2011 Cubs picks and signings thread

[TruffleShuffle]

Nationals first 4 picks

 

(6)Rendon=7.2M ML deal

(23)Meyer= 2M

(34)Goodwin=3M

Purke= Major League Contract, No amount yet, but I'd be shocked if it was 4M or less.

 

They're near 16M on their first 4 picks. That is a franchise changing draft. The Nationals are going to be very scary in 2 years.

 

2 years is a little quick.

 

the pirates spent over $17m on this draft; the nats may have spent more. teams are figuring out that amateur spending is the way to win, especially if you're a mid or small market club. you can see why selig is pushing for hard slots, because the spending has gone up quickly.

[sneakypower]

hadn't seen this site before, but scouting grades and player comparisons for the top 122 players who were in the draft

 

14) Baez: Julio Lugo, Felipe Lopez, Todd Walker - good approach, power, athlete, move to 3B likely

50) Zych: Kyle Farnsworth - 93-99 fb, avg slider, decept, iffy mechs, dazzled in cape cod league

52) Maples: Scott Linebrink, Chad Billingsley - 90-95 sink fb, above avg cb fut plus, fringy fb cmd, incons mechs

95) Vogelbach: Jack Cust, Nick Swisher - plus-plus raw power, good approach, bad athlete, soft body

 

no Dunston, Jr.

[Guest]

Those numbers don't do a whole lot to impress me if they're spent entirely on your top couple picks. Obviously the Nationals stocked up, but going nuts on two guys for 5-7 million each is not exactly the "spending on the amateur draft is worth it" strategy that most people mean. Paying the exponentially rising prices for 1st and supplemental rounders isn't the same as grabbing a half dozen overslot guys and giving them each several hundred thousand over slot. That's what I love so much about the Cubs draft. They spread it out, and brought in upwards of 15 guys with some legitimate top 10 round talent despite having no extra picks.

[seattlecub]

callis just reported it's not a 2-sport deal after all for maples

[XZero771679666304]

jimcallisBA Jim Callis

My mistake earlier ... Dillon Maples' impressive $2.5 million deal not a two-sport spread. #mlbdraft #Cubs

[Guest]

@keithlaw I think he's a reliever based on delivery/command. RT @BrodyHalsey: @keithlaw - Is Maples worth anywhere near that kind of money?

[Outshined_One]

@keithlaw I think he's a reliever based on delivery/command. RT @BrodyHalsey: @keithlaw - Is Maples worth anywhere near that kind of money?

 

His best comp?

 

Juan Pierre.

[Guest]

Joe Ross signed.

 

Sorry, Navin.

 

I thought Hedges would make it to UCLA. Can't believe the Padres gave him $3 million.

[Flames24Rulz]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/5973/cubs-sign-18-of-top-20-draft-picks

 

lol Levine.

[Guest]

That $10,883,950 figure for the Cubs draft spending does not include Daniel Lockhart, the Cubs 10th round pick, who did sign.

[Outshined_One]

Apparently Maples might have gotten the highest signing bonus of anyone outside the top two rounds.

 

If so, that's pretty damn impressive on the Cubs' part.

[TruffleShuffle]

Those numbers don't do a whole lot to impress me if they're spent entirely on your top couple picks. Obviously the Nationals stocked up, but going nuts on two guys for 5-7 million each is not exactly the "spending on the amateur draft is worth it" strategy that most people mean. Paying the exponentially rising prices for 1st and supplemental rounders isn't the same as grabbing a half dozen overslot guys and giving them each several hundred thousand over slot. That's what I love so much about the Cubs draft. They spread it out, and brought in upwards of 15 guys with some legitimate top 10 round talent despite having no extra picks.

 

meh, it's a little of both. go cheap on matt bush and get a guy who's a washout... go for the "tougher sign" in verlander and get a guy who will probably be worth $250 million during his career. i like that the cubs grabbed a bunch of top 10 round talents, but they gave first round money to three or four guys.

[Guest]

@keithlaw Writing it now. Focused on Jays, Bucs, Cubs so far. RT @mike254598: @keithlaw are you gonna do a insider post on the signings.

 

Chop to it, ESPN Insiders.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

I'm stunned that the Pirates signed Bell. He's going to be really good, maybe.

[TruffleShuffle]

just using the perfect game bonuses, vogelbach's rumored $1.6m bonus would be 5th for that round (behind $5m josh bell, $3m austin hedges, $2m dan norris, $1.85m dillon howard). zych would be one of the more expensive 4th round picks, and obviously a lot of the late round bonus babies will be among the most expensive players in their rounds.

[Rob]

The only huge surprise in this draft was that we got all these guys we were rumored to get. I kept expecting the rug to be pulled out from under...

 

Maybe these guys don't pan out... I mean, there isn't a player in the bunch without some warts. But the bottom line is that we just got a huge infusion of raw talent into a system sorely lacking it.

[Scotti]

nobody has provided one example of a deal between a rule 4 draftee and a mlb club that was rejected by the commissioner's office.

 

Just getting caught up on the thread... the answer is Jeff Samardzija. The Cubs and Samardzija agreed to a ten million dollar deal for his first contract. Selig canned that and the Cubs and Samardzija settled on an overslot deal with a "promise" from the Cubs to revisit the deal in the future (when the draft restrictions did not apply).

 

Since signings go through MLB before the press gets a hold of them there is really no telling how many signings get rebuffed. Some teams don't really need the Comish's help with anything so they bend the draft limit "rules" that MLB puts out. Some teams need a favor or two (Selig got the Mesa deal done for the Ricketts family) and this means that they are more likely to tow the line.

[Scotti]

Double post--Go Cubs!

[Rob]

nobody has provided one example of a deal between a rule 4 draftee and a mlb club that was rejected by the commissioner's office.

 

Just getting caught up on the thread... the answer is Jeff Samardzija. The Cubs and Samardzija agreed to a ten million dollar deal for his first contract. Selig canned that and the Cubs and Samardzija settled on an overslot deal with a "promise" from the Cubs to revisit the deal in the future (when the draft restrictions did not apply).

 

Since signings go through MLB before the press gets a hold of them there is really no telling how many signings get rebuffed. Some teams don't really need the Comish's help with anything so they bend the draft limit "rules" that MLB puts out. Some teams need a favor or two (Selig got the Mesa deal done for the Ricketts family) and this means that they are more likely to tow the line.

 

I could be wrong, but I think that was an actual contractual issue and not a "you're paying too much!" squash. Something about the payout structure not being allowed for minor league deals... which is why he ended up with a major league one the 2nd time around.

[Scotti]

yeah that's what i didn't understand about scotti's use of the term "balk", as well as the phrase "try to get an awful lot of signings through the Commish's office." that seems to imply that selig or whoever has the power to actually prevent these signings from occurring. i know they'll delay approval, but if everyone has agreed before the deadline then i'm pretty sure there's not a damn thing that the commissioner's office can do to stop them. as long as ricketts and hendry don't mind getting mean text messages from uncle bud, they can do whatever they want.

 

The Commish has broad powers (and by that I mean wide-ranging powers and not a supernatural ability to pick up chicks). He just took over an entire franchise against the owner's will. The "best interest of baseball" clause stretches pretty far.

[Scotti]

nobody has provided one example of a deal between a rule 4 draftee and a mlb club that was rejected by the commissioner's office.

 

Just getting caught up on the thread... the answer is Jeff Samardzija. The Cubs and Samardzija agreed to a ten million dollar deal for his first contract. Selig canned that and the Cubs and Samardzija settled on an overslot deal with a "promise" from the Cubs to revisit the deal in the future (when the draft restrictions did not apply).

 

Since signings go through MLB before the press gets a hold of them there is really no telling how many signings get rebuffed. Some teams don't really need the Comish's help with anything so they bend the draft limit "rules" that MLB puts out. Some teams need a favor or two (Selig got the Mesa deal done for the Ricketts family) and this means that they are more likely to tow the line.

 

I could be wrong, but I think that was an actual contractual issue and not a "you're paying too much!" squash. Something about the payout structure not being allowed for minor league deals... which is why he ended up with a major league one the 2nd time around.

 

The deal could have been a two sport deal without the need for a MLB deal. Regardless, they could have done a MLB deal from the start which is fairly common. The uncommon thing about the deal was a fifth rounder getting ten million.

[TruffleShuffle]

I could be wrong, but I think that was an actual contractual issue and not a "you're paying too much!" squash. Something about the payout structure not being allowed for minor league deals... which is why he ended up with a major league one the 2nd time around.

 

The deal could have been a two sport deal without the need for a MLB deal. Regardless, they could have done a MLB deal from the start which is fairly common. The uncommon thing about the deal was a fifth rounder getting ten million.

 

so you really think the cubs were trying to give him a $10m bonus straight up? i highly doubt that, considering that as far as i know, no team has given an amateur player an 8 figure bonus, and certainly not a 5th round draft pick.

[Scotti]

With the deadline being midnight tonight, tomorrow could be like baseball Christmas morning. Yeah, I'm a Jew, but baseball Channakah woulnd't make sense as you get your gifts at night, and more often than not, they all suck but 1 or 2. Hopefully it doesn't end up being baseball Channaka.

 

This is an awesome post...

[idakepps]

@keithlaw Writing it now. Focused on Jays, Bucs, Cubs so far. RT @mike254598: @keithlaw are you gonna do a insider post on the signings.

 

Chop to it, ESPN Insiders.

 

Yes, Keith Law writing something positive about the Cubs is something that needs to be highlighted. And possibly stickied.

[Scotti]

Two double posts in one night... I might lead the league in doubles. Edited August 16, 2011 by Scotti