The Padres agreed to terms with compensation choice Eric Lauer, Baseball America’s John Manuel reports on Twitter. He’ll earn $2MM, just $159,900 shy of the full allotment for the 25th overall pick.
San Diego chose Lauer, a lefty out of Kent State, as part of a critical haul of draft prospects. He was taken just after shortstop Hudson Potts — who recently changed his last name from Sanchez, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. The signing means that the club has inked six of its eight selections from the first five rounds, including top selection Cal Quantrill, with a net savings from that group. Still yet to sign are Buddy Reed (48th overall) and Reggie Lawson (71st).
Lauer drew top-thirty grades from MLB.com and Baseball America, which cited his improving showing over the last year. His calling card is a fairly polished, four-pitch mix that gives him a fairly strong floor. With good athleticism and an easy motion, Lauer looks like a solid bet to crack the majors. Of course, it’s less clear that he has the upside of some higher-octane arms, and that viewpoint led Keith Law of ESPN.com to rate him 50th among draft-eligible prospects.
Reed and Lawson will sign soon enough. Cant wait to see what prellerdoes during the IFA period. He went pitching pretty heavily in the draft the first 10 rounds. Maybe he goes hitter in the IFA.
Unless you go top shelf and lay out the big bonuses (Miguel Cabrera, Nomar Mazaro), the IFA hitters usually take at least 4-5 years to be productive…..wonder if Presser has that kind of time…
That Lauer deal is nice though. He could move quick.
Hudson Sanchez is now Hudson Potts, He changed his name to a law firm