Tagged: seattle mariners

Last entry for the night

A few notes before I call it a night (I’ll be back on tomorrow night right up until the deadline):

On the first round front:

  • There were reports the O’s were about to sign No. 4 overall pick Brian Matusz to a deal worth $3.1 million (plus a big-league deal). While I’ve learned it’s close, nothing is done and the figures being reported are not what’s being discussed currently.
  • Who knows what’s going on with Josh Fields and the Mariners — it’s amazing to consider (despite my earlier reported theory) that the college senior hasn’t signed. I’ve learned that the Mariners have offered something in the vicinity of a $1.5 million, which would slot in nicely at that spot.
  • There have been a lot of reports on the double-trouble of the Boras factor and an injury with Allan Dykstra, the No. 23 pick. At one point in time, the Padres have offered a $1.4 million bonus, though I’m not sure that’s still on the table.

One last later-round note. Tim Melville was expected to be a first-rounder heading into this past season, but some early subpar efforts and a college commitment led him to slide to the Royals in the fourth round. There’s nothing official to report here yet, but don’t be surprised to see Melville become a Royal tomorrow at some point.

The latest… for now

A couple of things I’m hearing…

The San Jose-Mercury News was reporting that No. 5 pick Buster Posey was on the cusp of signing a deal worth a reported $7.5 million. No confirmation as of yet — Giants are being tight-lipped — but if I find anything out to confirm this, I’ll pass it along.

Things are looking dicey with No. 7 pick Yonder Alonso and the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincy Enquirer talked to Alonso, and he said he’s not budging on his initial contract demainds — $7 million and a big-league contract. I’ve learned the Reds aren’t budging right now either from their “final” offer. Not sure exactly what that is, but one guess was that it was about $500,000 above slot for that position. No. 6 pick Kyle Skipworth got $2.3 million and No. 8 pick Gordon Beckham signed yesterday at $2.6 million. I’m no mathmetician, but that can’t be much more than $3 mil or so — not even close to Alonso’s asking price.

No. 9 pick Aaron Crow has signed with the indy-league Fort Worth Cats. The two sides seem far apart on this one.

The Mariners don’t have the same pressure to sign No. 20 pick Josh Fields that other teams do. Frankly, I didn’t realize this until recently, but because Fields is a senior, the Mariners actually have until next spring (before the next draft) to sign him. He can’t go back to school. One interesting theory is that Fields’ advisor Scott Boras is trying to drive up the price for Fields to make more money for his unsigned juniors (Alvarez and Dykstra now, others in the future). The idea is that if he can get more money for Fields, a senior, then using the threat of sending his junior clients back to school for their senior year has more credibility. Just a theory, but makes some sense, no?

More later on…