The major league baseball draft has been very good to Iowa State in the past few years. Of course, a lot of the credit must go to ISU Coach Lyle Smith for the development of the players fortunate enough to be selected in the annual June event.

This year’s crop of players includes Shawn Sedlacek, a 14th round selection by the Kansas City Royals; Brad Waldron, a 26th round pick by the Montreal Expos; Jake Whitney, a 26th round pick by the Houston Astros; and soon-to-be Cyclone Mack Paciorek, a junior college transfer selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 31st round. All but Paciorek are signed with the teams.

“It’s a really good feeling for me to have the players get selected,” Smith said. “To help them achieve a goal they have probably had since they were kids and to know they will get better is a great positive for me.”

The aforementioned players aren’t the only Cyclones, or former Cyclones, to be somewhere in the major leagues. Don Wengert, arguably one of the best Cyclones baseball players of all time, is with the Class AAA Iowa Cubs, the top minor league team of the Chicago Cubs.

Wengert, who was drafted — but did not sign — by the Cincinnati Reds in 1988 while in high school, and again by the Oakland A’s in 1992, gives Iowa State a lot of credit for where he is today.

“Iowa State gave me the maturity that I didn’t have in 1988,” Wengert said. “The coaches gave me a chance to pitch without being overused.”

“I also got my degree in four years, which is something to fall back on if things don’t work out.” Wengert said.

Other Cyclone players include Mike Myers (2-1, 0.62 ERA), a former Cyclone pitcher who’s with the Milwaukee Brewers; Brad Kaufman (4-7, 6.23), who is at AAA Las Vegas in the San Diego Padres organization; Jarod Juelsgaard (3-3, 5.27), a pitcher at AAA Tacoma in the Seattle Mariners system; Ryan Seifert (5-4, 4.50) was picked in the 12th round last year and is with the Class A Asheville Tourists in the Colorado Rockies system; Nate Teut (8-4, 3.30) was selected in the 4th round last year and is at Class A Rockford in the Cubs organization; and Matt Wagner, who has seen major league action with the Mariners in 1996, is at Class A Jupiter in the Montreal Expos system.

“All these players have been good representatives of ISU,” Smith said. “Baseball is the most draftable sport around, and when kids come to play ball here, one of the first questions they ask is ‘How many players have you had drafted?'”

For the most part, money moderately played a part in the decisions of the college players drafted. In the case of Wengert, money was not a very big issue as it is for some.

“Money was not very big to me,” Wengert said. “I was drafted as a senior in college (the second time), so I didn’t have to go through the negotiations that the young kids do out of high school.”

It was kind of the opposite for Paciorek, who was offered “very little money” according to coach Smith.

“We are very fortunate to have Mack coming to our program here,” Smith said. “Having already played one year of collegiate level baseball will only make him adapt more quickly to what we have here.”

“The trick to getting these guys drafted is making them comfortable and ready for it,” Smith said. “When they feel that it is time to make the choice whether their skills are ready for the big-leagues or whether they need more work, we like to let them make the choice.”

“It is very hard work to get to the major league clubs,” Wengert said, who has seen action with the A’s, Padres, and Cubs. “It doesn’t not come easy, but when you are drafted, you are excited and look forward to playing ball.”

Out of the 1998 draft, only Sedlacek has any statistics in the minor leagues. Currently at Class A Spokane, he is 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA, so a promotion to AA ball could be soon.

Waldron, who was going to return to ISU for his senior season despite being drafted, signed with the Expos last week and is on a road trip in Burlington, Vt.

Smith compares losing players to the draft like losing close friends.

“You try to keep in contact with them, but when their careers take off in the majors, it makes it pretty tough,” he said. “You send Christmas cards and other things, you see guys like Kaufman and Wagner returning to work camps, and Wengert at ISU basketball games, but you still like to keep in touch.”