Barret Loux, the sixth overall pick in the 2010 draft that was later declared a free agent by MLB, threw an extended bullpen session for approximately 15 teams in College Station, Texas today according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. The Astros were one of the teams in attendance, and have sincere interest in signing the righthander.
Loux, 21, failed his physical with the Diamondbacks due to shoulder and elbow concerns, and has been free to sign with any team since September 1st. Things have been relatively quiet, however. McTaggart spoke to Houston's assistant general manager/scouting director Bobby Heck, who indicated that Loux's performance today was "pretty consistent" with how he looked this spring, good news considering the medical scare.
Heck also said that Loux's camp isn't in a rush to get a deal in place – he's currently finishing his degree at Texas A&M – but are looking to sign a little later in the fall and know where they'll be for Spring Training.
I’m starting to get the feeling like this is more of a blunder on the part of the Diamondbacks and less of Loux having terrible luck. He has a great arm if he really is healthy. I really, really hope the Astros can get him signed. It would be a great addition to the work they’ve done at reshaping the farm this season
I REALLY hope Toronto gets him. We need as many prospects as we can get to win in the east.
Hope the Cardinals were there. A trash system could benefit with the addition of Loux.
I’m not sure thats the reason I want the Jays to get him, because quality comes before quanity when it comes to pitchers, but I want the Jays to get him as well.
I probably should have written “quality prospects” and not prospects in general.
It’s hard to go wrong getting 2 top 11 pick in one draft and this signing would be the cherry ontop of an already impressive draft.
No question about that. Really, really a lot to be excited about if you’re a Jays fan.
It all depends on the price which will be decided by the amount of teams interested in him. And considering Jays recent history with arms, I certainly wouldn’t mind adding depth and it wouldn’t cost us an asset.
I wonder if he would be the 1st ever Starting pitcher to make a start for the Bluefield Blue Jays.
But has a lot to offer when healthy.
It will probably come down to money but, if all things are equal, the Astros have the inside track. Houston kid, played college close to home. If he’s as good as advertised, there won’t be many kids in the Houston farm system that will keep him from advancing.
Or even better the Vancouver Canadians. The jays announced today that they are cutting ties with the Auburn Doubledays and vancouver will now be home to their class A affiliate.
That is amazing news! I can’t wait to see Jays’ minor league ball at Nat Bailey Stadium.
The issue here that trumps all others, the $2 million question if you will, is “Are the medical concerns raised by the Diamondbacks regarding the shoulder and/or elbow legimate?”.
Any (smart) team with interest/need will request a new battery of imaging tests (MRI, arthrogram, etc.) and subject those scans to a thorough review by multiple medical consultants (orthopaedists and radiologists, primarily). What those experts say about the elbow and shoulder will dictate whether the team makes an offer and how much it will be.
While we’ll likely never know what the medical experts concluded from those tests, we will see the financial terms of the deal that Loux signs, and that will clue is in as to the experts saw. If we see a million to millions of dollars, then we can be reasonably deduce that the images did not raise any serious concerns, and there was likely some semblance of a bidding war meaning other teams felt the same way. If he is signed for a few hundred thousand dollars, then there are some valid medical concerns, those concerns were shared by most of the teams, and few teams made any serious offers.
While the former scenario would be great for the kid, it would raise concerns that the Diamondbacks front office tried to game the draft system and effectively defer their draft position until next year’s draft (either for short-term cost savings or for securing an extra pick in what some believe to be a deeper draft class talentwise). Whether that did or didn’t happen (one would assume it didn’t), the sheer speculation that it could have is precisely the reason why MLB shouldn’t be deferring draft pick positions when a team fails to sign a 1st round pick. A sandwich (pre-2nd-round) compensation pick in the next draft would make more sense, as that plan wouldn’t penalize the franchises in the next year’s draft that would othwerwise wind up picking in the slots just behind the deferred 1st round draft pick. And the same goes for the Dylan Covey pick this year, a 2011 sandwich compensation pick would represent a fair compromise between the Brewers getting the same 1st-round draft pick next season (as they would via the 2010 system) and getting no pick whatsoever (as they would via the old system). Simply put, multiple teams shouldn’t be penalized because of a bad break that one club (or a couple more) caught in 2010. But alas, it probably isn’t happening, as the club owners (and the GMs that answer to them) want the emergency golden parachute (do-over) for that one time in a hundred where a Boras of the world holds them over a barrel for the #4 overall draft pick and no deal gets done by the deadline.
Everyone should hope their favorite team is doing their due diligence on this guy. Considering the circumstances, this is an extremely rare opportunity to sign a quality pitching prospect. I’m surprised only 15 teams were there.