This is more of an oxymoron since there is nothing to report other than stalemates. In a baseball environment which allows the top college athletes a chance to ascend the minor league ladder much more quickly (10-12 months, after the first half season) we see more hold outs than signings. The minor league season essentially ends at the end of August. The signing deadline for not signing first year draft players is August 15th at noon. Many of the first round players are waiting to sign that contract, and that negotiations may not even start until the 14th. That means that any player not signed by now will miss the first half season of his career. In my mind it’s a huge step backwards. What is also appalling is the amount of players who are requesting major league contracts. They do this because they want their arbitration years to end earlier in their careers.
Here is a list of the players in the top 10 in the 1st round who have not signed:
- 2 – Pedro Alverez – Pirates – He has no intentions of going back to Vandy, but he and the Pirates remain 2 million dollars apart and he wants a MLB contract. Conversely Tim Beckham (the number 1 overall pick) got 6.1million, but no MLB contract.
- 3. Eric Hosmer – Royals – KC hasn’t begun talks with him yet, but that is expected to change this week. He is by far and away the most advanced high school hitter in this draft. He has a scholarship at ASU, but truth be told, he will never be as high a pick as he was in this draft and he knows it. Expect him to sign soon.
- 4. Brian Matusz – Orioles – No news at all about him, like Hosmer, he’ll never be selected this high again, so it makes no sense not to sign.
- 5. Buster Posey – Giants – He has moved out of Florida State, he has no intentions of going back. He will sign, once the dollars are right.
- 7. Yonder Alonso – Reds – Reds brass are very positive that he will be signed soon.
- 8. Gordon Beckham – White Sox – No news, but he doesn’t have eligibility left so he has to sign or head off the to the Northwest Independant League.
- 9. Aaron Crow – Nationals – Very slow negotiations, but he should sign soon.
So hold on to your hats folks, there are going to be a bevy of signings in the next 2 weeks, it should be fun. By the way, most of these guys are represented by Scott Boras. Is he not a pox on baseball? I am so sick of hearing his name associated with any negotiations.
