Coming painfully close to draft day glory

The hard work was already over for Christian Santisteban and now it was time to reap the rewards that would come as a result of his stellar senior season as a member of the Manhattan College baseball team.

The Jaspers season had ended about 10 days before the June 9 start of Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft. Following a season that saw Santisteban named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Player of the Year, earn Collegiate Baseball’s Louisville Slugger Division I Third Team honors while also being tabbed as a member of the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) First Team, all that was left for Santisteban to do was find a comfy spot on his parents’ couch, watch the draft and wait until one of baseball’s 30 teams announced his name and welcomed him to his new baseball family.

Day one of the draft was held June 9 and was limited to just the first two rounds of the 40-round draft. This is where the elite of the elite are selected from schools across the country. The draft is open to high school seniors as well as college juniors and seniors so the pool of talent nationwide is a rather deep one. So when Santisteban didn’t hear his name called last Thursday night on the MLB Network, it was no cause for alarm. Get some sleep, find a different spot on the couch for last Friday’s second day of the draft — when players in rounds 3 through 11 would be picked — and maybe get set to pop the champagne with the family and celebrate the next chapter of his baseball career.

But when Friday came and went without Santisteban hearing his name called or receiving a call from any Major League team, there was some growing concern.

“Yeah, I was expecting a call, definitely,” Santisteban said.

Saturday, the third day of the draft that would include rounds 11 through 40, when 900 players nationwide would hear their names called and get that coveted phone call from a Major League Baseball team, would surely be the day Santisteban’s dream would finally be realized. A player with his list of credentials would be a welcome addition to any team so, really, who cares if it took until Day Three of the draft before Santisteban finally had his magic moment?

It would be the culmination of all the hard work Santisteban put in over the years. All the Little League games, all the high school clashes, all the countless practices and, of course, four star-studded years with the Jaspers. It was all about to pay off in a big way.

But the 11th round came and went without Santisteban hearing his name, his phone remaining silent.

Anticipation high

Soon there were 15 rounds gone and still no word. As the afternoon ticked by, with another round coming off the board without his name being called, doubt began to creep in.

“I know the draft is a crazy thing and everyone told me you can’t get too high or too low because you never know what’s going to happen,” said Santisteban, who graduated from Manhattan in May with a degree in civil and environmental engineering.  

Twenty rounds were now gone, then 25, then 30 and still no phone call. By now Santisteban was sure he would have heard his name called and the party would have long since been underway with family and friends. And when it hit approximately 6:30 p.m. in New York and many sports fans were getting ready for the start of the Belmont Stakes, Santisteban and his family were busy sweating through the 40th and final round.

But when the name Jeremy Ydens was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 1,216th and final pick of the draft, Santisteban was left without a team, never getting that phone call and without hearing his name called on TV. What was supposed to be a magical time in his life was somehow sabotaged and he was left to wonder just what happened.

“I have no idea why I wasn’t picked. I’m kind of in shock,” said Santisteban, who was second in the MAAC this past season with a .367 batting average while also finishing second in hits (76) and third in both doubles (21) and RBI (46). “I was following the draft and keeping up with it, but I never heard my name called and I never got a phone call. I was really disappointed. I was expecting the phone to ring at one point. But it never rang so I don’t know what to think.”

So close, so far

Santisteban finished his career at Manhattan in second place all-time in doubles with 63 and sixth in hits with a robust 220. He was also named to the MAAC First Team twice in his career and was the first Jaspers player to be named to a Louisville Slugger postseason team since Chris Cody did the trick following the 2006 season. We’re talking rare air here for Santisteban but going draft-less was a stinging blow that he never saw coming. 

“I am pretty sad; I can’t lie,” Santisteban said. “I wasn’t expecting that. I was hoping to hear my name called and it never happened.”

Santisteban wasn’t the only one not expecting the draft snub. He said he received a lot of support from a number of people once the draft concluded Saturday evening.

“I got a lot of calls from my teammates at Manhattan and from my friends at home and they were all upset,” Santisteban said. “They told me they had friends that got drafted that they said I was way better of a player than them and they didn’t know how they got drafted. They’re upset and they think it’s not fair, but there is nothing they can do. I mean, I’m not mad. It was just kind of sad not to hear my name called. But it just makes me really want to prove myself and show people I can compete at that level.”

So in order for that to happen, Santisteban said he will be getting some help from Manhattan coach Jim Duffy with the hope of continuing his baseball career.

Plan B

“My adviser and coach Duffy are going to talk to a couple of teams and some scouts and stuff to talk about free agency,” Santisteban said. “After the draft, a lot of guys end up signing so we’ll be looking into signing on with a team as a free agent, which hopefully will happen. But if that doesn’t work out, coach has some people he knows with Independent League teams and he’ll talk to them and see if I could end up with an independent team. Then I could play there for a year and prove myself and then hopefully sign a contract with a big league team.”

This was not how it was supposed to play out for Santisteban. There was supposed to be the Hollywood ending: the phone call, his name on the TV, hugs, kisses and tears all around the Santisteban home. Then a raucous celebration before he was off to pursue his baseball career, armed with memories he would never forget. But none of it happened as it was supposed to and that will only make Santisteban more determined than ever to see his dream through.

“I was telling my family that it was all right that I didn’t get drafted,” Santisteban said. “It just gave me more fuel to fire me up to prove to everyone that I’m worth it. I just want a chance to prove myself. I told coach and everyone else I don’t want a lot of money to sign with a team. I just want a chance to play and to prove to everyone that I can play at that level.”

Santisteban said he could hear from a team about a free agent contract as soon as this week. He won’t have his name appear on TV but he’s hoping the phone will finally ring this week with an offer. After a heart-wrenching three days, there still may be something to celebrate for Santisteban in the days to come.