The Washington State Cougars had a bittersweet day as four players from the 2011 squad were taken in the MLB Draft, led by left-handed pitcher Adam Conley. The Florida Marlins took Conley relatively early, picking him with the 72nd overall pick. From there, the Washington State fans had to wait some 300 picks to hear the second name called: right fielder Derek Jones. But overall, it was both a good and a bad day as Washington State may be saying goodbye to a few of their stars.
Joining Conley and Jones was Taylor Ard, a junior in academic years for the Cougs. Ard had a breakout year for Washington State, and many expected him to have his name called in the first-half of the draft. The Boston Red Sox drafted him with the 772nd pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Matt Argyropoulos, whose name announcers and play-by-play men at minor league parks across the country will struggle to spell and pronounce, was the final Washington State player taken on day two as the Colorado Rockies drafted him with the 828th pick.
SB Nation's CougCenter has been following each of these players during their college journey in Pullman and wrote scouting reports on each after they were drafted. You can find the quick writeup of Jones, Ard and Argyropoulos here and a lengthier writeup of Conley here.
It remains to be seen which players stay in Pullman and which head to the professional ranks, but they have until August to sign on the dotted line. Below is a rundown of the picks, courtesy of MLB.com.
72 | ![]() |
Conley, Adam | Washington State | LHP | L/L | 6'03" | 185 | 1990-05-24 | JR | |
395 | ![]() |
Jones, Derek | Washington State | RF | L/L | 6'00" | 210 | 1990-06-03 | JR | |
772 | ![]() |
Ard, Taylor | Washington State | 1B | R/R | 6'02" | 225 | 1990-01-31 | JR | |
828 | ![]() |
Argyropoulos, Matthew | Washington State | 3B | R/R | 6'02" | 1988-08-24 | SR |
We'll be tracking the day's events and will have more on the Mariners' picks in our 2011 MLB Draft StoryStream. For a local look at what the Mariners are planning, head over to SB Nation's Lookout Landing.