The RoundHouse | 6/1/2018 12:46:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
On Monday evening, a professional baseball team will draft Wichita State third baseman Alec Bohm and he will sign a contract with that team, perhaps within a few weeks.
 
That is the routine for first-round draft picks, who rarely turn down the money and prestige that go with that selection. Bohm, a junior from Omaha, is expected to become the 15th Wichita State product to go in the first round, the sixth as a position player. 
 
The first is outfielder Joseph Krsnich, who wanted to play college basketball, never played baseball at Wichita State and turned down the New York Yankees after they picked him No. 13 overall in 1972's January amateur draft.
 
His highlight at Wichita State: Former basketball coach Harry Miller watched him play pick-up games with the Shockers. Krsnich's talents impressed Miller enough to inquire about his college eligibility (Krsnich had already signed a professional baseball contract, rendering him ineligible to play).
 
"Believe it or not, that was my most thrilling moment," Krsnich said. "It really wasn't in baseball."
 
Krsnich leads Wichita State's list of first-rounders even though the school dropped the baseball team after the 1970 season and didn't revive it until the 1978 season. The Shocker baseball media guide lists them all, Krsnich's name standing out for its unfamiliarity with the greats from the Gene Stephenson era.
 
Outfielder Joe Carter went in the first round in 1981 (Chicago Cubs) to start a rush that included pitchers Bryan Oelkers (1982 Twins) and Erik Sonberg (1983, Dodgers) and outfielder Russ Morman (1983, Chicago White Sox).
 
The changes that brought about baseball's modern era of acquiring talent began in the intervening years. The January draft lasted from 1966-1986 and produced big-leaguers such as Carlton Fisk, Ken Singleton and Ellis Burks. It was intended for people who graduated after the fall semester and played a supporting role to the prominent talent available in the June draft.
 
"The one in June was the big one and then in January, it was a lot of junior college guys," Krsnich said. "I was kind of an oddity. I just didn't care that much about playing in college."
 
Krsnich, who attended Chaplain Kapaun Memorial High School (now Kapaun Mount Carmel) and graduated from Wichita State with a degree in business administration, was scouted largely from his play in the semi-pro Victory League and National Baseball Congress World Series.
 
"Things are much different now," he said.
 
Krsnich, son of former White Sox third baseman Rocky Krsnich, knew teams were interested him before the draft. He does not remember how the Yankees notified him; he guesses he probably read the newspaper the next morning. The team offered him a $10,000 signing bonus and some college tuition. 
 
"I was kind of disappointed in the offer," he said. "So, I went ahead and stayed in school. The Yankees were notorious back then for not paying much."
 
He played for Service Auto Glass in the summer and the Boston Red Sox signed him for $12,000 during the NBC World Series. He played five seasons in the minor leagues and now lives in Kansas City.
 
His path to professional baseball included three draft classes and trips to El Dorado and Oklahoma for college before settling on a run with the Red Sox.
 
Krsnich played baseball and basketball at Kapaun and the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the 21^stround in 1969's June draft. He declined that offer – in part because he was 17, young for his class. He went to what is now Butler Community College to play basketball and didn't make the team. The Yankees drafted him in the 36^thround in 1970. Krsnich decided to play at Oklahoma and lasted one season there before returning to Wichita to play for Service Auto Glass and take classes at Wichita State. 
 
"I always got scouted a lot when I played semi-pro ball around Wichita," he said. "I really wanted to go ahead and get into pro ball."
 
Bohm will get that chance soon. He is one of six potential first-rounders scheduled to watch the draft from the MLB Network studio in New Jersey. The draft begins at 5 p.m. on MLB Network and MLB.com.
 
Bonuses for the top 10 picks are expected to range from $4.5-$8 million, according to Baseball America. 
 
He was not drafted out of Omaha's Roncalli Catholic High School and signed with Wichita State. He started 44 games as a freshman and hit .303 with six home runs, beginning to show his power potential. He built on that with a strong sophomore season – earning All-Missouri Valley Conference honors after hitting .305 with 11 home runs – and a career-defining summer in the Cape Cod League. By the time he returned to Wichita State for his junior year, organizations regarded him as a potential first-round pick.
 
He hit .339 with 16 home runs and .625 slugging percentage as a junior. He improved his control of the strike zone – walking 39 times and striking out 28 - and his defense at third base. Baseball America named him a second-team All-American and he is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. 
 
"Bohm has some of the best raw power in the class and has always a good track record of having that play in games in the past, but he's taken a step forward across the board so far this spring," Baseball America's Teddy Cahill wrote. 
 
ESPN's Keith Law and The Athletic peg Bohm third to the Phillies, who had prominent members of their front-office at Shockers games this spring. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo projects Bohm to go No. 6 to the New York Mets.
 
"Bohm does what the Phillies love; he improved his walk rate every season at Wichita (4.7 percent to 10.9 percent to 15.1 percent) with a declining strikeout rate," wrote Matt Gelb of The Athletic. "He's big, and there are questions about whether he will stick at third. Whatever the case, Bohm would become one of the best, if not thebest, position-player prospects in a system that has many recent graduates to the majors."
 
Should Bohm come off the board as expected, he will push his way into rarified top-10 air for the Shockers. Carter and pitcher Darren Dreifort (1993, Dodgers) went second overall. Pitcher Braden Looper (1996, Cardinals) went No. 3. Oelkers was picked fourth. Pitcher Mike Pelfrey (2005, Mets) went No. 9. Pitcher Tyler Green (1991, Phillies) went No. 10.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.