Colts' lefty happy with draft spot

Cottonwood's Tanner Robles didn't go as high in the Major League Baseball amateur draft as many anticipated, but he's happy with what happened Friday.

Dubbed a potential first-round pick before his senior season, the 6-foot-4 inch lefty didn't get picked until the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected him in the 14th round with the 448th pick.

There was a reason for the free-fall and it had nothing to do with the way Robles could throw a baseball. It was business.

"Both the Angels and the Rockies called me early on the first day and told me what kind of money they were willing to pay me, but I turned them down," said Robles. "Colorado would have given me $650,000 and taken me in the second round, and the Angels said $475,000 and would have taken me earlier."

For an 18-year-old who just out of high school, that kind of money was tempting, but Robles said the decision to turn it down was not that difficult.

"After talking with my family and my adviser (Chuck Hensley), it really wasn't what I was looking for," he said. "I know that all the hard work I put in, and how I feel I can throw, I was looking for more."

Robles still has a shot to earn first-round type money. The Angels spent their 14th-round pick on the talented pitcher because they would like him to work out for the team to see if he is indeed worth the type of money it would have cost to get him earlier.

The Phillies and Padres had the same idea as the Angels. Each club contacted Robles after the 12th round and asked if he would like to come in and work out for some scouts and decision-makers for a chance to sign with the team not for the normal amount of money a 12th-rounder would make, but closer to the million or so dollars of signing bonus that a first-round pick would make. Robles decided that he wanted his shot with the Angels.

"I feel I am in a win-win situation," Robles added. "I am going to go and throw for the Angels a few times and if they really like what they see, I will get what I am looking for. If they don't feel I am worth that kind of money, then I go and play college baseball at Oregon State and maybe win a College World Series or two, and in three years I can get drafted again. It is a great situation for me to be in."

The question was answered. What happened to Robles in the draft? It wasn't that teams didn't like his ability or potential, it was what they call "signability" in the business. Now, all that is left is for Robles to go out and prove to the Angels he is worth the price of a higher pick.

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E-mail: mblack@desnews.com