Inside the Huddle

Drew Vettleson can finally relax. After all, he’s nearly a millionaire.
The 2010 Central Kitsap High School grad, an ambidextrous baseball player who was selected No. 42 overall in this summer’s Major League Draft, signed a contract late Monday with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Few specifics have been announced, but the deal is worth $845,000, according to Baseball America.
Vettleson signed the same evening as fellow Seattle-area player Josh Sale, a 2010 Bishop Blanchet High School grad who was selected No. 17 overall by the Rays. Sale’s deal is worth $1.62 million, according to Baseball America.
“It was a long arduous process, but in the end we’re happy to have two players that we have liked very much for a couple of years now join our organization,” said Rays Scouting Director R.J. Harrison in a statement released by the club. “We look forward to getting them into Rays gear and getting them started in professional baseball.”
The 19-year-old Vettleson is the first Central Kitsap grad to sign with a Major League club since Todd Linden did so with the San Francisco Giants in 2002. Linden now plays in Japan.
Vettleson would have played at Oregon State University had he not reached an agreement with the Rays.
Baseball America rated Vettleson the best pure hitter among high schoolers in the 2010 draft, according to the Rays, and he was the state’s second-highest rated prospect behind Sale. Vettleson hit .490 as a senior with seven home runs, 29 RBI, four doubles and four triples. He finished his career at Central Kitsap with 22 home runs.