Post-Draft Roundup: Hosmer, Smoak, Strasburg
Below I’ve collected more interesting remaining links regarding the amateur draft.
- The Royals bumped their offer from $5MM to $6MM and signed top pick Eric Hosmer. Rany Jazayerli was surprised to see Hosmer effectively get more than #1 pick Tim Beckham. The Royals joined the Red Sox and Pirates as teams spending around $10MM on draft picks this year.
- The Rangers resisted a Major League deal for Justin Smoak, and ultimately signed him to a $3.5MM minor league deal. Owner Tom Hicks pined for a hard slot system.
- The story of pitcher Chris Gruler, picked third overall by the Reds in ’02, reminds us to temper our enthusiasm for these kids. Many will bust.
- Tim Lincecum says Buster Posey can expect other minor leaguers to treat him differently because of the bonus he received.
- The race is on for Stephen Strasburg, who is separating himself from the pack as the top talent in the ’09 draft. The Mariners, Padres, and Nationals all have a shot at him, with the Nats in the "lead." Would the Nats avoid Strasburg due to signability concerns?
Rosenthal’s Latest: Holliday, Fuentes, Kotsay
Ken Rosenthal posted a new Full Count video this weekend.
- Rosenthal believes the Rockies are "almost certain to trade Matt Holliday this offseason." Should be a hot topic at the Winter Meetings in December. Rosenthal says to watch out for smaller-revenue sleepers on Holliday like the Nationals, Royals, and Blue Jays. Holliday, a Boras client, is set to earn $13.5MM in ’09 before he hits free agency.
- Rockies closer Brian Fuentes has yet to hit the waiver wire, but he will soon. Rosenthal wonders if the Dodgers would win the claim if their record is worse than Arizona’s when Fuentes hits the wire. The Marlins, Astros, and the NL non-contenders would have to pass first. I could see the salary-shy Dodgers passing on Fuentes, but the Phillies probably wouldn’t let him get to the Mets. At any rate, a team would have to beat two draft picks to pry Fuentes loose in a trade.
- Somewhat surprising new addition to our cleared waivers list – Braves center fielder Mark Kotsay. Apparently a number of teams are interested in the resurgent Kotsay, though not enough to take on his remaining salary.
- The Braves nearly acquired Jason Bay in July, and will be in the market for a slugging outfielder this winter. They’ll also be looking for a quality starter, likely in the Ryan Dempster/A.J. Burnett/Jon Garland range. Click here to browse the free agent market.
Draft Reactions: Pirates Sign Pedro Alvarez
Friday night was a major victory for the Pirates’ new regime, as they signed #2 overall pick Pedro Alvarez to a reasonable $6MM minor league deal. The Pirates spent almost $9.8MM on their 32 draft picks, easily a franchise record.
- Dejan Kovacevic has the negotiation details. Scott Boras called GM Neal Huntington five minutes before the deadline, and Huntington stood firm at $6MM. Alvarez verbally accepted and the Pirates quickly fired off an email to MLB headquarters.
- Huntington and Boras had spoken regularly, and the calls were cordial. Kovacevic says Boras was just posturing with the $9.5MM Major League deal talk, as the Pirates ultimately got their man at their price. Boras complained about the midnight deadline creating administrative problems and eliminating negotiation.
- Nationals GM Jim Bowden wouldn’t go past $3.5MM for top pick Aaron Crow, but called Alvarez a "really good signing."
- Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson wasn’t impressed with the signing, as many members of the current team will be gone when Alvarez arrives.
- Interesting media subplot: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Bob Smizik took umbrage to the suggestion that local radio host Rocco DeMaro got the scoop on the Alvarez signing.
More Odds And Ends: Rays, Rangers, Burnett, Pirates
A few more random notes from the MLBiverse…
- Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman says the team’s waiver position makes it "extremely unrealistic to expect that [the Rays] will be able to get something done in August."
- Tom Hicks says the Rangers will look for free agents this offseason that fit the team, but he doubts they will offer any long-term deals to pitchers over 30. That doesn’t rule out C.C. Sabathia or Oliver Perez.
- A.J. Burnett denies he has already decided to opt out of his contract, but Jays manager Cito Gaston thinks the pitcher won’t be back.
- Dejan Kovacevic says now that the signings are concluded, the Pirates’ draft bonanza was unprecedented for the organization.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Pirates Sign Pedro Alvarez
11:43pm: Great news for Pirates fans – they’ve signed Alvarez to a $6MM minor league deal. So much for Boras demanding $10MM.
11:41pm: The Bucs failed to sign pitcher Tanner Scheppers, who slipped to the second round due to a shoulder injury. Scheppers was looking for $2MM, and his audition wasn’t great. GM Neal Huntington issued a statement on the Scheppers situation.
4:59pm: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette weighs in on the Pedro Alvarez negotiations. He believes the Pirates have an offer on the table, and are open to a Major League deal. However, Kovacevic says there is no chance of the Pirates approaching a $10MM Mark Teixeira-like contract. The Pirates and Scott Boras have six hours to find a compromise.
Odds and Ends: Kendall, Laird, Giles, Manny
Today’s linkage…
- A friend pointed out to me how strange it is that the Twins were willing to take on Jarrod Washburn‘s salary and give up Boof Bonser but chose to trade Johan Santana before the season. If Bill Smith could go back in time, would he still make that deal?
- A Gary Sheffield acquisition by the Rays is "unlikely but not impossible," according to one Buster Olney source.
- As expected, Jason Kendall‘s option for ’09 vested. He’s off the list!
- The Rangers were willing to trade Gerald Laird and a solid prospect to the Marlins for Chris Volstad.
- The Padres are wavering on Brian Giles‘ 2009 option. Scott Miller also wonders if they’ll be able to take on Trevor Hoffman for another year.
- Miller says the Marlins had a deal for Manny Ramirez worked out, but the commissioner’s office killed it because the Marlins would’ve been getting draft picks rather than a second player. Manny would’ve vetoed it anyway.
- Rob Neyer thinks the Yankees will exceed a $200MM payroll if need be next year.
- There seems a good chance Randy Johnson pitches next year.
- Randy Winn and Bengie Molina may be traded this winter.
- Missed this one from Monday – the White Sox acquired reliever Franklyn German from the Pirates for a player to be named later.
Draft Pick Signing Update: Posey, Matusz, Alonso
10:51am: Baggarly has the latest on Posey. He says it’s a "spitting contest" between Scott Boras and Posey’s agency to have the highest-paid draft pick.
7:46am: The latest links involved unsigned first-round draft picks.
- Sam Mellinger explains the decision Eric Hosmer faces. He might have to go against Scott Boras’ advice.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle denies Andrew Baggarly’s Buster Posey report yesterday, calling it "premature Posey-ing." Schulman talked to the Giants’ director of player personnel, who said the deal is not done and the number is not $7.5MM. There is no verbal agreement, either.
- Schulman also heard the Orioles are about to sign Brian Matusz for less than $7.5MM. Most folks believe this will get done as a Major League deal.
- The Pirates are cautiously optimistic about Pedro Alvarez. It’s possible Scott Boras could drag this out to within minutes of the deadline.
- Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein has an update on all unsigned picks. He believes both Yonder Alonso and Justin Smoak will sign. Publicly, Reds GM Walt Jocketty is 50/50 on Alonso.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo gives his take on Matusz, Josh Fields, and Allan Dykstra.
Stark’s Latest: Manny, Fuentes, Livan, Dunn
ESPN’s Jayson Stark has a new Rumblings and Grumblings column up.
- Some teams won’t go anywhere near Manny Ramirez given the way he exited Boston. Opinions range on whether he’ll get two, three, or four years this winter. Will he turn it off again after signing a long-term deal? And will other players use the same strategy to escape their contracts?
- The Rays are likely to stand pat, despite recent injuries.
- Rockies players haven’t hit the waiver wire yet; Dan O’Dowd plans to wait until month’s end. Stark wonders whether the Cards could win a claim on Brian Fuentes. Not likely, given the contenders in front of them in waiver order.
- All kinds of near-deals in the final minutes on deadline day – John Grabow to the Phillies, Ian Snell to the Rockies, and Jason Bay to the Rays.
- Livan Hernandez‘s incentives get expensive in a hurry once he hits 160 innings, and the Twins are on the hook for those.
- Stark talked to officials from two teams who didn’t think the Reds would’ve offered Adam Dunn arbitration.
Pirates Unlikely To Offer Major League Deal To Alvarez
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates still have not offered top draft pick Pedro Alvarez a Major League contract. Kovacevic does not expect the Bucs to do so but won’t rule it out. It’s rumored that Giants’ top pick Buster Posey will get a big league deal, while #1 pick Tim Beckham signed a minor league contract. Of course, Posey was a college player while Beckham signed out of high school.
Despite that possible issue, Kovacevic speaks of "palpable optimism" for a deal on the Pirates side. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan writes about the turnabout for Frank Coonelly, who now gets to deal with Scott Boras’ over-slot demands firsthand.
Draft Roundup: Crow, Matusz, Alvarez
The deadline to sign ’08 draft picks is 11pm CST on Friday. Here are the latest rumors.
- MLB.com’s Kevin Czerwinski has a new summary of the unsigned first rounders.
- The Nationals and Aaron Crow are not close. It’s been said Crow wants a Major League deal in the $8-10MM range.
- The Orioles are reluctant to give a big league deal to Brian Matusz.
- John Perrotto expects Pedro Alvarez to sign at the last minute. Dejan Kovacevic dismisses the notion that it would be OK for the Pirates to shrug off signing Alvarez and take next year’s #3 pick.
- The August 15th deadline doesn’t apply to Mariners top pick Joshua Fields, since he was a college senior.