Free State pitcher Cody Kukuk delivers against Shawnee Mission West on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at FSHS.

As baseball scouting jobs go, a title more prestigious than vice president of amateur scouting for the New York Yankees doesn’t exist. Damon Oppenheimer has that title, and he was at Free State High, standing on the hill behind home plate Thursday for a couple of innings before making the 45-minute drive to Gardner-Edgerton High.

Gary Nickels, midwest region supervisor for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been scouting prospects for 40 years. Few can match his reputation. He learned from the best of the best, late great baseball scout Gordon Goldsberry.

Guys like Oppenheimer and Nickels don’t waste time watching pretenders. Especially this close to the June draft, they eyeball prospects worthy of six-figure and seven-figure signing bonuses.

They were among the dozen scouts on hand to watch Firebirds fire-balling left-hander Cody Kukuk making his first start since his no-hitter, his first start since getting weakened by a bout of the flu.

Scouts keep their opinions to themselves, leaving the rest of us guessing, and the best guess at this point is that Kukuk projects as a third-round draft choice.

Talent evaluators love his 6-foot-4 frame and loose arm. They think he can add mustard to his already impressive fastball by learning to get more out of his lower body. They’re confident that once he refines his mechanics to the point he can become consistent with his release point, he’ll have better control. His breaking ball and changeup have a long way to go, but that doesn’t scare the scouts. They’re used to seeing that from teenage prospects.

The men armed with radar guns that flashed in the 89-to-91 range on most of his fastballs didn’t see Kukuk at his best in a 3-2, eight-inning loss to Shawnee Mission West. He usually throws harder and exhibits better control.

Kukuk was too sick to pitch Tuesday and did not throw his bullpen session between starts, a factor in his lack of control.

“He was trying to get healthy just to get out here,” Free State coach Mike Hill said. “He wanted to be out here, and I respect that.”

He wanted to make the start to help his team win another game, which ought to earn him points with ballclubs deciding where to invest.

Kukuk signed a letter of intent with Kansas University, which gives him some leverage, considering the appeal of pitching in the Big 12 in front of hometown crowds on Friday nights. But more appealing than investing a massive signing bonus in a bank account and signing a contract that also includes a stipulation wherein the ballclub pays for the signee’s education? Probably not.

It’s tough to guess how much Kukuk could get in a signing bonus if drafted in the third round. Based on the recent figures of third-round choices, he’d get at least $300,000 and possibly even as much as $1 million.

In 2010, 48 players signed for bonuses of $1 million or more, 17 for $2 million or more.

Gardner-Edgerton’s Bubba Starling, the outfielder Oppenheimer went to see after Kukuk, is projected to be among the first five players selected. Four players received bonuses of more than $5 million a year ago, a fact that makes Starling ever playing quarterback and center field for Nebraska a longshot.