The Cubs have agreed to sign second round pick Duane Underwood for $1.05MM, reports Jim Callis of Baseball America. Slot money for the 67th overall pick was $770K. He'll take his physical on Monday.
Underwood, a high school right-hander from Georgia, is said to run his fastball up to 98. Callis notes (on Twitter) that Chicago is $276K under their draft pool and can afford to pay sixth overall pick Albert Almora up to $3.9MM without forfeiting next year's first round pick.
They won’t sign Almora for that little, I hope they pass and double up on picks next year.
Almora has little choice. What’s he going to do, pass up $4M, go to college for three years, become a FA 3 years later, and miss out on a whole “before past his prime” payday? And Boras is just going to say: “go ahead kid, go back to school. I didn’t want your money this year anyway.”? Yeah right. If Almora does that, next time he enters the draft, he has no option to sign whatever contract he is offered….
Agreed! Plus 3.9 million can always pay for you to go to school anywhere in the world you want to go if baseball doesn’t work out.
It costs a lot less to go to college just about anywhere else in the world.
Plus, this guy just got drafted 6th. There’s no way he can plan on going to college, tear it up as the best college player, then get drafted higher later on. I don’t know what the slot amount for the #1 overall player is, but he’d certainly make more money in his career if he signs now rather than in 3-4 years.
Next years draft class is being called pretty weak at the top. Kieth Law has said if Appel or Almora don’t sign there’s a strong chance either could go #1. Of course almora would have to go to JuCo to reenter next year.
Either way I think he signs.
#1 overall money was $7.2 mil. Astro’s paid high schooler out of the Domincan $3.4, then gave almost $2 to supplemental picther outta Cal destined for USC. $3.9 for #6 seems a bit hi, but Boras is Boras. You expect to get it stuck to you by him. Gud luck guys.
yes, how dare Boras ask for as much money as he possibly can for his clients and how dare his clients not shut up and take whatever the owners decide to give them. He should be blacklisted like that jerk Curt Flood…
Boras is not the darth vader type character he’s made out to be, he’s just a very good agent, which is why so many top players and top prospects hire him.
are you seriously comparing a baseball agent to a serial killer? Excuse me, i need a moment to get my laughter under control before continuing…
And no, i’m afraid you have a completely false idea of what an agents job is. He works for the player. the player who might, at any moment, suffer a catastrophic injury and never be able to play again… meaning this might be the only contract he ever signs. The player, obviously, wants as much money as he can get his hands on.
on the flip side are the owners… who care just as much about ‘fairness’ as Boras does… ‘fairness’ being paying as absolutely little as they possibly can to get the player under contract… since he can suffer a catastrophic injury at any time at which point they get 0 return on their investment….
But all sides are competent, thinking adults here, and realize that neither side is going to get exactly what they want… so eventually they’ll meet somewhere in the middle… or won’t, and both go their separate ways.
Though i suppose you’d rather go back to the ‘good old days’ of the reserve clause, minimum wage players, and absolute authority in the owners box….
Boras isn’t the problem in Baseball, Boras is just the only one that refuses to sugar-coat it for naive fans.
i never said he was a hero… just an Agent. He is to a player exactly what a GM is to a baseball team… a negotiator. He just gets all the hate because he happens to be a better negotiator than a lot of GMs (and a lot more former GMs), which is why he’s the one they complain about by name.
I just happen to respect Boras for at least being honest enough to admit he’s playing the system.