Nationals select Dusty Baker’s son, Darren, in 27th round of MLB draft

Darren Baker fielded some calls Tuesday, the second day of the Major League Baseball draft. Once he was not selected in the top seven or so rounds, Baker, son of Nationals manager Dusty Baker, had decided he would go to college instead of sign with a team that selected him late on the draft’s third day. Darren Baker, an outfielder, is committed to Cal.

“He conducted the conversation then consulted with John Hamilton, his advisor, Darryl Hamilton’s brother, and he told me it wasn’t high enough in the draft, it wasn’t enough. So, I said, ’OK, no problem,’” Dusty Baker said. “He’s going to be bigger and stronger.”

Regardless, the Nationals selected Darren Baker in the 27th round of the draft Wednesday. Baker, who is spending the summer with the D.C. Grays of the Cal Ripken Collegiate League, will have to finish his junior or senior year or be at least 21 years old before he can be drafted again.

Darren Baker first moved into the spotlight when J.T. Snow scooped him away from a would-be collision at homeplate in the 2002 World Series, when Darren a was 3-year-old bat boy.

His father is currently working the final season of his contract. The Nationals are in first place a year after winning the National League East Division and Baker being named a finalist for National League Manager of the Year. But, he has not been offered a contract extension.