Wednesday June 4, 2003

Golden Panthers represented well in MLB Draft
Four current players, two high school signees drafted

Four players from the Florida International University baseball have been selected in the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft, as Ricardo Nanita, Andrew Edwards and Arthur Santos joined Josh Banks as draftees. Banks was drafted 50th overall Tuesday.

The Chicago White Sox drafted Nanita in the 14th round with the 412th overall pick before Edwards went to his hometown New York Yankees with the 814th selection in the 27th round. The Boston Red Sox then selected Santos in the 34th round with the 1,014th overall choice.

Nanita, a junior outfielder from Santo Domingo, DR, exploded onto the scene for the Golden Panthers as a junior college transfer, hitting .388 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI.

This marks the second consecutive year that Edwards has been drafted. Despite coming off a torn ulna collateral ligament in his elbow, Edwards was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 41st round in 2002. The junior right-hander came back to strike out 31 with a 4.37 ERA in ten appearances in 2003.

Santos (Miami/Barbara Goleman) finished 2003 with a 3.80 ERA and 58 strikeouts. The junior right-hander led the Sun Belt Conference in ERA against conference opponents (2.11).

Two of FIU’s highly prized high school signees were also drafted on the first day. Shortstop Sean Rodriguez, who finished his high school career at G. Holmes Braddock HS, was chosen in the third round by the Anaheim Angels with the 90th selection. Robert Valido (Coral Park) was taken by the Chicago White Sox with the 112th pick in the fourth round.

Banks became the highest FIU player ever taken in the MLB Draft Tuesday afternoon, going to the Toronto Blue Jays in the second round with the 50th overall selection. Banks was a first-team all-Sun Belt selection in 2003, going 8-3 in 15 starts. The right-hander tallied 114 strikeouts through 105.1 innings and walked just 25 batters on the season. For his career, he struck out 198 and went 15-6 with a 3.23 ERA. The Arnold, Md. native is the highest player selected from the Sun Belt Conference this season.

“We’re extremely proud of him,” head coach Danny Price said. “He is a great individual, and I hope he has a long injury-free career.”