Archive for 2009 Draft
2009 Draft: Lane Meyer’s Draft Grades
Posted by: | CommentsDraft coverage all-star Lane Meyer of NoMaas posted his review of this year’s draft class, grading the thing out on a pick-by-pick basis. I think Lane might be a little too optimistic with some of the grades (Caleb Cotham screams generic college starter to me), but there’s nothing wrong with that, and overall he did a great job. He gives the entire class a B+, but I’m a tough grader so I consider it more of a C+/B- haul because of the lack of an obvious impact player. Don’t get me wrong, Slade Heathcott and JR Murphy are studs, but more like above average regulars than true impact talents.
Anyway, make sure you head on over and check it out.
2009 Draft: Oh yeah, the Yanks had a ‘budget’
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this spring we found out from scouting director Damon Oppenheimer that he was given an actual budget to work with during this year’s draft, which promptly caused mass panic because, as we all know, the Yankees should have an unlimited budget for everything. Well, after last night’s last minute signing of 44th rounder Evan DeLuca for $500,000, the Yanks have spent at least $6.185M on this draft, and that doesn’t include the likely six-figure bonuses given to 12th rounder Brett Gerritse, 13th rounder DeAngelo Mack, and 14th rounder Graham Stoneburner among others. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where the Yanks spent $7M on this draft.
$7M on one draft class is a ton of money, but just how much? The epiphany draft of 2006 – the one that landed Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain, Zach McAllister, Mark Melancon, David Robertson and Dellin Betances – cost $6.7M. Just seven clubs spent more than that last year, and almost all of them had to shell major bucks out to top ten picks. By no means did the Yankees go cheap this year.
2009 Draft: Strasburg signs record deal
Posted by: | CommentsScott Boras asked the moon and the stars, and all he ended up getting Stephen Strasburg was a four year Major League deal worth $15.67M, according to Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt. It’s the largest deal in draft history, eclipsing the $10.5M guarantee the Cubs gave Mark Prior back in 2001. The Nats got a fantastic deal because they get a someone to stimulate their franchise at a “reasonable” price, but it’s also a great deal for Strasburg because he’s set for life based on how he pitched in college. There was no way this one wasn’t going to get done.
2009 Draft: Yankees sign 16th rounder Bryan Mitchell
Posted by: | CommentsVia Jim Callis, the Yankees have signed 16th rounder Bryan Mitchell to an $800,000 bonus. It’s the third largest bonus given out by the Yankees so far this year (that I know of). Callis says the North Carolina high schooler “throws a lively 90-91 mph fastball and a hard slider.”
Open Thread: 2009 Draft Signing Deadline Day
Posted by: | CommentsThe deadline for teams to sign their draft picks is the stroke of midnight tonight, and you can expect most of the high picks to sign just a few minutes before that. You can read up on the Stephen Strasburg situation here; it’s not worth the bandwidth for me to regurgitate it all. I think he signs for something in the $18-22M range right before the deadline. That’s just too much money for him to pass up, and realistically his stock can’t get any higher.
The Yankees have already announced three significant signings today, landing first rounder Slade Heathcott for $2.2M, second rounder JR Murphy for $1.25M, and fifth rounder Caleb Cotham for $675,000. You can see all of the Yankees picks here, the names in bold are guys who have signed. As of right now, they’ve signed their top eight picks and 13 of their top 14.
My quick take: they definitely overpaid Heathcott, that’s 7th overall pick money. He’s just not that kind of talent, however the Yanks had their backs up against the wall because it was an unprotected pick. No complaints about the money given to the other two players, both are solid talents. I’m going to post my annual post-draft signing period top 30 prospects list on Wednesday, so be on the look out for that.
While we wait for some signings to be announced, use this sucker as an open thread to talk about all things draft. I’ll post more updates later as signings are announced.
2009 Draft: Yanks agree to terms with second rounder JR Murphy
Posted by: | CommentsVia KLaw, the Yankees have agreed to terms with second rounder JR Murphy. The terms aren’t yet known, but slot money for his pick (#76 overall) was roughly $478,000. He’ll get more than that, probably seven figures. You can learn all about the high school catcher here.
Lane Meyer of NoMaas was all over this earlier today. The Yankees have now signed their top eight picks, and 13 of their top 14 picks.
Update (12:35am): Jim Callis says Murphy received $1.25M. That’s the largest bonus given out in the second round so far this year.
2009 Draft: Yankees sign first rounder Slade Heathcott
Posted by: | CommentsVia Jim Callis, the Yankees have signed Slade Heathcott, their first round pick, to a $2.2M bonus. Slot money for his pick (#29 overall) was roughly $1.1M, so he received double that. Good for him, that’s pretty much 7th overall pick money. My guesstimate of $1.5-1.7M was obviously way off. Shows what I know. You can learn all about the high school outfielder here.
Lane Meyer at NoMaas had the news earlier today.
2009 Draft: Yanks sign Caleb Cotham
Posted by: | CommentsVia Jim Callis, the Yankees have signed fifth rounder Caleb Cotham to $675,000 bonus, considerably overslot. The draft eligible sophomore out of Vanderbilt struck out 84 in 79 IP last year, and put up a nice and clean 0.00 ERA in 13 IP in the Cape Cod League this summer.
Use this thread throughout the day to talk about draft signings and what not. I’ll post more updates as players sign.
2009 Draft: NoMaas’ signing deadline interview with Damon Oppenheimer
Posted by: | CommentsLane Meyer over at NoMaas spoke to Yanks scouting director Damon Oppenheimer last night, and was able to squeeze some info out of him about what we could expect to happen before Monday’s midnight deadline. Obviously Opp couldn’t go into too much detail, but it sounds like most of the higher profile signings will go down to the wire and will be announced Monday. He also spoke briefly about some of the guys who have signed and are performing well, in particular Adam Warren. Make sure you check it out, it’s a quick but informing read.
Oh, and Ken Davidoff says that we “should be optimistic that #1 draft pick Slade Heathcott will sign.” He says the bonus will likely be over $2M, I’m thinking more like $1.7M. But what do I know?
Heathcott seeking $2M
Posted by: | CommentsJim Callis of Baseball America updated the statuses of the twenty unsigned first round picks, mentioning that Yanks’ top pick Slade Heathcott is seeking “upwards of $2 million.” After MLB reduced their recommendations by 10% this year, slot money for the 29th overall pick became $1.107M. For all intents and purposes Heathcott and his agent are looking for 8th overall pick money even though he’s not that kind of talent.
Camp Heathcott isn’t stupid, they know the Yanks can’t afford to not to sign him and are asking for the moon. Can’t blame them.
