Moneyball Pick: UW's Emanuels Has Read the Book, Seen the Movie; Now He's Part of the Plot

Stevie Emanuels has read the book Moneyball and seen the movie.

Now he's ready to become part of the next chapter, the film sequel.

The former University of Washington starting pitcher came away last week as one of baseball's elite prospects, going to the Oakland A's with the 157th pick of the Major League Baseball draft.

While his name wasn't called until three picks remained, the fact he got drafted was a huge accomplishment -- considering the pandemic shortened the process from more than 1,000 picks to just those 160.

Going to Oakland, which has a track record for making smart and economical talent decisions, made it that much better.

"The A's are a great organization in fast-tracking players to the big leagues," Emanuels said. "Hopefully in a couple of years for me, that would be great."

On draft night, 15 people or more filled Emanuel's parents' home in Seattle Eastside suburbs. Pizzas were everywhere.

While the pick was late in the fifth and final round, there was little suspense. The A's called him the round before to tell him what they were going to do.

All he had to do was wait for a call he knew was coming. An Oakland scout delivered the news after the announcement popped up on TV.

Once the pick was official, Emanuels ducked into his room and fished out a sun-bleached Little League baseball hat that was green and yellow. For three years as a youngster, he'd played for a team called the A's.

This draft pick made more and more sense as the night wore on. He adjusted the replica hat and put it on.

Emanuels later welcomed some of his UW teammates into the house to celebrate and spoke by phone with Husky pitching coach Elliott Cribby.

In the days that have followed, the pitcher has spoken with more people in the A's organization, such as the scouting director. He's expected to travel soon to Mesa, Arizona, to sign his contract and take a physical. Someone in his draft standing should command close to $300,000 as a fifth-rounder.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound right-hander, whose fastball tops out at 95 miles per hour and is part of his five-pitch repertoire, will receive a workout plan.

With all indications that the minor leagues won't have season, Emanuels is hopeful there's a fall league. For now, he's in a holding pattern.

He's not waiting for a call this time, just the beginning of his pro career. Where that might be is only a guess right now.

"I'm not really sure, low or high A," he said. "I'd prefer high A. I want to start as high as I can."

Actually, the Moneyball-oriented A's probably have his whole career already mapped out on a printout.

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