Padres' Top 1992 Selection Considering His Options

Padres’ Top 1992 Selection Considering His Options

By SCOTT MILLER

June 2, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO — When outfielder Todd Helton of Central High in Knoxville, Tenn., got the news the Padres picked him in the second round of the 1992 major league amateur free agent draft Monday, he did what seemed the natural thing to do.

He went out to buy a Padres cap.

One problem. Helton, the Padres’ first pick and the 55th player selected overall, was on a senior class trip in Myrtle Beach, S.C. No matter how hard he looked, he could not find a Padre cap. He didn’t find one, in fact, until well into the night.

“Only one in Myrtle Beach,” Helton said.

There is no guarantee, though, that he will be wearing any variation of one this summer. Helton, a high school quarterback, was named as the state’s Class AAA (large schools) Mr. Football last fall and has been planning to play football and baseball for Tennessee.

He was also named the state’s baseball player of the year for all classifications.

“Right now, it’s 50-50 (between Tennessee and the Padres),” Helton said via telephone from Myrtle Beach. “I feel secure in Tennessee, but I’m looking forward to getting started with my professional career.”

The Padres think they can get Helton.

“No question he’s a phenomenal athlete,” said Reggie Waller, Padres director of scouting. “All indications from (Helton and his family) are that he considers himself a baseball player.”

Helton, 18, said he will meet with his family and his attorney this weekend to begin planning his future.

He batted .656 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs this spring, and Baseball America rated him as the second-best pure hitter in the country among draft-eligible high school players.

Baseball America also rated Helton 27th in the nation among high school position players (non-pitchers).

“He can flat hit,” Waller said. “A lot of people play baseball, but this guy is a baseball player . He feels the game as opposed to playing the game.”

Helton, 6 feet 2, 185 pounds, bats and throws left-handed. As a pitcher this spring, he was 11-0 record with a 0.32 ERA.

Helton, whose father, Jerry, spent two years in the Minnesota Twins minor league system as a catcher, had a 3.9 grade-point average entering his senior year.

“I think what happens will happen,” Helton said. “I think God knows what He is doing. I think if He wants me to go to the University of Tennessee, that’s where I’ll be.”

Despite the new rule this year that a team owns the rights to a player for five years after drafting him, Waller said that the Padres didn’t have that in mind when they picked Helton.

“We conducted this thing as business as usual,” Waller said, pointing out the ongoing arbitration hearing in which the rule may get overturned. “We certainly want to have our players playing as soon as possible.

“(The new rule) had no bearing at all in our decision.”

The Padres did not have a first round pick, which was forfeited to the Kansas City Royals when they signed free agent Kurt Stillwell.