2009 Draft: Callis on tough signs

Jim Callis of Baseball America discussed three players likely to fall in next month’s draft because of signability concerns. I profiled two of the players – CF Donovan Tate (Georgia HS) & RHP Jacob Turner (St. Louis HS) – earlier this year. Tate is a supreme athlete but is still learning to convert those physical gifts into baseball tools. He also has the added leverage of a football scholarship to UNC working for him. Turner has started to make good on some of the projection he offers, jumping from 89-91 earlier in the year to 95-97 down the stretch. The third player, California Texas HS LHP Matt Purke, wants a boatload of cash but offers an extremely live arm (92-94 mph heat with plenty of projection remaining) and is arguably the best lefty prospect in the draft. Any of the three would be a major, major steal for the Yanks at #29.