The Tucson Baseball League continued to develop its first roster that will compete starting in October by taking part in the ARCO Mexican Pacific League national and foreign draft on Thursday at Hermosillo.
Team owners Victor Cuevas Jr. and his son Victor III were on hand, along with general manager Esteban Haro and other team officials.
The foreign draft (players born outside of Mexico) included four players selected — left-handed pitchers Devin Smeltzer (the Tucson Baseball Team’s top pick) and Clayton Andrews, outfielder Jimmy Kerrigan and right-hander Christian Young.
Smeltzer, a fifth-round selection in the 2016 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, has five years of experience in MLB with the Minnesota Twins from 2019 to 2022 and with the Miami Marlins in 2023. The Florida Gulf Coast University product played at Triple-A Jacksonville (Fla.) of the Marlins’ organization last summer and was 1-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 24 appearances. He struck out 32 and walked 13. He was released last July. Smeltzer beat cancer as a youth, diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (bladder and prostate) before he was 10. He now pitches for the Dorados de Chihuahua in the Mexican Baseball League. In 13 starts, he is 4-4 with a 5.17 ERA. He has 60 strikeouts and 24 walks in 78 1/3 innings.
Andrews is a left-hander out of Long Beach State who has brief MLB experience with the Milwaukee Brewers (four appearances in 2023) and the New York Yankees (one last year). He was acquired by the Yankees from the Brewers in exchange for pitcher Joshua Quezada. After pitching 1/3 of an inning for the Yankees, he was designated for assignment and was granted free agency last June. He signed a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants last July and was released by the Giants in August. After playing for Aguas de Mexicali last winter in the Mexican Pacific League, he has played for Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican Baseball League. He is 2-2 with a 1.87 ERA with nine saves. In 33 2/3 innings, he has 36 strikeouts and 12 walks.
Kerrigan is a former Temple and VCU player who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Twins in 2017. He played parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level in 2018, 2019 and 2021. He was released by the Twins after spring training in 2022. He has played for the Bravos de Leon of the Mexican Baseball League for the last two years. He is batting .285 with 19 home runs and 55 RBIs this season. He also has 16 doubles and 12 stolen bases.
Young played one year at West Virginia in 2018 before ending his college career at NCAA Division II program Mercyhurst in 2019. Before that, he was an NJCAA All-American at SUNY Niagara leading that team to two NJCAA Division I World Series appearances. After playing four years in the Independent League, Young signed with the Los Angeles Angels last summer and was assigned to Single-A Inland Empire and Single-A+ Tri-City. He was released and finished the summer playing in the Independent League again for a team in Milwaukee. He pitches for Acereros de Monclova this summer in the Mexican Baseball League. In 12 starts, he is 2-3 with a 4.71 ERA with 45 strikeouts and 20 walks in 57 1/3 innings. He pitched for Tucson manager Willie Romero last season with Tri-City.
Here is a list of the Mexican national players selected in the draft Thursday:
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