Draft concludes after 40 rounds, 1,215 selections

NEW YORK -- After three days, 40 rounds and more than 1,200 picks, the 2014 First-Year Player Draft concluded Saturday. The final day was comprised of Rounds 11-40 and put 900 players in position to take the next step on their baseball journeys.

With the picking done, all that's left is for the players to decide whether to sign or continue their amateur careers. Players with college eligibility remaining will have until July 18 to make up their minds. Some have already chosen the professional ranks, reportedly including Brady Aiken, though the Astros haven't confirmed any agreement with the No. 1 overall pick.

The final day of the Draft began when the Astros picked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M right-hander Dean Deetz with the first pick of the 11th round and ended when the Cardinals selected Ouachita Baptist right-hander Davis Ward with the final pick of the 40th round.

Deetz was ranked No. 140 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 200 Draft Prospects list, and was one of 53 players from the list who were still available after the first 10 rounds. Two other Top 200 players -- Berryhill (Okla.) High School right-hander Nick White (No. 158) and Fresno State right-hander Jordan Brink (No. 102) -- quickly followed Deetz off the board. The Marlins selected White with the second pick of the day, and Brink went fourth to the Cubs.

Deetz, White and Brink were representative of one of the larger overall trends of the Draft. More than half of the players selected (653 of 1,215) were pitchers, and right-handers accounted for 38.8 percent of all draftees. Outfielders (182) led all position players, followed by catchers (116) and shortstops (94).

Mississippi led all schools with nine players drafted, including five on Saturday. Florida State, Louisville, Oregon State, Stanford, Virginia and Washington each had eight players selected.

Entering Day 3, most of the Top 200 players still available were on the second half of the list, but there were still nine players on the board from the Top 100. Stone Bridge (Va.) High School right-hander J.B. Bukauskas (No. 38) entered Saturday as the highest-ranked undrafted player. He was selected in the 20th round by the D-backs, but is expected to uphold his commitment to North Carolina, as he told teams he intended to do in a letter last month.

Of the Top 100 players, Lawrence (Kan.) High School right-hander Bryce Montes de Oca (No. 73) was the first to go Saturday, when the White Sox selected him in the 14th round. The rest of the group eventually followed over the next 24 rounds. Osceola (Fla.) High School right-hander Keith Weisenberg (No. 65) was the last top 100 player to go off the board when the Blue Jays selected him in the 38th round. He is strongly committed to Stanford, which he reiterated Friday night on Twitter.

Excited for the opportunity to play in the PAC-12 for @StanfordBSB "a dream delayed is not a dream denied" See you in 3 years, draft

- Keith Weisenberg (@KWeis_) June 7, 2014

One player not ranked on any top prospects list managed to make a splash anyway. Heisman Trophy winner and Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was selected in the 28th round by the Padres. Though it was a surprising pick, the move wasn't out of character for the Padres. They also drafted Toledo quarterback Terrance Owens in the 40th round of the 2012 Draft. Like Manziel, Owens didn't play baseball in college.

Padres president Mike Dee took to Twitter with a simple explanation for the pick.

Best athlete on the board... #JohnnyBaseball pic.twitter.com/yqOYmgLPr2

- Mike Dee (@PadresMikeDee) June 7, 2014

The football theme extended beyond Manziel on Saturday. In the 22nd round the Cubs drafted Joey Martarano, who plays linebacker for Boise State. And the Phillies grabbed a pair of high school outfielders with prominent football relatives. In the 32nd round, they selected Joe Flacco, the brother of the Ravens quarterback; and in the 35th round, they took Thomas Gamble, whose father, Tom, is the Eagles vice president of player personnel.

Some familiar baseball names can also be found among the Day 3 selections. In the 14th round, the D-backs selected TCU first baseman Kevin Cron, who is the brother of Angels designated hitter C.J. Cron and son of the team's Minor League hitting coordinator, Chris Cron. The Nationals selected Indian River State College first baseman Ryan Ripken, the son of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., in the 15th round, and the Yankees selected Mariano Rivera, whose father's jersey is retired by the club, in the 28th round.

The 2014 Draft could be the beginning of another baseball family legacy. Twin brothers Patrick and Eric Peterson played together in college -- first at Temple and then at North Carolina State -- and were both drafted by AL West rivals Saturday. The Mariners selected Patrick, a left-hander, in the 23rd round and the Astros snagged Eric, a right-hander, in the 37th round.

Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Program both fared well in this year's Draft. The two programs produced a dozen draftees, including Junipero Serra High School (Calif.) outfielder Marcus Wilson, who went 69th overall to the D-backs.

Also among Saturday's selections was Florida right-hander Karsten Whitson, who was the ninth overall pick of the 2010 Draft. This year, he went in the 11th round to the Red Sox.

After being selected by the Padres out of high school, Whitson chose to attend college rather than sign. He was named a Freshman All-American for the Gators, but has been hampered by injuries over the last three years. He pitched out of the bullpen this spring.

Whitson was the second former first-rounder to be selected this year, joining Vanderbilt right-hander Tyler Beede. Originally drafted 21st overall by the Blue Jays in 2011, Beede went 14th overall to the Giants this year.