DRAFT NOTEBOOK
By Allan Simpson
August 17, 2007

Signing Frenzy Nets All 30 First-Rounders,

But At A Near-Record Cost to Clubs

 

Major League Baseball’s grand plan to further suppress signing bonuses by implementing new draft rules and strong-arming clubs to impose an across-the-board 10 percent rollback on bonus payments did not have its desired effect. In fact, it had the opposite impact and may open the door for more teams breaking rank in the future and ignoring the efforts of the commissioner’s office to control bonuses.

 

Signing bonuses to first-round picks actually rose this year, to a five-year high of $2,098, 167. Only in 2001 ($2,154,180) and 2002 ($2,106,793) has the first-round average been higher—years when runaway inflation on bonuses prompted MLB to enact new measures to control bonus payments. All players from this year’s draft had to be signed by Wednesday midnight, a uniform signing deadline that was incorporated this year.

 

“Major League Baseball is going to have to regroup after this debacle,” a major league scouting director said. “It was a complete loss.”

 

The draft changes were incorporated as part of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association that was ratified last fall. They were aimed at depressing bonus payments by imposing deadlines and making it easier for teams to walk away from unfavorable deals without being penalized. Among the measures implemented was a unified signing deadline of Aug. 15, abolishment of the draft-and-follow process, and compensating teams that didn’t sign picks in the first three rounds with a corresponding selection in the following year’s draft.

 

MLB, however, wasn’t able to push through the real kicker: legislation to implement a solid cap on bonuses, similar to what exists in the NBA, which would have forced teams to abide by slotting guidelines. Nonetheless, the commissioner’s office strongly suggested to teams to buy into its de-facto slotting system which recommended teams adhere to a 10 percent rollback from last year’s slots.

 

For the better part of eight weeks, teams abided by the wishes of the commissioner’s office and the only official player signings, with one or two minor exceptions, were for players who signed according to the slot guidelines imposed by MLB two days before this year’s draft. But all along, it was apparent that a number of teams were just lying in the weeds and would break rank when the time was right—right before the new signing deadline.

 

With two days remaining until deadline day, almost half of this year’s first-rounders had not signed. The first major domino fell when the Tigers announced they had signed their first-round pick,New Jersey high school righthander Rick Porcello, for a $7.285 million major league deal that included a bonus of $3.85 million. Porcello was generally considered the top high school player in the draft and a prime target of the Royals as the No. 2 pick overall, but he fell significantly because of his bonus demands. The Tigers, undeterred, rolled the dice on Porcello and were rewarded for the fourth straight year in signing a player that was considered a signability risk.

 

Once Porcello was in the fold, the rush was on. In the final 36 hours, every remaining first-rounder and supplemental first-rounder had agreed to terms—significantly, none at the 10 percent cutback recommended by the commissioner’s office. In all, there were upwards of 60 players signed Tuesday and Wednesday—many significantly above slot.

 

“Unfortunately, there’s not much we’ll be able to do about it for another four years,” a scouting director said. “I’m sure they’ll take about it, but it’s unlikely there will be any substantial changes until there’s a new CBA. But I’m sure there will be repercussions next year. There are teams that didn’t participate at the end that are asking why we did this.

 

“Basically, everyone that didn’t play by the rules and waited to sign their players got rewarded. Teams can’t afford to sit back and be at a competitive disadvantage. It may not be like this next year as I’m sure agents are also going to tell all their players not to sign right until the end.”

 

Record Bonuses Abound

 

Not only did the first-round bonus average rise this year, but No. 1 overall pick David Price ($5.6 million) and No. 5 pick Matt Wieters ($6 million) signed the second and third largest bonuses ever awarded to draft picks signing with the same club that selected them. Only Justin Upton’s $6.1 million bonus, signed in 2005, was larger. But bonus records were established this year in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.

 

Price’s signing with the Devil Rays, which guarantees him $8.5 million and could be worth as much as $11.25 million, was never really in doubt but Porcello’s blockbuster deal with the Tigers caused the Devil Rays and Price’s representation to revisit the terms of Price’s deal. Price ended up signing for more than the parameters initially agreed to, but the contract ended up being heavily back loaded with the final and largest portion ($1.5 million) of Price’s deal not payable until 2012.

 

Meanwhile, the biggest statement in the first round might have been the signing of Andrew Brackman by the Yankees with the final pick in the round.

 

The 6-foot-11 righthander was considered one of the two or three top prospects for the draft entering the season but went only 6-4, 3.81 at North Carolina State and missed the latter portion of the season with an elbow problem that caused his stock to slip and will necessitate Tommy John surgery. Still, the Yankees gave the former Wolfpack basketball player a major league deal that provided a bonus of $3.35 million, guarantees him $4.55 million and could be worth a draft record $13 million if he meets all escalator clauses and team options. Brackman is scheduled to undergo his surgery next week and likely will miss all of the 2008 season.

 

Yankees Raise the Bar

Though the Yankees spent less in actual signing bonuses in the first 10 rounds than either the Orioles or Nationals, no team defied the wishes of the commissioner’s office more. Overall, the Yankees spent $7.432 million in bonuses on their picks in the first 10 rounds, but six of the selections were signed for over-slot amounts. None of half dozen signings were reported to the commissioner’s office until hours before the deadline in an effort to disguise the size and significance of the deals.

 

In addition to Brackman’s potential record-breaking contract, the Yankees also paid out a record $1.3 million bonus to former University of Texas third baseman Bradley Suttle in the fourth round and $1 million (just $50,000 shy of the record for that round) to Louisiana high school shortstop Carmen Angelini in the 10^th round.

 

In the end, several other clubs stepped significantly out of slot to sign their priority picks.

 

The Tigers made their big splash in signing Porcello, then followed by signing Illinois high school lefthander Casey Crosby in the fifth round for $745,000 and former Alabama shortstop Cale Iorg in the sixth round for $1.5 million—a short-lived record for that round. Iorg had played no baseball while on a Mormon mission for two years in Europe and was in the process of transferring to Arizona State . But three workouts with the Tigers were enough to convince Detroit officials, who believed Iorg would have been a first-rounder in 2008 had they not signed him, to get him under contract.

 

The Red Sox went over slot on more picks (seven) than any club but never spent as much as $1 million on any pick, in large part because they didn’t have a first-round selection. Of major significance, they signed Texas high school shortstop Will Middlebrooks in the fifth round for $925,000 and quietly slipped through Texas prep lefthander Drake Britton, their 23^rd-round pick, at the last second for $700,000. The Red Sox, however, did not agree to terms with Alabama high school outfielder and second-rounder Hunter Morris, who became the highest unsigned high school selection in the draft. Morris, one of two unsigned second-rounders, will attend college at Auburn .

 

The Nationals spent more money on signing bonuses in the first 10 rounds than anyone, $7,672 million, and also made possibly the most controversial signing of all by signing Massachusetts prep lefthander Jack McGeary to a $1.8 million bonus in the sixth round.

 

McGeary, who was a projected first-rounder entering the 2007 high school season, not only was given a record bonus for his round but the deal raised eyebrows as he will receive his bonus and $200,000 under MLB’s College Scholarship Plan, while also being permitted to attend Stanford as a full-time student for three years. McGeary will play in the Nationals system only during his summers.

 

“The irony there,” a scouting director said, “is that their owner helped put together the agreement to curtail bonus payments, yet he authorized paying McGeary what they did.”

 

The Orioles were second only to the Nationals in bonus payments through 10 rounds, and went significantly over slot to sign Wieters in the first round and Texas Christian righthander Jake Arrieta for $1.1 million in the fifth round—a record for that round.

 

Baltimore owner Peter Angelos rarely goes against the wishes of the commissioner’s office, but reluctantly did this year to avert a potential PR backlash among Orioles fans and potential in-house turmoil among their scouting staff. The Orioles were the last team not to sign their first-round pick after they failed to sign Wade Townsend, the eighth overall pick in 2004.

 

Angelos normally has resisted dealings with Boras , who represented Arrieta and Wieters. But the Orioles knew the financial parameters that were at stake when they bit the bullet and drafted both players. They remained undeterred knowing that Boras would be looking for a Mark Teixeira-type deal ($9.5 million major league package in 2001) for Wieters and a seven-figure deal for Arrieta, a projected first-rounder prior to the season.

 

But both deals became in jeopardy on June 20 when Andy MacPhail, a staunch supporter of commissioner Bud Selig, took over as the Orioles president of baseball operations and was determined to put his stamp on the club. The hiring of MacPhail altered the dynamics of the negotiations on both deals and there was significant doubt right up until the deadline that the Orioles would relent and sign either player. But they did so at the last minute, even as MLB officials discouraged them from doing so until the end.

 

Less than a half hour before the deadline, the Orioles reportedly would not move off a final $5.2 million offer to Wieters, but Wieters had Boras made a final, take-it-or-leave counteroffer of a standard $6 million bonus contract—half paid upon approval of the contract, the remainder early next year—and the Orioles relented. Arrieta ended up getting what he was seeking all along.

 

The Boras Factor

 

Boras , notorious for striking deadline deals, predictably went right to the wire on a number of his clients. He represented five first-rounders in this draft, including Porcello and Brackman.

 

Like Wieters with the Orioles, No. 2 overall pick Mike Moustakas went to the 11^th hour with the Royals before striking a $4 million deal. There were similar doubts the Royals would reach agreement on a deal with Moustakas leading up to the draft as Royals owner David Glass, another Selig backer, didn’t want to exceed the recommended slot amount of $3.2 million. But amidst considerable public pressure in Kansas City , Glass relented. Moustakas, with a Southern California scholarship offer as leverage, elected to accept the increased offer as the deadline approached.

 

The latest deal of all on deadline Wednesday may have been signed by Tennessee outfielder Julio Borbon, another Boras client who signed a four-year major league deal that provided for an $800,000 bonus and a guaranteed amount of $1.3 million. It was one of four major league deals signed on the final two days of the signing period, three of which were negotiated by Boras .

 

Borbon’s signing was not announced until Thursday morning—several hours after the deadline. It was initially rejected by the commissioner’s office because it was received after the deadline, but the Rangers were able to substantiate that it was submitted on time, that the deal was just held up by a rash of faxes that reached the commissioner’s office just before midnight on Wednesday.

 

Seven Boras clients signed on the eve of the deadline. Only one Boras client had signed a deal more than a day before the deadline. That was Florida senior first baseman Matt LaPorta, the eighth overall pick, who agreed to a $2 million bonus with Milwaukee as the seventh overall pick in June. In addition to Arrieta, Borbon, Brackman, Moustakas, Porcello and Wieters, South Carolina righthander Wynn Pelzer, a potential first-rounder at the start of the college season who slipped to the ninth round, signed for $190,000—the largest bonus in that round.

 

Four players that Boras advised did not sign by the deadline. The two most significant talents who failed to agree to terms were University of Georgia righthander Josh Fields with the Braves and Connecticut prep righthander Matt Harvey with the Angels.

 

Fields, the 69^th player drafted overall, was the highest pick in the draft not to sign. He was projected to be one of the handful of top draft picks at the outset of the season, but suffered a disappointing junior year for the Bulldogs and his draft stock slipped appreciably. The Braves never offered him more than slot money (approximately $472,500), claiming that was the amount that Fields agreed to accept prior to the draft and they refused to increase their offer. Atlanta will get a corresponding pick in the 2008 draft as compensation—one of six such selections that will be awarded under terms of the new CBA deal.

 

Harvey was also a projected early first-round pick but ended up going late in the third round after he did not pitch up to par and his price tag came into question. The Angels refused to offer Harvey more than $1 million—significantly short of Harvey’s reported asking price of $2.5 million—and Harvey ended up fulfilling his college scholarship commitment to North Carolina.

 

Alabama high school outfielder Kentrail Davis, a 14^th-round pick of the Rockies, and Washington prep righthander Greg Peavey, a 24^th-round pick of the Yankees, elected to move on college. Davis will play at Tennessee , Peavey with two-time College World Series champion Oregon State . Both will be eligible for the draft again in 2009 as sophomores.

 

Over-Slot Deals

 

Despite the best efforts of the commissioner’s office to impose slotting parameters on its teams, numerous over-slot deals were signed on the final day—and not just in the first round.

 

Among some of the most noteworthy deals signed were:

 

--Suttle’s record $1.3 million bonus with the Yankees in the fourth round (more than four times any bonus in that round).

 

--Arrieta’s record $1.1 million deal in the fifth round that topped earlier deals of $925,000 to Middlebrooks (Red Sox) and $745,000 to Crosby (Tigers).

 

--McGeary’s record $1.8 million deal in the sixth round that topped a record set a day earlier when the Tigers inked Iorg for $1.5 million.

 

--a $550,000 bonus in the seventh round by the Red Sox to North Carolina high school first baseman David Mailman (more than four times any bonus in that round).

 

--Angelini’s $1 million bonus in the 10^th round (more than eight times any bonus in that round).

 

A number of over slot bonuses were also struck after the 10^th round, the most noteworthy being the $700,000 bonus given to Britton by the Red Sox in the 23^rd round. Among other significant over-slot amounts:

 

--In addition to Britton’s record 23^rd round bonus, the Red Sox paid out $285,000 to Alabama high school righthander Austin Bailey in the 16^th round, and $250,000 to New Jersey high school first baseman Jaren Matthews in the 17^th.

 

--The Phillies awarded a $390,000 bonus to Washington high school righthander Julian Sampson, their 14^th round pick; another Washington prep righty, Keaton Hayenga, received $300,000 from the Royals as a 31^st-round pick after suffering a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder in the spring that knocked him out of the early rounds.

 

--The Brewers gave $350,000 to their 11^th round selection, Illinois high school righthander Cody Scarpetta; the Devil Rays gave $335,000 to their 11^th rounder, Alabama high school outfielder D.J. Jones.

 

--The Cubs made a splash with two selections, signing University of Texas lefthander James Russell, their 14^th-round selection, for $350,000, and Florida high school righthander Ryan Acosta, their 12^th-rounder, for $250,000. Russell is the son of former big league pitcher Jeff Russell, Acosta the son of the late Oscar Acosta, a former big league coach.

 

--Additionally, California high school righthander Kyle Ocampo, a 13^th-round pick, signed with the Rangers for $250,000, while Illinois prep righthander Brett Zawacki was given a $215,000 bonus by the Cardinals as a 12^th-rounder.

 

Russell Headlines Unsigned Selections

 

Fields and Harvey were two of the most significant unsigned picks in the first 10 rounds, but the most noteworthy was probably University of Texas outfielder Kyle Russell, a fourth-round pick of the Cardinals, who led the nation with 28 homers during the spring as a draft-eligible sophomore. Russell set his price tag at $1.5 million to sign with the Cardinals, but the Cardinals made little effort in the final days to close a deal. As a junior, Russell will still have significant leverage in the 2008 draft.

 

In all, 27 players drafted in the first 10 rounds went unsigned this year, though that number could drop by one if former Texas righthander Randy Boone, a seventh-round selection, eventually signs with the Blue Jays. As a college senior with no remaining eligibility, Boone was not bound by Wednesday’s signing deadline. He will have until a week before next year’s draft to sign.

 

The record for the fewest unsigned picks in the first 10 rounds was set in 2005, when 16 players went unsigned. Twenty went unsigned in the 2006 draft.

 

Meanwhile, the Astros had the most difficult time signing their early-round picks—signing no one in the first four rounds. The Astros had already forfeited their first- and second-round picks for signing Carlos Lee and Woody Williams as free agents in the off-season and failed to secure any compensation selections for allowing Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte to walk as free agents in the offseason and not offering them arbritatrion.

 

To compound that, the Astros failed to sign third-rounder Derek Dietrich, an Ohio high school infielder headed for Georgia Tech, and fourth-rounder Brett Eibner, a Texas high school outfielder bound for Arkansas, as Astros owner Drayton McLane remained stedfast in sticking to only slot offers. The Astros also failed to sign eighth-rounder Chad Bettis, a Texas prep righthander committed to Texas Tech, and ended up spending just $536,000 on their picks in the first 10 rounds, substantially less than any other club.

 

Giants, Nationals Lead the Way

 

The Giants and Nationals did the most thorough job of signing their draft picks, both inking their first 20 selections. Washington spent more money than any club to do so, but San Francisco ’s haul also included three first-rounders. The Giants went only slightly over slot to sign North Carolina high school lefthander Madison Bumgarner, their first pick and the 10^th overall selection, for $2 million, and Mississippi prep outfielder Wendell Fairley, their third first-rounder, for $1 million.

 

The Brewers and Mets also made significant runs at signing their picks, both signing their first 19 selections. The Brewers went over slot on only one of their selections in doing so, signing Scarpetta in the 11^th round for $350,000. The Mets also adhered to the wishes of the commissioner’s office, straying off slot only slightly to sign their 14^th-round pick, Mississippi high school lefthander Robert Carson, for $80,000.

 

Among other clubs to sign the bulk of their early-round selections were the Diamondbacks, who signed 26 of their first 28; the Cubs, who signed their first 18; the Rockies, who signed 17 of their first 18; the Royals, who signed 16 of their first 17; the Yankees, who signed their first 15; the Phillies, who signed 17 of their first 18; the Padres, who signed 29 of their first 31; and the Blue Jays, who signed 21 of their top 22.