Decisive moment for Burns

Rocky Mountain's Burns, projected as early pick, weighs options: go to college or turn pro

By Paul Willis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 6, 2008 at 7:10 p.m.

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Andy Burns had no idea it would be this difficult.

Stressful decisions for a high school senior usually range from deciding where to eat with his buddies to making sure to wear the right clothes to the mall in case the cute girls from calculus happen to be there.

For Burns, a 6-foot-2, 185- pound shortstop for the Rocky Mountain baseball team, this choice potentially is life-altering: go pro or go to college.

Burns has signed with Kentucky and could play for the Wildcats next season. But he is one of a handful of players from Colorado who are projected to be selected in the upper rounds of the amateur draft in June.

Burns, whose Lobos are one of eight teams that advanced to the Class 5A state tournament starting Friday, has had difficulty deciding which route he is going to choose.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure yet," Burns said. "It's been really tough, back and forth, and it's been a long couple months. What might be the idea this week could change next week, but I'm getting close to deciding where my cutoff is going to be."

Players in Burns' situation often choose a round and decide if they are not chosen by that point, they will continue on to college.

Mullen pitcher Tyler Sample, for example, has established that cutoff.

"I've kind of being telling everybody top five (rounds)," said Sample, a 6-7 right-handed pitcher who has committed to Arkansas. "Top five I'll sign, then after that, it gets kind of iffy."

It hasn't been as easy for Burns to nail down a draft round or a dollar amount. He has gotten to the point where he just wishes the draft would arrive so he can look at his opportunity and make an objective decision.

"Absolutely," Burns said. "It's really difficult because it's truly hard to put a price tag on yourself. Especially when you kind of have a feel of what teams think about you, but they can think you're a second-round guy and you can end up going in the seventh."

Rocky Mountain coach Scott Bullock said Burns has done an admirable job of not letting the draft interfere with his senior season.

"I think he has handled it great," Bullock said. "There have been times this year when he has been a little tense and not the same free but fierce competitor that we are all used to seeing. However, he still has never let it get in the way of the No. 1 goal each day, and that is trying to help his team win games."

Other Colorado players projected to possibly go in the top five rounds are Sample, Lewis-Palmer left-hander Bobby Hansen and Ralston Valley's Matt Skipper. All except Burns are pitchers, though Skipper is being looked at as a pitcher and a hitter.

Bucking the trend

Success stories such as Roy Halladay and Brad Lidge are more common over the years than Kevin Kouzmanoff and Josh Bard. Burns is attempting to become one of the latter.

Halladay and Lidge are pitchers from Colorado who are in the majors. Halladay, the marquee starter for the Toronto Blue Jays, played at Arvada West High School. Lidge, the closer for the Philadelphia Phillies, attended Cherry Creek. Minnesota Twins reliever Jesse Crain (Fairview) and Houston Astros reliever Doug Brocail (Lamar) also fit that mold.

Kouzmanoff, of Evergreen, is the third baseman for San Diego, and Bard, from Cherry Creek, is the Padres' starting catcher. They're two of the few position players from Colorado to land regular big-league jobs.

"It makes the path a lot harder because there have been a lot of guys picked from here and not a lot who made it," Burns said. "To be one of the few who did, it would be a great ride."

A few others, such as Padres minor- league outfielder Chase Headley (Fountain-Fort Carson), have made a few trips to the majors and hope to return.

But you have to go back to former Rampart athlete Jeff King, an infielder with the Pirates and Royals from 1989 to 1999, and longtime New York Mets catcher John Stearns (Thomas Jefferson and University of Colorado), who played from 1975 to 1984, to find long-term everyday position players from the state.

Former Cherry Creek athletes Matt Brunson and Darnell McDonald each were first-rounders in the draft, but neither claimed an everyday job in the majors.

Tough senior season

Burns' name started circulating among scouts as early as his sophomore season, but his performance at last season's state tournament elevated the buzz to a frenzy.

Burns hit .600, homered four times and drove in 12 runs in five games at state as Rocky Mountain throttled the competition en route to its first baseball title. He finished the season with a .542 average, 13 home runs and 43 RBI.

This season, word has gotten out. Burns' walk totals are in the mid-20s as teams commonly pitch around him. Although he insists his impending draft decision did not follow him onto the field, he carried a modest three home runs and 17 RBI into last week's regular-season finale against Wheat Ridge.

"Once the game starts, you can take your mind off it, but it's definitely a stressful thing," Burns said. "You think about it a lot."

Things are improving, though. He drilled three homers and drove in eight runs against Wheat Ridge, then went 3-for-3 with a homer and a double in a 15-1 win Saturday against Fairview that punched the Lobos' ticket to state.

A similarly torrid state tournament would make Burns' numbers (he's hitting .533, with seven home runs and 26 RBI) look a lot like they did last season.

That comparison would be favorable but, ultimately, the parallel Burns is craving is to be likened to Kouzmanoff, King and Stearns.

Around the horn

Andy Burns, expected to be a high-round draft choice in next month's draft, answers some questions about professional baseball.

* Favorite stadium you've been to?

Fenway Park in Boston. I had a chance to go there when I was 8 for the All-Star Game. As old and traditional as it is, it was a tremendous experience.

* Park you'd most like to see for the first time?

Yankee Stadium would be sweet to check out.

* Favorite team growing up?

I was born in South Carolina, about three hours out of Atlanta, so I always liked the Braves. Now I'm a Braves and Rockies fan.

* If you could pick which team drafts you, which would it be?

I would have said Atlanta growing up, but now I could care less because every major league team is sweet.

* Coolest nickname for a minor league team?

There are tons of cool ones, but I'd have to say the Montgomery Biscuits.

Matt Skipper: 'It's a win-win situation'

Ralston Valley pitcher/first baseman Matt Skipper has signed with San Diego State, but he has been projected as a possible selection in the first five rounds of the amateur draft.

Some teams like the 6-foot-9 right-hander as a pitcher (6-0, 91 strikeouts this season), others as a hitter (.492 average, 11 home runs, 50 RBI).

Skipper, whose Mustangs are a favorite in the Class 4A state tournament, spoke with the Rocky about how he'll handle draft day June 5.

"I don't have a round cutoff at all. I don't even have a money cutoff set. We're going to see how the rest of the season plays out and see what happens with the draft. There's really nothing stopping me, whether it's first round or 50th round. We just don't know. It'd be one that we'd have to see the figures and see how it works out before we did anything.

"If it's one of those offers that you can't resist when they first tell you, there'll be no doubt. I mean, my goal is to play professional baseball. Whether I go to college first or I go straight from here, it doesn't matter.

"At the same time, I'm ecstatic to go (to San Diego State). They play pretty darn good baseball and they play some of the best teams in the country. I'm way excited. Tony Gwynn is a heck of a guy. It's a win-win situation."

Scouting report

Capsules from Baseball America on two Colorado high school baseball players who are projected to go high in next month's amateur draft.

Andy Burns: At 6-foot-2 and with 6.82 speed, he has the skills to play three infield positions in college, but as a pro, he profiles as a Ryne Sandberg- type kind of second baseman.

* Tyler Sample: Has held his above- average velocity deep into games, showing he's all the way back from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss his sophomore season in high school. At 6-foot-7, 248 pounds, Sample is a physical specimen in line with past big, physical Colorado high school pitchers.

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