2022 MLB Draft: Arizona commit Demetrio Crisantes picked by D’Backs in 7th round

The second day of the 2022 MLB Draft is in the books, and it was a mix of good and bad news for Arizona.

The good is that no one from the current roster was taken in rounds 3-10, increasing the odds of them returning to Tucson for another season. The bad is that one of the Wildcats’ top incoming recruits isn’t likely to make it to campus.

Shortstop Demetrio Crisantes went to the Arizona Diamondbacks early in the seventh round, with the No. 198 overall pick. He’d be in line for a signing bonus of $247,000, based on his pick’s “slot value,” which likely will be more than enough to convince the 17-year-old from Nogales to turn pro.

Crisantes was the PBR Arizona Player of the Year after helping Nogales reach the Class 5A state title game. As a senior he hit .485 with 15 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, 26 RBI, 46 runs scored and eight stolen bases.

The rest of Arizona’s 2022 recruiting class is intact, though other incoming players such as Pima College right-hander Aiden May or Central Arizona College outfielder Kiko Romero could get picked Tuesday in rounds 11-20.

Unlike the first 10 rounds, where there is a predetermined slot value for each pick, those selected in the 11^th round or later can get up to a $125,000 signing bonus without it counting toward an MLB team’s bonus pool money. Anything above that would, as was the case last year when the Angels signed UA pitcher Chase Silseth—an 11th-round pick—for $485,000 and he ended up making his Major League debut in May.

Two other Wildcats from 2021 who were drafted after the 10th round, infielder Kobe Kato and righty Austin Smith, signed for $125,000 and $80,000, respectively.

As for members of the 2022 Wildcats, the only one drafted so far has been catcher Daniel Susac at No. 19 overall to the Oakland Athletics. That figures to change on Tuesday, with 300 more picks to come.

Outfielders Tanner O’Tremba and Mac Bingham are ranked No. 170 and 176 among the best available draft prospects, per Baseball America. Some of Arizona’s departing seniors could also get picked, such as lefty Garrett Irvin.

While no current UA players got drafted on Monday, two ex-Wildcat pitchers were picked. Wesley Scott, a right-hander who appeared in three games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, went in the eighth round to the Kansas City Royals, and lefty Ian Churchill, who was with the UA in 2020-21, went in the 10^th round to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Scott was drafted out of Walters State College in Tennessee while Churchill played at San Diego this past spring.