The Cubs have reached an agreement with first-round draft pick Hayden Simpson, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical, but the team could officially announce the signing by Saturday.
Jim Callis of Baseball America reports that Simpson will receive a signing bonus of $1.06MM, well below MLB's recommended figure for the draft slot.
The club's selection of Simpson at 16th overall in last week's draft surprised many, including the college right-hander himself. Although Baseball America ranked the Southern Arkansas pitcher 191st overall in their list of the top 200 amateur prospects, Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times points out that Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken "has a history of taking players based on his ratings and not Baseball America's."
So apparently some Cubs fans defaced Simpson’s Wikipedia page because they didn’t like the pick? That’s a pretty grimy thing to do.
I don’t like the pick, mainly because I’m sure he would have been available in the third or fourth rounds, but in a sense, I do hope they were Cubs fans. That way, hopefully Chicago will either trade him as a prospect and he’ll experience massive success somewhere else where he’s not judged before he even throws a pitch, or he’ll turn out to be a good MLB pitcher and walk during free agency.
According to Wilken, it was confirmed that two different teams were also in on Simpson. Both teams were picking before the Cubs second round pick. Apparently this was a guy that Wilken really liked and although he would have preferred to wait, other teams forced the Cubs to take him earlier or risk losing him. Wilken also mentioned he had burned in the past by thinking some of his underrated guys would still be there by the next pick. Given Wilken’s track record, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one for now.
And I’m sure they were Cub fans. I’m a Cub fan myself, but if the Cubs management (as incompetent as they’ve been) listened to some of the most vocal Cub fans they would be even worse off. It makes me wonder if there is an inverse relationship between the volume of complaining and the quality of it’s content. If these fans had their way, we’d probably have Jake Fox at third, Micah Hoffpauir in RF, Sam Fuld in CF and Randy Wells would be our #1 starter…anybody who does great in a short sample size and/or “hustles” -becomes a legend in Wrigleyville, leaving them all to lament “what could have been” if only these guys would get more playing time.
Good point. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt too, I just hate to see the kid ripped on for something that’s completely out of his control. Oh, and sorry for wishing even more misery upon your franchise; it’s nothing personal, I just hate the Cubs.
no way of telling that they were cubs fans but, yeah, that is a trashy thing to do. people were pissed when colvin was drafted and look where he is a few years later.
Simpson has big time stuff. I saw him in a game early in the year when it was 25 degrees and he was touching 97 and sitting at 93-95 with a plus slider for the 50 pitches he was allowed to thrown that day. He’s only 21 and has two other pitches that could be MLB average or better. Forget that the jersey says Southern Arkansas. If this guy had a big name on his jersey Cub fans would be turning flips with happiness. Simpson definitely has 1st round stuff and he has no off field baggage.
Wilken does a tremendous job. If this was his pick, I have no trouble giving him the benefit of the doubt and seeing how it pans out.
agreed but they did have 3 oppertunities to take James Paxton who I would have liked over the LSU catcher……… but maybe thats because I too am a left-handed pitcher.