Vanderbilt star smart to turn down Red Sox
Cab driver's son is getting education and might be top pick in June draft
 John Russell / AP Vanderbilt's Pedro Alvarez watches a hit against Kentucky on April 26. Alvarez turned down an offer from the Boston Red Sox coming out of high school, and instead chose to attend Vanderbilt. Now the junior is projected to be among the top three possible picks in the baseball draft June 5. |
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Pedro Alvarez has a date every night.
Even if busy with dinner, he grabs his cell phone, puts the speaker on, props it on his shoulder and talks away for about 30 minutes — with his father, a cab driver in New York.
That’s how the Vanderbilt junior stays in touch with his family. That closeness is why the talented third baseman turned down a big offer from the Boston Red Sox coming out of high school and headed off to college. A tough decision for a fan of Boston’s Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.
But to Alvarez and his family, education comes first.
“You’ve got to set foot on the ground and be realistic and see things for what they are. At the time, it just wasn’t our path to follow,” Alvarez said as he leaned against the dugout rail before a recent game. “I thought this was the place I could get the best of both worlds.”
Three years later, the decision to delay pro baseball to study economics and play at Vanderbilt is likely to pay off.
Alvarez, a 14th-round draft pick in 2005 out of Horace Mann School in the Bronx, is projected among the top three picks in the Major League Baseball’s amateur draft on June 5, maybe even the top selection overall. That would reunite him with former Commodores teammate David Price in the Tampa Bay system and make history as Vanderbilt would become the first college or high school with consecutive No. 1 picks.
“It would be amazing,” Alvarez said. “It’d be an honor for whatever team. But to be able to play with David Price would be a nice treat.”
Price, a lefty pitcher, signed a six-year contract for $11.25 million last year and is in the Rays’ minor league system.
“Being biased watching what Pedro did for three years, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s the best player in the country, and I truly know the scouts know it too,” Price said.
Being a top pick this time around would make the decision easier for Alvarez, who could finish up the last year of his degree in his time off during the winter. And three years studying economics has him ready to manage any money he makes from pro baseball — which should be substantial, given that he is being advised by agent Scott Boras.
“Hopefully, that’s the plan,” Alvarez said.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound third baseman has had quite a run since leaving Horace Mann, known more for producing graduates such as former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, violinist Gil Shaham and Pulitzer Prize winners Anthony Lewis and Elliot Carter than professional athletes. Until now, the school’s most famous jocks were tennis player Renee Richards — famously denied entry to the U.S. Open after a sex-change operation — and former WNBA player Bethany Donaphin.
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Alvarez, who bats left and throws right, hit .329 with 22 homers as a freshman at Vanderbilt and .386 with 18 homers and 68 RBIs as a sophomore as the only Golden Spikes Award finalist not eligible for the 2007 draft. He led the U.S. national team in hitting the past two summers with a .378 average and a team-best 48 RBI in 2006 and a .315 average with seven home runs in 2007.
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, who also coached Alvarez with the U.S. team in 2006, said Alvarez responds well to pressure. Even though Corbin is a Red Sox fan, he was happy that Alvarez joined him at Vanderbilt instead of taking Boston’s offer or choosing an easier path with a different major or college.
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