Doral Academy star, Miami commit Adrian Santana goes to Rays on Day 1 of 2023 MLB draft
Adrian Santana was already a budding star before his final season at Doral Academy, one of the fastest prospects in the country and one of the best players in all of Florida, and then he jumped another level as a senior to become a first-day selection in the 2023 MLB draft.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Santana with the No. 2 pick in Competitive Balance Round A — No. 31 overall — of the MLB draft on Sunday at Lumen Field in Seattle, making him the second player picked straight out of a South Florida high school this year.
The 5-foot-11, 155-pound shortstop signed with Miami, but now will now have a decision to make after getting picked on Day 1 of the MLB draft. As a second-round pick, Santana is slotted to get more than $1.3 million in signing bonus.
Santana, 17, turned himself into the total package last season and was the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Player of the Year for Classes 7A-5A for the second straight year because of it. The switch-hitting infielder batted .364 with 33 RBIs and 18 stolen bases, and also led the county with 11 home runs. The double-digit homers were a major jump from the year before, when he hit just four while batting .435 with 20 steals.
With those two seasons, Santana proved he can do it all on the diamond, and his lithe frame and young age means he still has plenty of room to grow once he gets to the next level.
Santana is also the first Doral alumnus to be picked drafted since infielder Lency Delgado went to the White Sox straight out of high school in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB draft and the first Firebird to ever be picked on the first day of a draft.
