Rays take Iolani's Sasaki in third round

Iolani's Shane Sasaki comes home for a run in an ILH Division I game against Kamehameha. Brien Ing | SL

Two-time All-Hawaii first-team outfielder Shane Sasaki was picked in the third round by the Tampa Bay Rays on the second day of the Major League Baseball Draft Tuesday morning.

The recent Iolani School graduate was the 99th overall pick and the only player with ties to Hawaii drafted through 10 rounds. His bonus slot is listed at $587,400 on the MLB.com draft tracker.

Rounds 11 to 40 conclude the draft Wednesday.

Sasaki, Iolani's center fielder, said in a phone interview that he is comfortable with the suggested signing bonus set by MLB and is "leaning towards signing" with the Rays. He had earlier committed to play collegiately at Cal Poly.

"I'm very excited," Sasaki said of his selection. "I'm just trying to embrace it all."

Sasaki is a repeat first-team selection on ScoringLive's All-Hawaii Division I baseball team. He led the state with a .565 batting average with 26 runs scored, 26 RBIs, five doubles, three triples and five home runs, which tied hm for third in the state among Division I players.

"He showed all five tools that graded out at least average on all of them," Hawaii's Tampa Bay scout Casey Onaga wrote in a text message. "He can hit to all fields with power. (He has an) advanced plate approach, makes adjustments at-bat to at-bat. Above average arm, defense, and running."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].