Baseball’s amateur draft takes place in exactly three weeks. Here’s the latest on some of the top draft prospects and one 2010 draftee who is thriving six appearances into his pro career…
- Teams are hearing that the asking price for Dylan Bundy is $30MM for six years and that it will cost $20MM over five years to sign Archie Bradley, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (Twitter links). No draft deal has ever been worth $20MM, so the high schoolers' asking prices are sure to scare away less serious teams.
- MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes introduced us to Bradley earlier today.
- Dodgers right-hander Zach Lee is adapting well to the mental side of the game, Kevin Baxter writes in a piece for Baseball America (subscription required). Lee, who signed last year for a Dodgers-record $5.25MM, chose baseball over football and the results have been good for the 19-year-old. He has a 1.17 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in six starts at Class A.
- Click here to read Q&As with some prominent members of this year’s draft class.
20-30 million for kids who have not pitched in low a and not college even yet right?( try are both Hugh schoolers right?). I mean part of me understands if they are high schoolers with college commitments why not try to get the most money you can to pry you away from college. But do either of these kids really think they are better than strasburg?
They have little to no leverage for that kind of money because it is likely hard-slotting gets put in the next CBA. At that point they wouldn’t get half of that even if they’re a top 3 pick. I bet Bundy signs for (at most) between $10 and $15 million and Bradley between (again, at most) $5 and $10 million.
It’s worth noting that even the number I quoted are pretty high looking at last year:
Harper – $9.9 million
Taillon – $6.5 million
Machado – $5.25 million
Yeah and look where Strasburg is at right now… Who’s to say he’ll be as good as he was for 10 seconds? That’s a lot of money for a giant what if. But somebody will pay record amounts. It’s where we’re at nowadays.
You realize most pitchers come back from tj just fine right?
Some come back with better velocity even, but it is no given that any return at full force, or come back within 12-18 months even. Nathan has not gotten his velocity back and is over 12 months back. We just hope that they all return.
If someone could let me know the secret to TJ surgery recovery, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks,
F. Liriano
I think they are bluffing. CBA is up after this year and the amount of bonuses handed out is likely going to be lower and nobody gets 20-30 million (well Chapman did but he was a free agent).
I could see them getting 5 million but they likely won’t get more than that.
Iglesais got $2M per year for 4 years….. at age 19. So, an offer of $8-10M/4yrs for top 10 draftees seems reasonable.
Sounds like those sky-high demands that Boras often says will be the “minimum asking price” for his over-the-hill clients. It’s just posturing. That way, they can BS about how much they’re conceding and make the buyer feel like they’re actually getting a good deal -even though it will probably still be a massive overpay.
Boras is a disgusting man. He’s gotta have some blackmail as some of the deals he makes are preposterous
those poor owners
Yeah yeah poor poor owners, owners make too much money blah blah blah. I don’t care theres no way in freaking hell that the kind of money Boras gets his clients isn’t absurd.
It is. But as long as owners are willing to pay it who says that Boras shouldn’t try to get all that he can for his clients? Let’s not pretend that if you were in Boras’s position you would be the noble one and be willing to accept half of what the owners would pay and if you did your players would find a new agent and you would be out of a job. Boras is doing his job.
Why is it absurd?
Drayton McLane is going to make more than a $600 million dollar profit upon selling the Astros…and that doesn’t include the millions he’s made in salary over the 18 years he’s owned the club.
And you complain that future players shouldn’t receive as much as possible upon being drafted…these same players who will play for the ML minimum salary (currently at $414 thousand) for their first 3 years of ML service.
Players build the value of a franchise which is reaped by owners upon the team’s sale.
Get real.
to be fair, he’s selling the team for ~$680M, but “only” a hundred million or so of that is profit
Per Houston sportswriter Richard Justice:
“…His original $115-million investment 18 years ago has turned into a cash grab. He’s getting $680 million for the franchise, plus another $95 million from the Comcast signing bonus.”
wow, that’s better than i thought
– 115 million 18 years ago is worth close to $175M in today’s dollars
– the present value of the astros franchise is around $475M, which is lower than i expected actually. 18 years ago it was worth around $87M (~$130M in today’s dollars)
– from the day before to the day he sells, his profit is about $300M. and from the point of his original investment, that’s indeed about a $600M gain
but yea that scott boras is a greedy SOB
? it goes to the players or it’s kept by the owners. if you aren’t siding with the owners, it sounds like you just have a problem with the amount of money that is in the game in general. that’s fine, but it’s hardly the fault of scott boras
The owners deserve to earn a lot more money than the players because the owners invest so much of their money into the team. The players invest none of their own money and get paid millions either way to do something they like. If the owners invest the money why shouldnt they be able to keep the money they make? Scott Boras is just good at his job, he is a small market team’s worse nightmare.
i am not taking the position that owners do not deserve the money they make. i am making clear for people to whom it seems unclear the fact that the anti-boras position is pro-owners by default. viewed that way, many people realize they’d prefer to see the people they actually watch at work make that money instead of the Rich White Guys behind the scenes
Sometimes it is 2x as bad to always have a lousy team (Pirates) when your team always stinks and then end up drafting guys that will cost mega bucks to sign. Then they will draft the wrong one anyway.. Always do..
Good to hear zach lee is doing well…hopefully he can help out the team in the next 2-3 years!
Can he play first base or left field?
Sincerely,
N. Colletti.
good luck in college then fellas. maybe take an economics course or two
as an oklahoma alum, i’m happy to see the unreasonable ask from bradley. he can learn his econ in norman while helping make sure the sooners don’t implode in omaha next time around. (then the white sox can draft him in a few years)
Can’t Blame them though. If they are pretty much already committed to going to college why not try to see if some team is willing to give you that kind of money. Now it won’t happen and teams will pass on them knowing they want veterin money and years before finishing puberty.
Scott Boras- ruining the game since he was born.
Dodgers have a petty bright future if the Zach lee and de la Rosa pan out and if they cankeep both kershaw and bills. That could be a great 1-4! But a new owner is really needed soon before next year.
and if ethan martin or chris withrow pan out at all…they could make a good 5th starter or trade bait!!
Bah, all this means for Bundy and Bradley is that the Angels will take Bundy at 17 and Boston will take Archie at 19.
not really. Red Sox took a safe pick the first time last year instead of trying to get the more expensive guys like Zack Cox and Zack Lee. Its not a given, at all. Even the red sox have a draft budget and have more picks to spread the money too.
It was just an example really to say that they will fall to the big market teams – but conversely, Zack Cox and Kolbrin Vitek were never in the discussion for the #1 draft pick (Zach Lee was supposed to be undraftable no numbers ever came out for him, but id say Bundy is at least his equal). Bundy isn’t just an expensive guy as much as he’s one of the top 5 players in the entire draft, and thats something the Sox never shy away from ex Anthony Ranaudo.