2013 Draft: Yankees agree to sign 20th round pick Drew Bridges

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Open Thread: The #KabakHat Watch
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Thursday: Bridges signed for $225k according to Baseball America (subs. req’d), so his “pool hit” is $125k. The Yankees are (unofficially) currently $114k (1.4%) over their pool, meaning they will pay just under $86k in tax if they don’t sign anyone else to an above-slot bonus before tomorrow afternoon’s deadline.

Friday: Via Jim Callis: The Yankees have agreed to sign 20th round pick Drew Bridges to an over-slot bonus. The exact amount is unknown, but Callis says it is sixth round money. That would put it in the $175-300k range. As a 20th rounder, anything he gets in excess of $100k counts against the team’s draft pool.

Bridges, 18, is a third baseman out of a Missouri high school. In their pre-draft scouting report, Baseball America (subs. req’d) said he “earns Brett Wallace comparisons because he’s a big-bodied left-handed hitter who can produce for average and might have interesting power if he adds loft to his swing.” Bridges is a big kid at 6-foot-4 and 220 lbs., so his ability to remain at third long-term is a question.

Keep tabs on the team’s draft pool with our 2013 Draft Pool page.

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Open Thread: The #KabakHat Watch
Pineda knocked around in SWB loss
  • Nick

    so Judge isnt going to get much over slot

    • viridiana

      Judge’s agent should be dumped mow. Kid will never get a better deal than this year as he loses all leverage as senior in 2014. Meanwhile, by holding out he misses much of a year of development. Probably gets him to bigs a year later — which will cost him far more than his moronic hard-ball signing tactics now.

      • Greg

        Relax. He’s going to sign.

      • OhioYanks

        Not so sure about all that.

        He’s not likely to gain a ton next draft, but certainly could. Guys like Appel and JD Drew are obvious examples. He was a 2nd rounder, but Yanks gave O’Brien full slot as a SR last year. Part of your leverage is how badly the team wants to sign you, based on how good you actually are.

        Not so sure that missing a month or two holds you back a full year.

        And it’s not when he makes MLB, it’s if. A late first has maybe a 20% chance of more than a season or so in the bigs. So divide whatever value you think he’s losing by possibly coming up later (which, again, is far from assured) by 5. Any money he gets now, on the other hand, is guaranteed in his pocket. The Yankees still have something like $600k he may be vying for.

  • Andrew Brotherton

    I think they had like 310,000 left, so they now most likely have about 150 to 200 left. I’ll trust Jim Callis that Judge signs. I can’t believe Kris Bryant hasn’t signed. Losing Bryant would be a huge blow to the Cubs, although it would be great for the Yankees in the fact he’d probably fall next year in the draft

    • Andy In Sunny Daytona

      $310,00 left, PLUS the 5% overage

    • OhioYanks

      While I’m sure the Cubs would like to sign Bryant, they can take another crack next year at #3. Not sure it’s really that big a blow.

      Also not so sure Bryant slips much. Obviously there’s not much room to go any higher plus some performance and injury risk. I wouldn’t particularly expect his stock to slip, though, and especially not all the way to the Yankees. Guys like JD Drew and Appel have chosen not to sign only to be top 5 picks the next year.

      As Andy notes above, they can spend another $400,000 on top of their pool savings if they want and pay a 75% tax on it with no forfeiture of future picks.

  • 28 this year

    I think the Yankees are holding firm with Judge just to not set a precedent that they will cave and go over slot when they feel that slot is a perfectly fair deal. I don’t think Judge will go back to school and will ultimately take the Yankees offer which is a fair deal for slot value. They don’t want this situation to play out each and every year if they can avoid it. Using the money to get a tough sign like Bridges is ultimately good.

    • Pseudoyanks

      Agree and the timing is likely a message to Judge in and of itself.

      • OhioYanks

        Agreed as well.

        Teams have a real incentive to be value conscious with the new draft rules.

        I don’t know how much he’s asking for, but this could change the leverage Judge has in negotiating. I think that they still have quite a bit of money to play with if they’re willing to pay the 75% tax on the 5% overage (like $600k depending on what Bridges got), so it might not impact negotiations with Judge that much depending on what he wants.

  • DERP

    I saw this tweet:

    The Bronx Empire ?@thebronxempire 29m
    $208K, $108K above slot MT @jimcallisBA: #Yankees, 20th-rder Drew Bridges agree to terms. Approx 6th-rd money. Missouri HS 3B, advanced bat.

    I haven’t seen that number anywhere else so I don’t know accurate it is.

    • David Brown

      If the number turns out to be accurate, they will have done extremely well, Bridges was rumored to be looking for $450,000, and was projected as a difficult sign. It also means they probably have enough money left to add both McCarley & Cortes (but not pay Judge extra without taxing themselves). If they are able to get those guys signed, then it really becomes a jolt of reality for Judge, which is you are not regarded any higher than Jagielo or Clarkin, so you can take the slot $$$$ like they did, or go back to Fresno State, and risk losing money like Brandon Thomas did (not signing with the Pirates as a 3rd Rounder). It will be interesting to watch.

      • Pseudoyanks

        Loving the drama.

      • OhioYanks

        Agree with more of what you’re saying. While the Yankees can reference Thomas, though, Judge might be looking at Mark Appel or Peter O’Brien or others who stayed for their Sr year and won. Really, we have to look at a larger sample to get a feel for the most likely outcome.

        • David Brown

          I did use the word “RISK” ending up like Thomas, not saying it “WILL” happen. However, the new changes in the Draft, is something that must be taken into account. For example: Although Appel got more money by staying at Stanford, it is still a STANFORD Degree compared to Fresno State, and he still signed for over a MILLION DOLLARS under slot, despite having Scott Boras as an agent. Basically, unless this is NOT a business decision, and Judge feels personally disrespected, he will sign the slot offer, and not risk ending up like Thomas. If he really feels disrespected, and his heart is not into being in the Organization, then for his best interest and the team’s, then he should not sign.

        • RetroRob

          Appel was one of the top couple of prospects in the country. Any team that drafted Appel know they are getting a stud. That’s not a good comparison for Judge as where he went in the draft there are other players of similar skill. A team will simple draft one of them and play it safer, pushing Judge further down. Eventually he’ll be taken and some team will give him a take or leave it.

          If he has a tremendous year and is drafted higher, he might get more money, but more likely he’ll be drafted higher and get less money. The gamble is not worth the potential reward. He’s most likely just trying to get a few more dollars this year.

          • OhioYanks

            Appel is one example. You conveniently skipped over the other example I gave, O’Brien, who made a 3rd to 2nd round move (not sure what bonus the Rockies offered him). This was not meant to be an exhaustive list. It was meant to show that Brandon Thomas is not the only guy ever to not sign after his Jr year and that it does work out for some guys.

            (While Appel was a top prospect, by the way, he also turned down $4 million. That easily, easily could have backfired on him if teams did as you suggest they would with Judge next season.)

            “A team will simple draft one of them and play it safer, pushing Judge further down.”

            What are you basing this on? Why doesn’t this happen with every other high-profile Sr? Those guys are rare, but they do exist.

            “If he has a tremendous year and is drafted higher, he might get more money, but more likely he’ll be drafted higher and get less money.”

            Again… where are you coming up with this. Theoretically he’s about 50% likely to have a worse season and 50% likely to have a better season.

            “The gamble is not worth the potential reward.”

            Did I ever say it was? Pretty sure that I responded to the Brandon Thomas comment and said nothing whatsoever about what Judge should do.

            • RetroRob

              Pass.

  • Caballo Sin Nombre

    Cortes is signed.