Royals use overall No. 1 pick on former Tennessee pitcher

NEW YORK -- Luke Hochevar held out for a year, gave the draft another try and came out on top.

The Kansas City Royals made the big right-hander the overall No. 1 pick Tuesday, a year after Hochevar and agent Scott Boras failed to reach a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"The Dodgers felt I was not worthy to be paid with the top pitchers from last year's draft," Hochevar said.

After Boras spoke to the Royals on Monday night and early Tuesday, they took the former University of Tennessee ace.

"I think everybody knew we had the top pitcher in the draft, the top value player in the draft," Boras said. "We haven't talked any specifics about dollars and cents."

Said Hochevar: "The plan is to get going."

"It's up to the club. Whenever they're ready, we're ready," he said.

The sons of former big league stars Doug Drabek, Don Mattingly, Jesse Barfield, Carney Lansford, Chet Lemon and Gary Roenicke were among the players picked in the opening rounds of the two-day draft.

Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy and Pirates hitting coach John Shelby also had reason to celebrate -- their kids got chosen, too.

Hochevar was taken 40th overall last year by the Dodgers. The Royals, picking No. 1 for the first time in franchise history, weren't afraid to take a chance.

The 6-foot-5 Hochevar (pronounced HO-chay-vur) stayed in shape by playing for the independent Fort Worth Cats.

Hochevar, a Golden Spikes finalist in 2005, is the first right-hander to go No. 1 overall since Pittsburgh took Ball State's Bryan Bullington in 2002. The Royals' previous highest selection was No. 2 last year, when they took Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon.

Colorado selected Stanford 6-foot-7 righty Greg Reynolds with the second overall pick. The Cardinal ace is 6-5 with a 3.36 ERA, and has excellent command of 94-95 mph fastball late into games.

Tampa Bay took Long Beach State third baseman Evan Longoria and signed him moments later. Longoria was generally considered the best college position player in the draft.