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Friday, May 19, 2000
Rainbows’
Wakakuwa
will sign with
Devil Rays
The fifth-year senior, courted
By Al Chase
by several other Major League
baseball teams, will become a
free-agent catcher with Tampa Bay
Star-BulletinKenn Wakakuwa has reached an agreement with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and will sign a free-agent contract with the American League team on Monday.
The fifth-year senior from the University of Hawaii also drew interest from the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals and Anaheim Angels.
Major league rules allow teams to sign fifth-year college players before the annual free-agent draft the first week of June. This is the first time a Rainbow has been in that situation.
"Their interest in me is as a catcher," said Wakakuwa, who also played first base, second base and shortstop for the Rainbows.
Tampa Bay area scout Craig Weissmann told Wakakuwa that the Devil Rays didn't have very many catchers in their system and the chance to advance quickly with the Devil Rays was good.
"I thought Tampa Bay was my best chance," Wakakuwa said. "They gave me a nice (financial) incentive, better than what the other teams were offering."
The Devils Rays will assign the 5-foot-10, 180-pound player to one of their long-season Class A teams, either St. Petersburg in the Florida State League or Charleston (S.C.) in the South Atlantic League.
St. Petersburg has three catchers on its roster batting a combined .204.
Charleston also has three catchers, with a combined batting average of .268.
Starting at this level is a plus for the 23-year-old Wakakuwa.
It allows him to skip rookie and short-season A ball, the normal starting point for drafted players.
"A lot of scouts have talked to me since high school, but nothing ever happened," Wakakuwa said. "After the UH season ended, I had a lot of calls.
"I talked with my parents, my high school coach and the UH coaches and this is the best choice."
Wakakuwa hit .337 with two home runs and 39 runs batted in his senior season. He led the Rainbows in runs scored (32) and total bases (82).
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
