In previous years, the MLB Draft would occur during college baseball’s postseason and make for a potential distraction to playoff teams who see their stars get picked.
Moved to mid-July, and coinciding with the All-Star break, the 2021 draft instead provided a bigger stage for the sport’s best amateur talent. That included quite a few players associated with the Arizona Wildcats.
Arizona had seven members of its 2021 team picked during the 3-day draft, second-most in the Pac-12 behind UCLA’s 10. The seven were the most for the Wildcats since the 2018 team had eight players selected, though that included one chosen in a round beyond the current 20-round format.