Blue Jays sign Ochinko

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 1, 2009 - Page: 1C

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One way or another, the LSU baseball roster is bound to look a lot different by the time the 2009-2010 academic year rolls around in August.

Some of those changes are starting to pop up with the 2009 national championship still fresh on the minds of fans and the Tigers players who made it come to fruition.

Junior first baseman/catcher Sean Ochinko has signed a professional contract with the Blue Jays and is headed to the team’s rookie Class A team, the Gulf Coast Blue Jays, in Dunedin, Fla.

Ochinko’s expected departure comes on the heels of freshman Randy Zeigler and sophomore Jordan Nicholson leaving the team.

Zeigler received a release from LSU coach Paul Mainieri to transfer to Bossier City Community College. Nicholson did not meet academic requirements and will transfer to another program.

The departure of Ochinko is likely the first of several losses the Tigers will absorb from the starting lineup that led LSU to its sixth national championship at the College World Series.

And he leaves on as high a note as anybody after his 4-for-5, three-RBI game in the Tigers’ 11-4 championship-clinching victory over Texas in Omaha, Neb.

Besides losing its regular first baseman — Ochinko started 57 games there, six at catcher — LSU is also likely to lose outfielder Jared Mitchell, middle infielder DJ LeMahieu and utility man Ryan Schimpf.

The wildcard remains junior Blake Dean, a 10th-round selection of the Minnesota Twins in last month’s Major League Baseball draft.

Mainieri said Dean has played with a nagging injury in his left (throwing) shoulder that will require surgery sooner rather than later. He is waiting on a final financial offer from the Twins and will make a decision this week.

“If Blake comes back, he could be in 2010 what Louis Coleman was to this team,” Mainieri said, referring to LSU’s SEC Pitcher of the Year who came back as a senior after getting drafted in 2008. “He has a chance to go down as one of the all-time great hitters in LSU history.”

Should Dean return, a primary goal will be to show pro scouts he can play a position well enough to enhance his draft stock. He spent most of this season as the LSU DH.

Mainieri said he would play Dean either in left field or give him a shot at first base if he shows in offseason work he can adapt to the infield.