Reds pickup former 1st round Cubs pick up P Mike Pawelek

[missionhockey21]

San Ramon, CA. May 23, 2009 – The Golden Baseball League announced today that the St. George RoadRunners have sold the contract of LHP Mark Pawelek to the Cincinnati Reds. The big lefty out of Springville, Utah had made the RoadRunners pitching staff but did not get a chance to perform the the St. George team as he was acquired on the first day of the GBL season. Pawelek was noticed by a scout after he pitched four innings during an exhibition against Southern Utah University on May 18.

Pawelek, 22, had been a first round pick by the Chicago Cubs out of high school in the 2005 amateur draft. After four seasons in the Cubs' farm system, used as both a starter and reliever, he was released after the 2008 campaign and chose to play for St. George which is close to his Utah home. Selected 20th overall after a high school career that saw him post a 36-2 record and set the Utah state high school mark for strikeouts, his four years in the Cubs' system were tumultuous as he broke his arm in 2007 when he tripped over his Sony Playstation and missed playing in Vancouver, Canada with his team due to not getting himself a passport. With a renewed deternination and pitching better than ever under St. George RoadRunner Manager Cory Snyder, the Reds moved quickly to bring him back to a major league organization.

Pawelek is the 8th Golden Baseball League player in 2009 to be acquired by a major league organization.

St. George RoadRunners

I dig the move. This was a solid prospect until he broke his arm and from a few sources I've found, there were some pretty impressed scouts with his recent performance with his velocity building back up. Jocketty acted fast on this one and while it is a risk that might never payoff, it had next to nothing cost to try it. At 22, Pawelek could still etch out a MLB career with the right coaching and development track.

Solid move.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

he broke his arm in 2007 when he tripped over his Sony Playstation

The video game injury bug strikes again!

Joel Zumaya sends his condolences

[redsrbetter]

I hope this guy is one of a long list of young talent that Jocketty pulls out of a hat and makes magic with.