotted signing bonus of $6.2 million.
Staff writer Carroll Rogers contributed to this article.
