There are only four days until this year's signing deadline, which has been moved up from previous years. Earlier today we heard that No. 8 pick Mark Appel is leaning toward returning to Stanford rather than signing with the Pirates, and we also saw the Cubs ink No. 6 overall pick Albert Almora for a $3.9MM bonus. Here are today's notable non-first-round signings:
- The Orioles have signed second rounder Branden Kline for the full pick value of $793,700 according to Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). The former University of Virginia right-hander features a low 90s fastball and flashes a hard slider.
LOL. Kline took less than he turned down from Boston in ’09 after getting drafted in the 6th round.. *think* he is a Boras representee, which would make perfect sense.. Hope that Virginia U education was worth the advice.
College is pretty important I’d think. Its pretty hard to bash a kid for making that choice. This isn’t like Matt Leinart going back so he could take ballroom dance.
He considered signing up until the end in ’09, it was over cash. 1m was the rumored amount and Boston redirected the amount to a lesser talented hard thrower #5 pick madison Younginer at 975k.
KYou are correct college is important, not dicing on that. It was the amount he wanted and what he has now am making the point of.
His stock has dropped between now and then.
He probably got a full scholarship to UVA though. As an out of state student that’s a lot of money saved, adds to his earning potential in the future (if he doesn’t make it in baseball), and ultimately, he’ll start out in the minors at a higher level than he would’ve, so it’s not like the last 3 years were completely wasted.
Boras did the same thing to Appel.