Registered Sex Offender Luke Heimlich Reportedly Taken off Multiple Draft Boards

Oregon State Beavers pitcher Luke Heimlich may slip out of the 2017 MLB draft altogether after the Oregonian's Danny Moran and Brad Schmidt reported he had pleaded guilty in 2012 to sexually molesting a six-year-old family member.

MLB draft expert Christopher Crawford told SB Nation's Marc Normandin on Monday that multiple teams had taken Heimlich off their draft boards.

Heimlich went undrafted through the first day of the event Monday.

Earlier in the month, Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan spoke to an American League general manager and officials from two other teams who said they didn't plan on selecting Heimlich. Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer told a Chicago radio station (via CBS Chicago) the left-hander was "going to be off our board, I think."

According to Moran and Schmidt, authorities in Benton County, Oregon, visited Heimlich at Gill Coliseum on the Oregon State campus in April after he had failed to keep his status as a sex offender current. As a result, his case became part of Oregon court records.

Heimlich took a leave of absence from his team last Friday prior to the Beavers' Super Regional game against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Oregon State beat Vanderbilt twice to reach the College World Series.

Prior to the Oregonian's report, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked Heimlich the 89th-best player overall and 10th-best left-handed pitcher in the 2017 draft class. The junior went 11-1 with a 0.76 ERA in 16 starts for the Beavers this season.