Astros signed 8th rounder Brad Dydalewicz. Good sign. Throws 88-92 but could add more velocity since he's only 6'1 175lbs. A bit raw and profiles as a reliever right now because of his max effort delivery, but hopefully he can develop into a starter down the road.
Good move. Hopefully they still sign Chase Davidson, Ross Seaton, Chris Hicks, and Rodarrick Jones. I wished Ed Wade would have used that 3.5 million dollars the Astros used for the Randy Wolf trade to sign draft picks.
http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2008/07/if_you_love_the.html If you root for the Astros, I've got good news. Drayton McLane apparently has gotten the message. If we're going to criticize him for doing something dumb, we should also shower him with praise when he does something really smart. Slot price? What slot price? The Astros broke the bank this week by giving LHP Brad Dydalewicz $425,000. That's third-round money for an eighth-round draft choice and shatters the pricing guidelines from MLB. In previous years, the Astros had played the role of the good soldier and had even lost players because they were unwilling to anger Bud Selig. Signing the Lake Travis High School grad for big money is an indication that McLane understands the error of his ways. The vast majority of teams stick to the signing guidelines, and many of the mistakes the Astros have made in the draft are because of scouting mistakes and not sticking to an arbitrary slotting system. The problem with the slotting system is that if a few teams--Yankees, Red Sox, Angels--ignore it, then the draft becomes inequitable. The slotting system was supposed to be a way to help restore parity to the game. But if some teams ignore the guidelines, they're going to end up getting players perceived as wanting too much money. In the case of Dydalewicz, the Astros got an upper-round talent for an eighth-round pick because they were willing to spend a little more. That's how you build up your farm system. He was thought to be unsignable. That's terrific work by the scouting staff to do the homework and find a price he'd sign for. If you love the Astros, this is a day to celebrate.
Now we need to do the same with Seaton & Davidson and I will be happy. It will cost more then slot to sign them.
MLB and the NFL should move to the NBA-type structured rookie contracts. It's one of the best things in sports as far as salary management goes. In the NFL, more needs to be paid to bottom of first round picks and less to top picks. In MLB, its more difficult because there are so many rounds, but if they can come up with a system limited the salary ranges in each round, it would go a long way to making the Pirates and the KC's of the world competitive in the long-haul. Having teams be able to draft the best players instead of "best player I think I can sign" would be huge.
I guess it still goes back to the power of the MLB union, and how they will be stead-fast against any form of a salary cap... even if it is simply at the rookie level. The NFL union is pathetic, and the NBA does the best to collaborate with both sides (even though power still lies more with the owners/commisioner). I would actually be in favor of the low-revenue MLB teams, who get some good money in the revenue sharing/luxury tax payments, be forced to spend that money on draft picks. As it is now, some owners (Twins, Royals, Pirates) either pocket the money, or spend foolishly on veterans that they have no business spending big $$$ to. You will never stop the big teams from spending what it takes to sign their players, and as long as they are doing that, the High schoolers and college guys (who may never see another big pay-day if they don't pan out) will keep holding out for that sort of money.
Yeah - I agree. I think the only way to pull it off is make it salary-positive for the players. For example, if all the 1st rounders combined to make $10MM this year, give them $12MM, but have it at set rates. Players get more total money while owners get more control and a more fair draft. No idea if that MLBPA would go for it, but it's harder to argue against if the immediate crop of incoming players gets a 20% boost in income, and ultimately, that $2 MM is small in the grand scheme of things for the owners.
Brad Dydalewicz signed for $425,000 That bodes well for us because it shows that they're willing to go well above slot to sign Seaton and Davidson. Slot value for Dydalewicz was in the $100,000 range. Slot value for Seaton is around $310,000 as the 109th pick Slot value for Davidson is around $440,000 as the 88th pick I'm guessing Seaton wants $750k and Davidson wants at least $500k...just a guess
from Astros.com... [rquoter] Astros sign supplemental Draft pick Third-round right-hander Seaton to join Rookie League club HOUSTON -- With a little more than two weeks remaining before the deadline to sign Draft picks, the Astros agreed to a deal on Friday with right-hander Ross Seaton, their third-round supplemental pick from this year's First-Year Player Draft. Seaton, 18, a graduate of Second Baptist High School in Houston, will join the Astros Rookie League affiliate in Greeneville on Saturday. During his senior season this year, Seaton posted an 8-2 record with a 1.32 ERA and 120 strikeouts over 74 innings pitched, earning All-Area Code and Texas Area Scouts Association All-Star honors. A member of TAPPS 4-5A first team during the past three seasons and a two-time first-team all-state honoree, Seaton was ranked 28th on Baseball America's 2008 First-Year Player Draft rankings. "We are very fortunate as an organization to add a pitcher of Ross's character, ability and athleticism," Heck said. "We feel that all of these attributes will make him a successful Major League starting pitcher. While local area scout Rusty Pendergrass deserves most of the credit in this signing, the credit for this particular signing is shared by many." Seaton was one of 13 right-handed pitchers selected by the Astros in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. The Astros have now agreed to terms with 31 total players among the 52 selected in the two-day Draft, including 14 of the first 15. [/rquoter]
Not sure if he said that, but he slipped due to the fact that he was going to want 1st round money to sign since Seaton was considered a strong commit to Tulane. This is great news. I'm very happy to see the Astros signing a young player who has a high ceiling. Good move by Heck, Pendergrass, Wade and co.
The problem with any type of draft pay scale is that the draftee's have to so many options. Most of the drafted players don't sign agents that early. Many are high school players who still have an option to go to college, and most of the others are early-entrant players. The player can just choose to snub the mlb that drafted them and go back to school if they don't like their pick, and associated pay. Also baseball is different animal in that even once your drafted, you still have to prove yourself through the minors and get up to the majors which can take even for the best players a year or two. That lifestyle is not that great, the pay is not great, and nothing is guaranteed (well other than the signing bonus), as opposed to the NBA in which the contract is guaranteed, the players almost are always on the team, even if they go to the NBDL for a month or two, and they get some limelight earlier. Just because of how different the process of getting to the NBA and MLB are, I do think you can put a salary scale based on the pick used. To do so you would have to start making all kind of draft regulations such as restricting the players (like have to be 19 or grad. HS or whatever) that can be drafted, force the draftees to the choose to stay in the draft or not, etc, give teams the right to keep draft rights of a player even if snubs them for college or something...
According to Baseball America, Ross Seaton signed for $700,000. I was pretty close guessing he'd sign for $750k
according to the chron he also got a 200K + bonus for college tuition, so it makes the bonus more like 900+
yep. $700,000 signing bonus and $252,000 for tuition (im guessing he can only use it for tuition after he's done with baseball)
I hear a lot of good stuff about Seaton. Can a baseball guru in here tell me how high this guy's ceiling is? I'm more of a basketball guy. This stuff is over my head.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2008/reports.jsp?content=seaton http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/draft/2008/Rounds/round3_supplemental.asp Seaton has a good fastball and slider that is nasty. He projects as a starter, big kid with room to grow could become a power picher. All in all a great pick and signing. The above links should help out with some info on Seaton.
Prob gonna be allowed to go to school while playing baseball. You can go to college but the NCAA Clearinghouse will not clear you to play baseball if you have a binding contract.
