The Giants signed sixth overall pick Zack Wheeler for $3.3MM, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. BA has slot at about $2.34MM for that position. Wheeler will make his pro debut in 2010, says Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Wheeler is a high school righty from Georgia; click here for MLB.com's scouting report.
Archives for August 2009
Miscellaneous Draft Pick Signings
With apologies to the players lumped into this post, I'm going to toss the notable non-first round signings here.
- The Orioles signed second-rounder Mychal Givens, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Givens is a high school shortstop. Baseball America's Jim Callis says he gets $800K (slot for the #54 overall pick is $663K according to BA).
- The A's signed high school lefty and seventh-round pick Ian Krol, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter). Krol missed the 2009 season due to an alcohol-related suspension, as reported by the Chicago Tribune's Matt Lynch. He'll get $925K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.
- The Mets signed second-round lefty Steven Matz for $895K, according to ESPN's Keith Law. Slot: $507K.
- The Blue Jays failed to sign lefty Boras client James Paxton, chosen 37th overall, reports BP's Kevin Goldstein. That was one of the compensation picks for A.J. Burnett.
Padres, Donavan Tate Agree To Terms
10:02pm: According to ESPN's Keith Law, Tate's bonus is $6.25MM, and will be spread out over five years according to MLB's provisions for two sport athletes. He was also a top football recruit committed to play both sports at UNC.
9:29pm: Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that the Padres have officially announced that they've signed Tate. The terms are still unknown.
8:35pm: Lee Hamilton at SDNN.com says the two sides appear to have reached a deal, and that a press conference to announce the signing will likely happen Tuesday. Hamilton mentions that the Padres "went beyond the $3.4 million recommended signing slot" to get the deal done (which we all expected), and reminds us that Tate is in San Diego.
5:44pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that the Padres and third overall pick Donavan Tate are close to an agreement on a deal. Heyman says it's believed to be worth about $6MM. Over the weekend we learned that Tate and agent Scott Boras were looking for a $6.5MM bonus.
Tom Krasovic hears that Tate will take batting practice with the big league team tomorrow.
Tigers Sign Jacob Turner
9:57pm: Baseball America's Jim Callis says it's a Major League deal with a guaranteed value of $5.5MM and the potential to reach $7MM. Callis says the net present value is around $5MM; spreading it out is the main advantage the club gets from a Major League deal.
9:49pm: According to ESPN's Keith Law, the Tigers have signed first round pick Jacob Turner to a $5.5MM bonus, which is considerably over slot. The ninth overall pick "had the fastest arm and best fastball of any high school pitcher in this draft," and could develop into a number one starter down the road according to KLaw.
Tigers Sign Second Rounder Andy Oliver
ESPN.com's Keith Law reports that the Tigers have signed second rounder Andy Oliver to $1.495MM bonus. He notes that his "best attributes are his left-handedness and his plus fastball," but that he's struggled with a breaking ball. He coud develop into a number two or three starter with help from the club's player development staff.
Tigers Sign 6th Round Pick Daniel Fields
According to MLB.com's Jason Beck, the Tigers have signed sixth rounder Daniel Fields to a contract believed to be worth seven figures.
Gammons’ Latest: Tate, Turner, Oliver
In his latest blog post at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons says that there "are rumblings that the commissioner's office wants to hold off the announcement of some of the bigger deals so they do not impact others." He hears the following deals are done according to GMs:
- Padres and first rounder Donovan Tate at $6.7MM, which had been done for five days
- Tigers and first rounder Jacob Turner at $6.7MM
- Tigers and second rounder Andy Oliver at $1MM
Gammons also says that the Giants and first rounder Zack Wheeler are close to a deal at $3.4MM, and that there are "conflicting reports" on Colorado signing Tyler Matzek and Texas signing Matt Purke, both first round picks. The Indians and Alex White are deadlocked, but the Tribe could go near $2MM.
Draft Updates: Unsigned Picks, Tigers, Brewers
Two hours to go…
- ESPN's Keith Law says he's hearing "lots of reports of deals that are done, including "unsigned" first-rounders, whose contracts are being throttled by MLB to prevent other players/agents from using them as leverage." He expects there to be a flood of announcements from 11pm-12:30am ET tonight, so stay tuned.
- MLB.com's Jason Beck reports that the Tigers continue to negotiate with the agents for first rounder Jacob Turner, second rounder Andrew Oliver, and sixth rounder Daniel Fields. Turner and Oliver are Scott Boras clients, Fields isn't.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo says the Brewers continue to be aggressive in the later rounds, landing 16th rounder Scooter Gennett.
Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Matzek, Mets, Helm
I think we're in the eye of the draft storm, because things suddenly got quiet…
- Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that the Red Sox have signed ninth rounder Kendal Volz for $550K. Volz was considered a first round talent coming into the year, but a down season at Baylor dropped his stock.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post notes that Rockies first rounder Tyler Matzek didn't attend classes at Oregon today, an indication that he's interested in signing. Renck says it's hard to believe he'd sign for less than the $2.875MM Shelby Miller got from the Cardinals.
- The Mets are "still haggling" with top pick Steven Matz, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman.
- The Diamondbacks signed seventh rounder Matt Helm for $500,000, according to Callis.
- Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus writes that there is "very little optimism right now coming out of clubs with unsigned picks." He estimates that we're looking at as many as six first rounders going unsigned by the midnight deadline.
- Make sure you check out our list of the first round picks who have signed to stay up to date with all the goings on of the draft.
- To get the fastest updates, follow MLBTR on Twitter and subscribe to our transactions-only feed.
Braves Not Interested In Smoltz Reunion
There figure to be plenty of clubs interested in the recently released John Smoltz, but one of those clubs will not be the Atlanta Braves according to Carroll Rogers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"With the anticipated addition of Tim Hudson in the near future, we have not pursued John Smoltz," Wren said in a text message Monday.
Smoltz is available to any team now for just the pro-rated league minimum.
