Ah, you can hear the signing deadline roaring along. The Pirates have until 5 PM Friday to sign the draft pick that dropped in their laps, RHP Mark Appel of Stanford. Fasten your seat belts for 96 hours of prime-time drama.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that he's leaning against signing. Jim Callis of Baseball America added that the Bucs have $3.87M to offer without forfeiting their first round pick, which we can almost assuredly vouch that they won't, and that Appel is up in the air over the offer. Keith Law of ESPN confirms that the Pirates will not give up their 2013 first-rounder.
OK, so the first tweet was cyberbombed by Heyman, who has a long association with Boras (just google Jon Heyman Scott Boras for examples). Scott should be working hard for his client; he advised him to go for big bucks that no one was willing to pay him, and that's the reason he fell to Pittsburgh in the eighth round.
But for once, all the chips are piled up in front of the Pirate FO. Mike Sanserino of the Post Gazette thinks that the Appel guys are boo-hooing because the Bucs had the audacity to sign their other picks and not save enough pool money to pour into Appel's pocket.
Tough beans, Mark. You're not their only pick, and the guys that signed are playing ball and beginning their journey. Barrett Barnett, Wyatt Mathison, Jacob Stallings and the others are at State College or GCL Bradenton now, and they all seem to realize something that
Appel doesn't - the big money is in your MLB contract, not your draft
bonus. And he's threatening to set back his big league arrival a year by not signing.
The only leverage that he holds is that Pittsburgh may want to ink him as a fallback if they decide to trade Jameson Taillon, and they can work their way around that.
Additionally, if Appel decides to risk another season with the Cardinal, Pittsburgh gets the ninth pick in the 2013 draft to compensate per the new CBA. And Appel is taking a risk; he may be lights out as a senior, or he may underperform or get hurt, the bane of all pitchers. He will have to pitch well next year. To guarantee a bigger payday, Appel will need to be a top four pick as this year's slot was $3.5M in the fifth round. As a ploy, holding out really doesn't do much to enhance your future draft position, particularly as a college senior.
So the posing by Boras is really just that, an artifice to try to create leverage where there is none. Make no mistake that Mark Appel would be a nice addition to the system. But with the CBA as is, he'll have to take the sure $3.8M now or roll the dice for a bigger payday in 2013.
Showing posts with label mark appel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mark appel. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Appel Of Their Eye
OK, everybody's happy that RHP Mark Appel fell to the Bucs; they're equally bummed that Scott Boras is his advisor. A very nondescript post-draft statement fired up the fan base, but hey - the kid just watched a few million smackeroos vanish by dropping from da man to the eight spot, is still pitching in the College World Series super-regionals, and has his own class finals at Stanford to worry about, so we wouldn't read much into that.
Scott Boras is in it for his client, not the Pirate cause, and that doesn't make him evil incarnate. While he's created more than his share of smoke during negotiations, a fire has never erupted. His high profile guys - Pedro Alvarez, Gerritt Cole and Josh Bell - all signed, becoming well compensated young 'uns in the process.
This year, he may have to resort to magic to wring much blood from the Bucco cash vein. First, the Pittsburgh selections from one through six are all legit players and several should cash in pretty close to slot, we'd imagine. Then they backtracked and filled in with signable guys to free up a little play money in the top ten draft pool.
There are two reasons for that: to build up some bonus bucks for the elite selections, and to leave some cash to wave in front of the kids that were overdrafted, like high school pitcher Walker Buehler, who was taken in the fourteenth round but won't give up college for $100K.
We'd be very surprised if the Pirates didn't announce a rash of signings soon. It's to their benefit to get the kids inked and playing, and also gives them an idea of much of the pool money can be shifted to other guys.
For example, Houston signed the number one pick of the draft, prep SS Carlos Correa, for $4.8M, well under the $7.2 slot, allowing them lots of wiggle room to ink their other guys.
The Royals signed their first rounder Kyle Zimmer, taken number five, for $3M. The suggested MLB slot was $3.5M, so they have a half mil to use for other guys (in fairness, they struck a midpoint - from 2009-11, the average fifth round pick was signed for $2.5M, as Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus/ESPN noted). But that number will serve as a brake for Appel's bargaining power.
And the truth be told, he doesn't really have all that much leverage. Oh, Boras will drag out the talks, but in the long run, that may hurt him if the Pirates decide to sign later picks to above-slot bonuses. Appel is between a rock and a hard place. As a junior, he can not sign and go into next year's draft, but it's stronger on paper now than this season's, so that's a roll of the dice he may not care to make.
To make things a little more tilted, Appel isn't considered ace material like Cole and Jameson Taillon were. He's thought of as an excellent pitcher, of course, but more of a two-three arm in a MLB rotation. And if he forgoes the Pirates, the team will get a ninth round pick to compensate for his loss next year, which may result in a better player in a deeper draft down the road.
Even Boras knows his leverage is pretty minimal, calling the new system "a mockery" in USA Today. Our guess is that Appel will wait until the July 13th and ink a contract between $3-$3.25M, maybe a little higher with a sweetener added if he signs sooner as opposed to later.This is one case that we think reaching a deal quickly will pay off rather than the ol' line-in-the-sand drag out.
The only joker in the deck is Scott Boras. The master of the loophole will probe for any weakness in the system that he thinks may benefit his client. But this time around, it looks like the deck may be stacked against him.
Scott Boras is in it for his client, not the Pirate cause, and that doesn't make him evil incarnate. While he's created more than his share of smoke during negotiations, a fire has never erupted. His high profile guys - Pedro Alvarez, Gerritt Cole and Josh Bell - all signed, becoming well compensated young 'uns in the process.
This year, he may have to resort to magic to wring much blood from the Bucco cash vein. First, the Pittsburgh selections from one through six are all legit players and several should cash in pretty close to slot, we'd imagine. Then they backtracked and filled in with signable guys to free up a little play money in the top ten draft pool.
There are two reasons for that: to build up some bonus bucks for the elite selections, and to leave some cash to wave in front of the kids that were overdrafted, like high school pitcher Walker Buehler, who was taken in the fourteenth round but won't give up college for $100K.
We'd be very surprised if the Pirates didn't announce a rash of signings soon. It's to their benefit to get the kids inked and playing, and also gives them an idea of much of the pool money can be shifted to other guys.
For example, Houston signed the number one pick of the draft, prep SS Carlos Correa, for $4.8M, well under the $7.2 slot, allowing them lots of wiggle room to ink their other guys.
The Royals signed their first rounder Kyle Zimmer, taken number five, for $3M. The suggested MLB slot was $3.5M, so they have a half mil to use for other guys (in fairness, they struck a midpoint - from 2009-11, the average fifth round pick was signed for $2.5M, as Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus/ESPN noted). But that number will serve as a brake for Appel's bargaining power.
And the truth be told, he doesn't really have all that much leverage. Oh, Boras will drag out the talks, but in the long run, that may hurt him if the Pirates decide to sign later picks to above-slot bonuses. Appel is between a rock and a hard place. As a junior, he can not sign and go into next year's draft, but it's stronger on paper now than this season's, so that's a roll of the dice he may not care to make.
To make things a little more tilted, Appel isn't considered ace material like Cole and Jameson Taillon were. He's thought of as an excellent pitcher, of course, but more of a two-three arm in a MLB rotation. And if he forgoes the Pirates, the team will get a ninth round pick to compensate for his loss next year, which may result in a better player in a deeper draft down the road.
Even Boras knows his leverage is pretty minimal, calling the new system "a mockery" in USA Today. Our guess is that Appel will wait until the July 13th and ink a contract between $3-$3.25M, maybe a little higher with a sweetener added if he signs sooner as opposed to later.This is one case that we think reaching a deal quickly will pay off rather than the ol' line-in-the-sand drag out.
The only joker in the deck is Scott Boras. The master of the loophole will probe for any weakness in the system that he thinks may benefit his client. But this time around, it looks like the deck may be stacked against him.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Appel Falls To Pirates
Well, the Bucs took a beating in the early moments of the draft. The first three picks were position players - SS Carlos Correa, OF Byron Buxton and C Mike Zunino - taking them off the board. The next four were Ps Kyle Zimmer, Kevin Gausman and Mark Fried, along with OF Albert Almora. They were hoping at least one of them would fall into their laps, and were ready to take HS OF'er David Dahl if not, according to the draft mavens.
The Pirate FO played it well, though. The predicted number #1 pick Mark Appel fell to Pittsburgh. He is a Scott Boras client, and the suspicion was with the new CBA, he had some signability issues. And we all know how well Boras and the Bucco brass play together. But they stuck to their guns and took the best player on the board, netting a top four pick at the eight spot .
The downside, of course, is that they almost assuredly have to take guys in the top ten that they can sign on the cheap to stay within their pool limit of $6,563,500, and that puts quite a damper on draft depth. Remember, it took $8M to ink Cole and $6.5 to get Taillon's signature, and you can bet Boras will use one of those deals as his opening salvo, cap or not.
So it could get ugly as the July 13th contract deadline approaches. Appel wouldn't join a media conference call after the selection, maybe bummed at his later-than-expected pick, maybe on Boras' advice, maybe both and more were in play. But he's not the only one that didn't jump on the horn, so we'll see if that's an omen or not.
He did release a short statement with Boras' fingerprints all over it: "I'm currently concentrating on winning a national championship and finishing my academic endeavors at Stanford. I will address the possibility of a professional career in due time.''
We don't think the Pirates will go over budget by much (<5% over is just a financial penalty); they pretty much settle on a value and don't move off it. In Appel's case, we'd guess $4M, more or less, will be their top offer. If you're wondering, they'd get a #9 pick next year if he doesn't sign, but lose the first round allotment of $2.9M from their draft pool, reducing it to $3,663,500 for their remaining 2012 top ten picks.
The upside if they get him signed - oh, baby: Appel joins Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon as top-enders in the system, with J-Mick already aboard and a slew of supporting guys in the high minors. That's potentially some kinda pitching.
Appel, 21, is a RHP from Stanford. The 6′ 4″ hurler has a plus heater that sits in the 92-95 MPH range, and throws a slider and a changeup which are not plus pitches yet. This year Appel is 10-1 at college, with a 2.27 ERA and 127 Ks in 119 IP. Stanford is still in the NCAA playoffs, so he may be on TV this weekend for you to eyeball.
While not quite as dominating, in many ways he is comparable to Cole. Appel sets up off his fastball, and will stay up in the zone, making him hittable at times (although he had an excellent 1.02 WHIP this season for the Cardinal). So the Pirate staff will drill him on driving the ball down, a pretty common tweak for young pitchers. Scouting reports say he has an easy and repeatable motion, so that will help the learning curve, and his height should provide the perfect platform for a downward delivery angle.
Hey, it's a gamble, mainly because of the CBA's cap. But one thing the FO has shown is no fear of rolling the dice on players in the draft, and this is one double-down worth risking.
Pittsburgh will have another selection at 45, the comp pick for Ryan Doumit, and then will be off the board for the remainder of the night. The club will pick it up again tomorrow in the second round with the 9th pick (#69 overall).
The Pirate FO played it well, though. The predicted number #1 pick Mark Appel fell to Pittsburgh. He is a Scott Boras client, and the suspicion was with the new CBA, he had some signability issues. And we all know how well Boras and the Bucco brass play together. But they stuck to their guns and took the best player on the board, netting a top four pick at the eight spot .
The downside, of course, is that they almost assuredly have to take guys in the top ten that they can sign on the cheap to stay within their pool limit of $6,563,500, and that puts quite a damper on draft depth. Remember, it took $8M to ink Cole and $6.5 to get Taillon's signature, and you can bet Boras will use one of those deals as his opening salvo, cap or not.
So it could get ugly as the July 13th contract deadline approaches. Appel wouldn't join a media conference call after the selection, maybe bummed at his later-than-expected pick, maybe on Boras' advice, maybe both and more were in play. But he's not the only one that didn't jump on the horn, so we'll see if that's an omen or not.
He did release a short statement with Boras' fingerprints all over it: "I'm currently concentrating on winning a national championship and finishing my academic endeavors at Stanford. I will address the possibility of a professional career in due time.''
We don't think the Pirates will go over budget by much (<5% over is just a financial penalty); they pretty much settle on a value and don't move off it. In Appel's case, we'd guess $4M, more or less, will be their top offer. If you're wondering, they'd get a #9 pick next year if he doesn't sign, but lose the first round allotment of $2.9M from their draft pool, reducing it to $3,663,500 for their remaining 2012 top ten picks.
The upside if they get him signed - oh, baby: Appel joins Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon as top-enders in the system, with J-Mick already aboard and a slew of supporting guys in the high minors. That's potentially some kinda pitching.
Appel, 21, is a RHP from Stanford. The 6′ 4″ hurler has a plus heater that sits in the 92-95 MPH range, and throws a slider and a changeup which are not plus pitches yet. This year Appel is 10-1 at college, with a 2.27 ERA and 127 Ks in 119 IP. Stanford is still in the NCAA playoffs, so he may be on TV this weekend for you to eyeball.
While not quite as dominating, in many ways he is comparable to Cole. Appel sets up off his fastball, and will stay up in the zone, making him hittable at times (although he had an excellent 1.02 WHIP this season for the Cardinal). So the Pirate staff will drill him on driving the ball down, a pretty common tweak for young pitchers. Scouting reports say he has an easy and repeatable motion, so that will help the learning curve, and his height should provide the perfect platform for a downward delivery angle.
Hey, it's a gamble, mainly because of the CBA's cap. But one thing the FO has shown is no fear of rolling the dice on players in the draft, and this is one double-down worth risking.
Pittsburgh will have another selection at 45, the comp pick for Ryan Doumit, and then will be off the board for the remainder of the night. The club will pick it up again tomorrow in the second round with the 9th pick (#69 overall).
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