If either Paul Skenes or Dylan Crews is taken No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft on July 11, he’ll make some history. And if Skenes is the first pick, he’ll form a new club -- with himself as the only member.
Should the Pirates select either Skenes or Crews -- and that seems very likely at the moment -- he will become only the second player in history to go No. 1 overall in the same season that he played on the College World Series champion. Currently the only player to have accomplished that double is Rick Monday of Arizona State, in the very first Draft in 1965.
You can loosen the criteria a bit and still have a very exclusive list. Only four players in history have played on a CWS champion at any point in their college careers and then gone on to be the No. 1 pick: Monday, Bob Horner of Arizona State (Braves, 1978), Dansby Swanson of Vanderbilt (D-Backs, 2015), and Adley Rutschman of Oregon State (Orioles, 2019).
Skenes, though, earned more than one trophy in Omaha. In addition to winning the national title, the LSU ace was named the College World Series’ Most Outstanding player. Should he go No. 1, he would be the fourth player in history to win the CWS title at any point, be named MOP at any point, and be taken with the first pick. He would join Swanson, Rutschman, and Horner in that club.
Strangely, though none of the previous three players to pull off that triple did it all in the same year. So Skenes would be the first player in baseball history to win a national title, be named MOP in Omaha, and go No. 1 overall in the same year.
Skenes would be the second player to go 1.1 and win MOP in the same year, joining Phil Nevin. However, Nevin did not play on a championship team at the CWS. And Pat Burrell is the only other player to win MOP at any point and be taken with the No. 1 selection.