In June 2003, somewhere deep in the 43rd round, the St. Louis Cardinals called the name of a right-hander from Parkway Central High School, in suburban St. Louis. His name was Max Scherzer. He didn't sign. He went to Mizzou, and three years later he went 11th overall to Arizona. You know the rest: three Cy Youngs, and 74.4 career fWAR piled up everywhere except St. Louis.
Seven years later, the Oakland A's did the same thing in the 31st round. The kid was a long, awkward, gangly outfielder from Linden, California, a Central Valley town a short drive from the Coliseum. Aaron Judge went to Fresno State instead, and the Yankees took him in the first round in 2013.
Two hometown teams. Two hometown picks. But both walked out the door.
That's not too terribly surprising back in the 40-round draft era. Teams drafted high school players all …