UK baseball signings

The University of Kentucky Wildcats baseball team has signed 16 new players including:

Five players ranked in the high school top-50 by Baseball America
Two Aflac All-America game participants
Two Team USA Junior Olympic Team invitations
Three first-team All-Americans
Participation in 13 major high school showcases (Perfect Game National, Area Code Games, East Coast Professional Showcase)
One high school state player of the year as a junior
Six high school all-state honorees

Here's a little bit more:

After the most successful two-year run in the 103-year history of the UK baseball program, Kentucky head coach John Cohen has announced the signing of 16 of the top prospects in amateur baseball, including five of the top-50 high school players in the nation.

“This is by far the most talented group we’ve brought in during the early signing period and it might be one of the best in the country,” said Cohen, UK’s fifth-year head coach. “A handful of these kids could have chosen virtually any school in the nation and they chose Kentucky because they are excited about what we are doing here and about the type of people we have in our program.”

“We are losing a significant amount of at-bats and innings after the upcoming 2008 season and it was important to sign a group that could step in immediately and have success in the best conference in college baseball, and we did just that.”

Highlighting the group are five of the top high school players in the nation, as ranked by Baseball America. Alex Meyer, a 6-foot-7 right-hander from Greensburg (Ind.) High School, tops the list, ranking fifth in the listing of the top-100 high school prospects.

Meyer was ranked as the No. 2 prospect by Baseball America at Perfect Game’s National Showcase in Cincinnati. A member of the Indiana Bulls travel team over the summer, Meyer played in the East Coast Professional Showcase in Lakeland, Fla. in August, in addition to playing in the Aflac All-America game in San Diego, Calif.

“Alex has tremendous upside – he has a great arm, he’s athletic, and he has a frame that can easily handle another 40 pounds,” Cohen said. “We expect big things from him during his career at Kentucky.”

I look forward to the great future of baseball at UK.