With the exception of losing senior Jason Dobis, the Gophers baseball team’s starting pitching rotation should remain intact for the 1999 season. Pitcher Brad Pautz decided Thursday he would return to play out his final year of collegiate baseball.
“The way it looks, I will be coming back,” Pautz said.
Pautz was selected in the 6th round of the amateur draft by the Minnesota Twins, but after two separate meetings with the organization, the Reedsville, Wis., native was unable to comes to terms with the Twins.
“It wasn’t the money I was looking for,” Pautz said.
The deal the Twins offered was a package totaling about $90,000.
Pautz was one of four Gophers players drafted; pitcher Kai Freeman was a 12th-round selection of the Chicago White Sox, outfielder Craig Selander went in the 27th round to the Twins and Dobis was taken by the Oakland A’s in the same round.
Dobis faced the easiest decision of the four. Being the only senior drafted, the Little Falls, Minn., native had no choice but to accept Oakland’s offer.
“It was a relief,” Dobis said of the phone call he received on Wednesday morning. “I was hoping to get drafted.”
Dobis has yet to sign a contract, but he said representatives from the organization are flying to Minneapolis on Sunday. He will be playing class A ball in Medford, Ore., starting June 16.
“It’s not going to be a lot of money,” Dobis said. “It’s going to be a little bit of money and a chance to play. They are basically going to hand me a ball and see what I can do.”