179 Current and Former Players Selected overall

Rochester, Minn. – The 2016 Major League First-Year Player Draft was held June 9 through June 11 and the Northwoods League had a record setting draft. A total of 179 current Northwoods League players and alumni were selected in this year’s draft along with a record five 1^st round picks.

"The draft is always an exciting indicator of talent, and the evidence continues to grow that the Northwoods League is attracting the finest amateur baseball players,” said Northwoods League President, Gary Hoover.  “This is a tribute to our model and our teams.  We can't wait to see where it goes from here."

The highest pick in this year’s draft was A.J. Puk, a junior left handed pitcher at Florida. Puk was picked in the 1^st round by the Oakland Athletics with the 6^th overall pick. Puk played as both a pitcher and infielder with the Waterloo Bucks in 2014.  A Cedar Rapids, Iowa native, Puk appeared in two games, starting both and earned a 2.08 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 8.2 innings pitched for Waterloo. At the plate, Puk played in 11 games, hitting .227 with two doubles and three RBI.

Here is the complete list of NWL 1^st Round picks for 2016:

Round	Overall	MLB Team	Player	College	Pos.	B/T	Year	NWL Team	Year
1	6	Oakland	Puk, A.J.	Florida	LHP	L/L	JR	Waterloo Bucks	2014
1	16	Los Angeles A	Thaiss, Matt	Virginia	C	L/R	JR	Madison Mallards	2014
1	22	Pittsburgh	Craig, Will	Wake Forest	3B	R/R	JR	St. Cloud Rox	2014
1	27	Baltimore	Sedlock, Cody	Illinois	RHP	R/R	JR	Waterloo Bucks	2014
1	29	Washington	Dunning, Dane	Florida	RHP	R/R	JR	Waterloo Bucks	2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Madison Mallards had a league high 22 players drafted this year and the La Crosse Loggers were second with 18 players selected.

The highest pick for the Mallards came in the 1^st round, when catcher Matt Thaiss from Virginia was taken 16^th overall by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Thaiss played for the Mallards in 2014 and hit .286 in 26 games. He also drove in 14 runs and had three doubles.

The Loggers highest pick came in the 5th round when the Detroit Tigers selected Texas A & M RHP Mark Ecker with the 145^th overall pick. Ecker was with the Loggers during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

The full list of 2016 NWL draftees can be found here: NWL Draft Results

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 22-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 150 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com.