Photo courtesy of GatorZone
The Florida baseball team will once again be looking for a shortstop for 2010, because Loxahatchee’s Mike Mooney opted to forego his final year of eligibility and signed with the Baltimore Orioles last weekend after being selected in the 23rd selection of this month’s MLB Draft.
Mooney, the scrappy 5-foot-8 shortstop from Royal Palm Beach High and Palm Beach Community College, played just one season in Gainesville, batting 306 with 45 runs, 24 RBI and six doubles. Mooney, who won the shortstop job after Cole Figueroa turned pro, also was among the team leaders with a .442 on-base percentage and 34 walks.
Despite being selected 668th overall, Mooney turned pro now instead of finishing his college career because he had a better bargaining position this summer. Mooney, who joined the Aberdeen Ironbirds of the short-season New York-Penn League on Sunday, received a signing bonus close to six figures, according to a source.
“The opportunity was there,” his father, Peter Mooney said today. “Some people thought if he went back for his senior year the offer would go down. They can say, ‘You don’t take this? Go get a job.’”
Mooney told his father that Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan was a little upset with the decision, “but he wished him all the luck.”
And he wasn’t the only Mooney taken in the draft. His younger brother, PBCC shortstop Peter Mooney Jr., was selected by the Cubs in the 37th round, and is currently in negotiations with the club.
“They have their chance to fulfill their dreams. You can’t ask for much more than that,” Peter Mooney said.
A record 10 Gators were selected in this year’s Draft, and so far seven have signed contracts.
Reliever Billy Bulluck, LHP Tony Davis and C Buddy Munroe – all coincidentally drafted by the Minnesota Twins – left their college eligibility on the table to turn pro.
In addition, OF Avery Barnes (Colorado), RHP Patrick Keating (Kansas City) and LHP Stephen Locke (LAA Angels), signed pro contracts after graduating from Florida.
OF Matt den Dekker, OF Riley Cooper and LHP Kevin Chapman were drafted but have not yet made a decision.
