Ex-Brewers pick Covey focused on present
CHICAGO - Things will officially come full circle for Dylan Coveywhen he takes the mound Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It will be the right-hander's fourth start of the season for the Chicago White Sox but his first against the Milwaukee Brewers, the team that drafted him 14th overall in 2010 but ultimately didn't signed him.
"I haven’t given it too much thought," Covey said Saturday. "That was what, eight years ago?"
Indeed it was.
Covey was a highly touted 19-yearold prospect who'd torn up the high school ranks as a senior in Pasadena, Calif., when the Brewers selected him one pick after the Chicago White Sox took Chris Sale.
Unbeknownst to both sides at the time, Covey had developed Type 1 diabetes — something that was discovered only after he'd undergone a physical examination arranged by the team.
Covey and the Brewers didn't learn of the diagnosis until a couple days before the signing deadline. With a scholarship to the University of San Diego in hand, Covey chose to go to college rather than accept the slot offer of $1.7 million the Brewers had offered him.
"There were no ill feelings toward them," Covey recalled. "It was just a situation that was out of everyone’s control. They offered me slot. We had agreed before the draft to an amount that was over slot, and I just felt like I didn’t want to be devalued based on something that was out of my control and totally treatable.
"So that was the decision that was made."
It marked the first time since 1991 the Brewers had failed to sign a first-round pick, and they've signed every one of theirs since. They received a compensatory first-round pick in 2011 for failing to sign Covey and used it to take college left-hander Jed Bradley, who advanced as high as Class AAA Colorado Springs before the organization cut him loose.
Covey, meanwhile, spent three years at San Diego. He was drafted again in 2013 — this time in the fourth round by the Oakland A's — and signed for $370,000.
He admitted to second-guessing his decision not to sign with the Brewers early on in college.
"Maybe in college, my first couple years getting used to having diabetes," he said. "My body was changing so much and I was struggling in college a little bit, so maybe then. But since then I’ve never thought twice about it.
"For whatever reason I wasn’t meant to sign with the Brewers. I went to college for three years and I do think that college helped me not necessarily grow up, but maybe mature a little bit and become a man."
Covey spent three years in the A's organization before the White Sox took him in the Rule 5 draft in the 2016 offseason. He made his major-league debut last year and went 0-7 with a 7.71 earned run average in 18 games (12 starts).
He's 1-1 with a 3.63 ERA and a WHIP of 1.44 this season with 14 strikeouts in 171⁄3 innings.
Covey said his health has been fine since learning to manage his diabetes.
"It took about a year and a half for me to fully grasp it," he said. "But since then there’s been no issues whatsoever. Being 18 years old and having a huge responsibility. But now it’s just kind of become everyday life."
Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich was taken by the Marlins nine spots after Covey in that 2010 draft.
"We're from kind of the same area and I know we've definitely probably crossed paths at some point," he said. "I remember him; don't know if he'll remember playing with me or not. I'm glad he's doing well."
Just making it to the majors despite all the twists and turns has been gratifying for Covey. Now he's hoping to become a regular part of the Chicago rotation as the organization continues a massive rebuild not unlike what Milwaukee embarked on only a few years ago.
"Definitely been some ups and downs since (2010)," Covey said. "But I’m here now and I’m excited to be here and I’m excited to try to help this team win some ballgames.
"I’m excited to face (the Brewers). But it’s not a grudge match."
The White Sox also have another player on their 40-man roster with Brewers ties in outfielder Nicky Delmonico.
The Brewers acquired Delmonico in a 2013 trade that sent Francisco Rodriguez to the Baltimore Orioles. It had been hoped Delmonico could serve as a third base possibility down the road, but the team released him somewhat unexpectedly just before spring training in 2015.
Chicago signed Delmonico a few days later and he hit .262 with nine home runs and 23 runs batted in last season, his first in the major leagues.