Alexander Goes in Sixth Round to Athletics

By Fred Guzman

A pair of players, including one from Maui, that were passed over coming out of high school were chosen early during Tuesday’s second day of the Major League Baseball Draft.

University of Hawaii closer Lenny Linsky was selected in the second round – No. 89 overall — by the Tampa Bay Rays a day after Rainbows teammate Kolten Wong went to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round and 22^nd overall..

Former Kamehama-Maui outfielder Dayton Alexander was chosen in the sixth round, 196^th overall, by the Oakland Athletics.  Alexander enrolled at Feather River Junior College of California following his prep career.

A shortstop in high school, Alexander was converted into an outfielder at his JC and has put up some impressive numbers at the plate, batting .384 during the past season while registering 18 steals in 21 attempts.

Alexander is the second cousin of Shane Victorino, the starting center fielder of the Phillies who originally was chosen in the sixth round, just two slots higher than Alexander, by the Los Angeles Dodgers directly out of St. Anthony High School in 1999.

Another of Victorino’s cousins, Kanekoa Texeira, spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues as a reliever with the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals.   He is currently playing for the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.  A resident of Kula, Texeira attended Kamehameha at Kapalama.

Maui’s other big-leaguer is Kurt Suzuki, who – ironically – was drafted in the second round by and currently is the starting catcher for Oakland.

Linsky joined first-round selection Kolten Wong as the only UH teammates selected in the first two rounds of the same draft. The right-hander set a school record this season with 14 saves, finishing with a 1.30 ERA, striking out 34 in 34.2 innings and earning third-team All-American honors.

Four UH players were taken in the first 16 rounds.  Lefty Blair Walters, who led the Bows with seven wins this season, was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 11th round, No. 351 overall).  Reliever Michael Blake was 484th overall pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks.