All of the Stephen Strasburg talk aside, there just is not much of a buzz when it comes to fans following the Major League Baseball draft. Too many rounds (50) and too many players you have never heard of to get baseball’s version of Mel Kiper Jr. and friends together for a day full of live coverage.

Most of the players selected in the MLB version of draft day will never see the inside of a major league ballpark, unless they buy tickets, yet just the hope that they might makes it a great day for them and their families.

I have discovered that knowing the players involved adds some level of interest to the process, and because of that I found myself monitoring pick after pick on the Internet, as I watched for the names I would recognize to flash up on the screen.

I had to wait until the fourth round before Yuba City’s Max Stassi was taken by the A’s before some sense of familiarity kicked in. I had no real personal interaction with the all-everything Honker catcher, but I did see him play a few times. I am guessing that his expectations on the contract front pushed him down much lower than his talent would have indicated. There is a price to be paid to lure him away from an all-expenses-paid education at UCLA.

When University of Arizona pitcher Preston Guilmet was tabbed by the Cleveland Indians in round nine, I was finally in familiar territory. I was privileged to watch No. 11 throw when he was at Oakmont High School, and my son was one of his teammates. He doesn’t run it up there in the triple digits like a certain No. 1 draft pick, but even then, he had the look of a guy who had a shot to make it in this game.

In rounds 16 and 17, I saw the names of Andrew Susac and Pat Stover come up as they were selected. I saw way too much of Susac when he was dominating with Woodcreek Little League, while I coached across town at Maidu, but I had the opportunity to coach Stover for one year, when he was 11 and played in Maidu Little League.

I am not sure what Susac will do next, as he chooses between a pro contract in the Phillies’ organization and college at Oregon St., but it is likely that Stover will head to Santa Clara instead of signing with the A’s, leaving him to try this process again in a few years.

It’s an interesting feeling when you have had close interaction with players who have reached the level of even being picked in a professional sports draft, and for the first time in a while, I actually found myself intrigued with the MLB draft.

I am looking forward to watching all of these players, and others yet to come, as they try to climb that ladder to the Big Leagues.