When Joey Oakie was passed over on the first night of the MLB amateur draft on Sunday, it appeared that the Ankeny Centennial pitcher might be headed to Iowa to play college baseball.
But then his agent called with some big news: There was a team willing to pay him the money that he wanted.
On Monday, the Cleveland Guardians selected Oakie in the third round of the draft. He was the 84th overall pick.
“You always would like to get drafted as high as you can, but they were the team to be able to reach my dollar amount,” said Oakie.
Oakie was considered the No. 46 prospect in the draft according to MLB.com. The approximate value of the 84th pick is $906,800.
The Guardians reportedly offered Oakie considerably more than that to begin his professional career.
“I would say Cleveland was in the top five (teams) for showing the most interest in me,” Oakie said. “Whatever team selected me would be a dream come true.”
Oakie, a hard-throwing righthander, owns a fastball that has been clocked in the upper 90s as well as a mid-80s slider. He struck out five of the 12 batters he faced at the Area Code Games event, where he touched 96 mph with his fastball and got seven swings and misses on 15 sliders.
Oakie was recently named Gatorade’s Iowa high school player of the year. He played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic and was a member of Team USA’s 18 and under squad.
As a junior, Oakie compiled a 7-3 record with a 1.13 ERA and 91 strikeouts while leading the Jaguars to a school-record 30 victories. He was named the captain of the Class 4A all-state team and was also selected to the 2023 All-State Super Team.
Oakie had regularly pitched before a throng of MLB scouts this season, going 4-2 with a 1.26 ERA. He has racked up 76 strikeouts in just 39 innings of work.