The Angels will have to wait for the 58th pick in the draft before they pick today, so they decided to hold their celebration a week early - as the Amateur draft begins next Thursday, the Angels avoided letting a 2006 pick get away. They gave 12th round pick Jordan Walden a million bucks as a signing bonus.
Walden -(profiled here)- is a Right-Handed Pitcher who went 8-2 with a 1.49 earned-run average in 11 games at Grayson County College - John Lackey's Texas alma mater.
Walden had intentionally skipped the four year program of the Texas Longhorns to be a draft-and-follow type. He impressed the Halos and will report to Tempe next week.
The 6'4, 215 lb Texan was born in September of 1987.