Two UCLA Baseball Signees Selected in the First Two Rounds of 2018 MLB Draft

It seems like every year, the recruiting class of UCLA Baseball head coach John Savage gets, well, savaged by the MLB Draft.

Two years ago, Mickey Moniak and Blake Rutherford were both taken in the first round. Last year, Hunter Greene and Hagen Danner were chosen by Cincinnati and Toronto, respectively.

And, now that the first two rounds are completed, you can add infielder Matt McLain of Beckman HS in Tustin and Cole Roederer from Hart HS in Valencia to the list of Bruin signees who were drafted in the first two rounds.

McLain was taken 25th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks. That slots him to make approximately $2.6M. Roederer was selected 77th overall by the Chicago Cubs. Being picked at that point slots him to make about $775K.

These two young men will now have a very big decision to make. Do they sign with MLB or do they head to college for at least three years until they can be drafted again?

Given that McLain was a first-round pick, I would expect him to sign. Roederer, on the other hand, may not be quite as likely to sign even though the amount of moeny he stands to earn is life-changing.

Last year, we saw a new negotiating tactic happen in the wake of the MLB Draft as players were also asking teams to guarantee the cost of a college degree after their playing days were over. That was very smart on the players’ part, but, of course, that doesn’t help UCLA at all on the field.

So, now, we will have to watch and wait to see what these two recruits decide.

As far as current Bruins go, none were selected tonight.

The 2018 MLB Draft resumes tomorrow at 10 am PT on MLB.com.


Go Bruins!!!