The Padres did not sign ninth-overall pick Karsten Whitson according to Baseball America (Twitter link). Whitson, 19 next week, is a right-handed pitcher out of Chipley H.S. in Florida. The Padres will get the 11th overall pick in the 2011 draft because the Diamondbacks did not sign Barret Loux.
The Padres offered Whitson $2MM-plus, only to see him reject it, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (on Twitter).
Click here for the complete list of 2010 first-rounders to sign.
Thank you for not drafting Vitek
No problem, Gyorko is putting up much better numbers than Vitek
No point getting into this with a nice 50 game sample but I’ll take the kid who has a defensive position (Gyorko is projected to have bad range even at 2nd), speed (Gyorko is well below average from home to first unlike Vitek), and their bats are generally the same except Vitek probably has a higher power ceiling.
Lol there bats are no where the same
Yes they do. Both project to be fairly high batting average guys in the majors. But still even if Gyorko hits even .30 points higher what makes up for the fact Gyorko has below average power and speed and might have trouble finding a position. He screams Utility player to me.
I don’t think the bats are that different, but Gyorko has a much better chance of staying in the infield than Vitek
Gyorko = Dan Uggla type player.
Wow. Really thought he would sign. Well he’s staying home in Florida.
SD still had a decent draft and should get a top 15 pick next year in a much better draft. no harm done and Hoyer and crew still got a pretty fair haul with some over slot picks in lower rounds.
The tight purse strings of being in a small market where not being able to spend 10-12M in every draft has became abundantly clear right away however.
Matt Purke part 2…
The Rangers had bankruptcy and the MLB controlling their purse strings as an excuse… What is SD’s?
SD just spent a ton of money on draft last year, guessing he wanted 5 mill and Pads thought he wasn’t worth it
This is a missed opportunity. The Padres really needed to get this kid signed and in the fold. I’ll be curious to hear why they didn’t sign him. Did he just prefer to play college ball? Was he asking for too much money?
This is bad PR for the Moorad group.
Look at the bright side, they pick 10th next year. A lot better then picking 32nd :)
only problem is that they have no leverage and will have to pick someone they know will sign or lose the pick. Nice to have pick, but not preferable to the bird in the hand as they say.
Yes, the best record in the NL is very bad PR…idiot.
They pick 11th. AZ also did not sign their pick.
He wanted 3.5 and 2.1 was the max offer. He decided 3 years at UF instead of rotting in A/AA was a better route to get money that he deserved. If you have ever seen him throw 98 is average and he is the next Strasburg. Failure on the front office being cheap plain and simple.
The idea that an 18 year old kid fresh out of high school “deserves” $3.5M before he’s pitched a professional game is absurd. He’s probably going to wind up pitching 2-3 years in the minors regardless of who drafts him, where he gets drafted, or how much he gets paid. It’s very difficult for a young pitcher to go straight to the majors. Examples like Mike Leake are few and far between. Most everyone needs time to refine their mechanics or control.
Take a look at what the people around him got. DeShields (#8) got $2.15M. The #10 pick got $2M. If he was asking for $3.5M, which would have been $1M more than the #4 overall pick, then he never had any intention of signing. Dishing out that kind of cash would have been irresponsible. Going over slot is one thing (which they did with a few of their pick), but ignoring slot entirely just to get the kid sign does not set a good precedent.
Good points Guru. I also think Whitson (or his agents for that matter) upped his asking price for two additional reasons:
1. Dodgers gave 28th overall pick Zach Lee a $5.25 million signing bonus. Yeah, Lee had more leverage than Whitson, but getting that type of money in that slot has to make other HS pitchers increase their demands.
2. Padres giving Tate $6 mil last year. Tate was drafted higher than Whitson but I would imagine Whitson’s agents believed they could force the Padres to spend a considerable amount of money on their 1st rounder again. Their offer to Whitson that was 1/3 of what Tate got probably seemed insulting. I beg to differ, but that’s what I would imagine.
The Dodgers gave Zach Lee too much money. That is irresponsible. I know they had to convince him to leave school, but giving the 28th pick that much money is ridiculous. I would imagine the term oil faced by the Dodgers relating to the divorce probably played into their decision (trying to salvage something positive out of this season and draft).
As for your points:
1. Tate was the third pick. Whitson was the 9th pick. Pretty big difference in slot. Also, the circumstances were a little different because the Padres really had to sign Tate. They could not have afforded to not sign him with the term.
2. If Whitson thought a signing bonus of $2.1M was “insulting”, then maybe he isn’t the kid for us. That reeks of poor representation if he wanted to sign, as he said upon being drafted. At some point you have to decide whether signing or maxing out that first contract is more important. If he’s as good as they say, he’ll make his money down the line.
I agree it’s ridiculous but when an agent watches a player (Lee) who plays the same position and at the same level (ability wise) get a hefty bonus they are going to try and up the price, especially when their client has been selected 20 picks earlier. It also didn’t help that the Nationals gave another Florida HS P (AJ Cole) the money they did when he was a fourth rounder.
There is a big difference in the 3 and 9 pick, but my point is that the Tate signing probably indicated to agents that the Padres are willing to spend money on high school players in the first round. He obviously was a “must sign”, but when you offer only two million to your first round pick after offering six mil to the one before, that is a little suspicious. I get that the 2 mil+ was the estimated offer for that slot, but look at this year. The Orioles gave their No. 3 pick, Manny Machado, a $5.25 mm bonus. That’s almost a full million dollars less then what the Padres gave Tate. And I would argue it was just as important for the Orioles to sign Machado as it was for the Padres to sign Tate. But when you demonstrate that you’re willing to overspend for a slot once (Tate in 2009), then it appears you’re willing to do it again. Again, my point is that the Tate deal made it seem that the Padres are willing to overspend in the draft, as any small market team should.
Remember, Tate wasn’t a high school player. So, it is still a little different. The Padres’ front office has shown a good eye so far so I’m not going to instantly go back into some doom and gloom mode just because they didn’t sign Whitson. Yeah, it would have been nice but it isn’t the end of the world since they are getting such a good pick next year.
Tate was drafted out of Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Georgia. Might wanna check your facts.
Additionally, I do agree and think Whitson does have poor representation, for making those comments and then not signing. If the agents’ gameplan was to try and get the Padres to overspend, as evident by Tate, then they should have told Whitson to at least keep his mouth shut. Even if it was the agents’ greed that ultimately made him not sign, Whitson’s comments and then not coming to terms makes him look like the biggest jerk in all of this.
The kids scouting report is contrary to your scouting report, i wonder who has more cred. Listen the kid ad the family had a verbal when they drafted him, leading up to the draft he somehow thought he was worth a 4-5 pick or needed to get paid what last years #9 was worth. I blame the agents and the family, now he has to live with his decision. Ask philip humber if college is the right route. In college you and your arm are expendable, in the minors you are a touted prospect who the organization is looking to control for years to come.
laxtonto, why dont u worry about your team….maybe the kid wanted to go to college…retard
This is completely on the team. If you take a guy in the top 10 you vet his demands well before the selection. I have as much of problem with this as I did with the Loux pick with Ariz.
Ariz is severely at fault for not even bothering to consult the team prior to the draft in regards to his medical history. SD is at fault for not either understanding or expecting him to back off his demands. There really is not an excuse for not signing a top 10 pick.
Hard to be sympathetic when the Padres spent what they did on Tate last year.
I compeletly disagree. This kid is either a money hungry punk or complete liar.
So pretty much what you’re saying is that he is Bryce Harper 2.0 or a liar?
Just going to say that was a joke before I get chewed out.
I’m definitely ready to go, that’s my plan,” said Whitson, who is represented by SFX. “Hopefully they can get that done fairly quickly. It’s all up to me then. I’m so thankful for this opportunity. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now.”
I dont agree with your point on AZ. Loux had no shoulder MRI done prior to the physical. There is no more due dilligence they could have done BEFORE the draft, as medical exams before the draft are not allowed under current rules.
A&M has already said that MRI film for him was avalaible prior to the draft that had been circulated to other MLB teams…
“Loux began the day by meeting with Diamondbacks medical personnel. The examination revealed a tear in Loux’s labrum and spurred questions about his elbow – he had bone chips removed in the summer of 2009. The discoveries shouldn’t have taken the Diamondbacks completely by surprise: An MRI taken a week before the surgery to remove the bone chips was widely available to teams interested in Loux, Texas A&M trainer Josh Cohen said.”
Players medical information is available from their organizations (HS or College) with player consent. It is not legal for a team to bring in a guy for a full physical but it is perfectly fine to view his current medical records with his consent.
Very disappointing
Ewww, the Pads already have one of the worst of minor league systems as it is. This doesn’t help. Glad they are playing great ball at the MLB level, for their fans sake.
not true, minor league system is improving and middle of the road
Yeah the system is terrible. A couple years ago that’s what they were saying about the pads terrible system. Mat altos should’ve been the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, that’s all. Yeah the system is terrible. Believe what you want.
To be fair if Heath Bell didn’t kick the crap out of Matt Latos or Hoyer didn’t get a brilliant return for Jake Peavy the 2010 Padres would be a much different story.
Hoyer did not trade Peavy. He was traded last year by Kevin Towers.
Not true Jason.
Maybe the Padres are just fiscally responsible unlike 90% of the other teams in MLB. If signing this kid meant they have to raise tickets sales then screw this kid. He’s not worth it. What kind of high school kid walks away form a million dollar payday anyway? Probably isn’t the sharpest…maybe we dodged another Matt Bush.
That’s Matt F’n Bush, to you.
Maybe he doesn’t worth it the money we going to pay,any news about Barbato, Vanegas?
Barbato signed, Venegas didn’t.
it’s fine that he didn’t sign because next year draft is going to be better than this year’s draft
Agreed, Jed Hoyer is a genius! (see below):
Keith Law
Class of ’11 much better
“Next year’s draft class looks much stronger and deeper than this year’s in almost every area, with high school right-handers possibly the lone exception. There’s one premium college bat, a number of top-flight college arms — and a strong mix of prep talent across the board. While this year’s draft only offered maybe eight to 10 true first-rounders — players who’d be picked in the top 30 in almost any year — the 2011 class could very easily see first-round talents squeezed out of that range because there’s just so much talent in the country.”
it’s not fine because if you draft somebody it’s going to sing. I’m very sad.
Don’t be sad. This guy is talented, but giving more than 2 mil to a high school pitcher is a recipe for disaster. Plus they can try again next year and get an equal player at no. 11.
maybe you right i hope next year going to be better.I read somewhere that Hoyer knows before the deadline that Whitson didn’t going to sign he offer more than 2MM and he said no he wants like 3MM plus. good luck in college kid.
Whitson = Harrington = greed
Yep, and look where Harrington is now.
Also I’d like to point out some of our past #1 pitchers and how they’ve turned out. Pitchers are a gamble, especially high school pitchers. I’m glad they showed restraint.
$2.1 million is actually not that much for a high schooler, if a guy like Zack Lee could command like $5.25 million spreaded around in 3 to 5 years as a late first round pick where at #9, for a high schooler, $3.5 is nothing, I would of asked for $5 million and spread it within 3 years. If a player like Bubba Starling at #5 as a high schooler can almost minimum command $7 million over 3 years, why can’t the #9 pick get $3.5, thats a bargain.