Live Wire Blog

Mizzou part of AL Central arms race

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Ryan Gavin

The Kansas City Royals have drafted former Tigers pitcher Aaron Crow in the first round of the MLB first-year player draft. Photo courtesy Mizzou Media Relations.

Kyle Gibson, Mizzou’s ace in 2009, was drafted by the Minnesota Twins, also in the first round. Photo courtesy Mizzou Media Relations.

Two Tigers have been taken in the first round of the MLB first-year player draft. But as fate would have it, they may soon wind up being division foes.

Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson pitched together on the 2008 Mizzou baseball team, leading the Tigers to success along the way. After being taken by the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins, respectively, they could be seeing each other again soon in the American League Central Division.

Crow, who graduated in 2008, was the ace of the Tigers’ staff that season. He won the Roger Clemens Award, given to the nation’s best collegiate pitcher, was an All American and led the nation with a 13-0 record. The Wakarusa, Kan., native now has a chance to pitch for the team he grew up rooting for after failing to agree to terms on a contract with the Washington Nationals last season.

“I’m going into a great situation with the Royals,” Crow told the Columbia Missourian. “I’m hoping to sign sooner rather than later and get to the majors as soon as possible.”

Crow was projected as a top-10 pick by experts going into the draft after having a strong season (3-0, 1.06 ERA) with the Fort Worth Cats of the Independent League. Analysts afterward said the drop to the Royals at No. 12 likely happened because of signability questions.

Gibson, this season’s ace, also was considered to be a top-10 talent much of the season. He went 11-3 and tied a school record with 131 strikeouts. However, after experiencing some soreness in his arm and a drop in velocity in his final outing of the season, teams shied away from taking him. An exam found Gibson to have a hairline fracture in his arm — something from which he should be fully recovered by the end of July.

Instead of going in the top-10, Gibson slid to Minnesota at No. 22. Few people expected him to last that long.

Both pitchers have until Aug. 7 to agree to terms with their new teams.