Indians catch Broncs' Flores

EDINBURG — Sitting in the front seat of a Dodge Charger with Cleveland Indians scout Les Pajari on Sunday afternoon, catcher Osiel Flores — less than one hour after playing in his final collegiate baseball game — became a professional.

Flores, a fifth-year senior catcher for the University of Texas-Pan American, had been in conversation with Pajari throughout the season. Pajari saw Flores play in parts of four games this season and called the senior Thursday morning as the Broncs were packing the team bus for the drive to Texas Christian University for the three-game weekend series.

Pajari told Flores that he was making the trip to Fort Worth with intentions of offering him a contract.

“After the game I went into the locker room, got dressed and then went outside and signed the contract in his car,” said Flores, whose fifth-year status gave him the option to sign as a free agent or enter June’s MLB draft. “It wasn’t fancy or anything. The car was nice, but I just pretty much signed a couple of times and it was done. It wasn’t exactly what you dreamed of. But I was in a hurry, too. The team bus was waiting behind us — all the guys were taking photos and stuff — but I was holding them up.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound Flores, a former Sharyland standout, made the switch from second base and shortstop to starting catcher this past season.

He hit for a .325 average — the second-best mark on the team — to go along with 27 RBIs and 26 runs scored.

Flores also threw out 15 runners attempting to steal this past season.

“The thing I liked about Osiel is his athletic ability,” said Pajari, the Indians’ South Texas scout. “I saw him in the Texas A&M series earlier this year and just fell in love with his work ethic. You never know how these things pan out. You can project like crazy, but you really just have to wait and see. But with Osiel you can tell that kid is dedicated. He has dedicated his life to baseball.”

After June’s MLB draft is complete, Flores will report to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League. The Scrappers, located in Niles, Ohio, play a short-season schedule (76 games) from June 19 through Sept. 7.

“It took him about three weeks to make the transition to catcher,” said UTPA coach Willie Gawlik, whose team finished the season with a 17-36 record. “But after those three weeks, you could tell the game just slowed down for him. … And after that, his average started to skyrocket. Right now I’m just happy for Osiel, because he really deserves this opportunity.

“Like they say, he’s the first one here and the last one to leave. He has that type of work ethic.”

The 22-year-old Flores also was receiving interest from the Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals, he said. Had he went through the MLB draft in June, he likely would have been a late-round selection, “although it’s always tough to figure out what a team is thinking,” Pajari said.

But with his deal already signed with the Cleveland Indians, there will be no drama during the draft for Flores. Instead, he will be busy working out and packing his bags for the three-month stay with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

“It’s a dream come true,” Flores said. “I’m excited and everything, but probably not as much as most people would expect. But my ultimate goal is to get to the major leagues, and hopefully in a few years that’s where I’ll be.

“So I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied.”

———

Wade Baker covers the Broncs for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4450.