Jul
27
2011 Draft: Yankees agree to sign 14th rounder Rookie Davis
ByVia Jim Callis, the Yankees have agreed to sign 14th round pick Rookie Davis for $550,000, which is obviously well-above MLB’s slot recommendation. It’s the largest bonus given to a player outside of the top three rounds so far this year, by any team. Davis, a right-hander who stands 6-foot-4 and 235 lbs., is said to own “an 89-92 mph fastball and a promising curveball.” Here’s some video.
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The Mason Williams Watch
Welcome to the pros, Rook.
And yes, that’s the first of many, so I don’t want to hear any complaining out of you kids!
this kids curve ball looke pretty nasty! we might have signed a future first round pick nice sign.
Any word if they’re gonna use him as a hitter or pitcher? He’s supposed to have huge power.
Definitely a pitcher. There’s nothing special about right-right high school first basemen.
I see. $550k seems like a lot for him. I guess with his size there’s project-ability there.
Just my 2-cents… but Yankees seemed to have focused on spreading their $ around to more good prospects the last couple of drafts than giving a huge portion of it to one or two great prospects. One can argue either way and a lot of it’s got to be case-by-case (when the Cole or Brackman is on the board Yankees have pounced in the past), but there’s definitely a case to be made for this approach.
I went to high school with him at Dixon high in holly ridge nc he played short stop and pitcher he has amazing power and could hit a ball about 400 ft I seen it myself so I think they should use him as a hitter as well as a pitcher.
I didn’t like the way he took grounders at first. He kind of took a “bull-fighter” approach, rather than get his body behind the ball. If the ball takes a funny bounce, it’s past you, and you’re looking at a double down the line. But, I guess we didn’t sign him to be a first baseman.
How well regarded is he? Was he considered a very tough sign?
A lot of people doubted that they would sign him. I’m definitely pumped that they did. Cave, Sharp, and couple others… this draft is looking good.
Yes, a tough sign, Baseball America originally thought they wouldn’t sign him.
He wouldn’t have fallen to the 14th round if teams thought he’d be an easy sign.
is he a starter or a reliever
We know this information, but won’t tell you out of spite.
As a kid signed out of HS I have to figure they’ll try to start him… but making any MLB impact ever is a real long-shot for most prospects… especially guys taken in the 14th round and signed for half a mill (which is a lot, but half of what a Betances or Mason Williams got)… so if he ends up an MLB reliever that would be a victory.
Williams actually signed for $1.45M.
Somebody help me.
His delivery looks very familiar. Any ideas?
Might even be a retired player.
his mechanics kind of looked like a right handed version of CC’s
He kind of reminds me of Matt Cain delivery-wise
I see a lot of classic Livan Hernandez on his delivery
Rookie Davis sounds like a computer generated Madden player.
haha the computer generated names are so funny.
Some good ones:
Tim Tibrow
Leron James
Roman Battles
The best was Jordan in all the NBA games:
Roster Player #89
Madden 2011 also had Sleepy Richardson and Joker Davis. One of my favorite players was Tiger Hawthorne.
Drafted a linebacker in Madden a few years ago named Bam Cleveland.
Either his parents suspected that he could be a big-time athlete, or they have a reasonably good sense of humor…or maybe both.
Rookie is his nickname, his first name is William.
His real first name is William.
His given name is William Davis – Rookie is just a nickname, so I’m not sure they had any inside information.
*slaps head*
6’4″, 225, huh? That’s a great frame, no? He should be able to add velo, right?
Davis was definitely on my wish list from that draft haul and a lot of people seemed to doubt he would sign, so I’m psyched they got him. Would like to see Cave sign as much as anyone left, though I could see him going down to the wire and getting a 9 figure bonus. Sharp and Camarena plus the rest of the top 7 to go with the college relievers, Bichette, James, and Davis? I’d be pumped.
“Would like to see Cave sign as much as anyone left, though I could see him going down to the wire and getting a 9 figure bonus.”
This has to be a typo.
Nah he’s gonna get a lifetime contract that pays 3 mill every year he’s alive. Ya know, the yanks wanna lock him up long term because they know he’ll be a superstar.
Nine figures may be steep
This an excerpt from NC newspaper on Rookie:
“As a senior, Davis hit .524 with 31 RBIs and 11 home runs. He also went 9-0 on the mound with a 1.02 earned run average and 136 strikeouts to lead Dixon to a fourth consecutive Coastal Plains 1-A Conference title and emerge as The Daily News’ baseball player of the year for the second straight season.
Davis is highly regarded in several draft orders.
He’s the No. 35 overall top prospect according to mlbfanhouse.com, No. 36 overall according to mlbbonusbaby.com and is ranked as the sixth-best first baseman on baseballdraftreport.com.
Still, Davis isn’t concerned with any of the projections, which predict he’ll go in the top three rounds.”
According to this he seems like a bargain at 550k.
I found him on bonus baby at 110 not 36
That article was from June 10th so maybe the updated it?
Ick, Awful glove and awful bat (floating stride).
Nice looking curve though. Looks like he can paint the black on the outside to righties, too.
When he fills out some more, he should be able to use that frame to get his heater up to the 94-95 range.
It’d be a shame to put a name like his to waste. Here’s to hoping he makes it.
GOOD JOB ROOK!
we all love you rook!
good job Rook; take it to em cuz! love you.