Baron Being Difficult?
by Jon ~ June 15th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Seattle selected Stephen Baron, a high school catcher and defense extraordinaire, with the 33rd overall pick in the draft. It was a multi-round reach and supposed to be a money saving signibility pick, and we had heard for a couple weeks that there was a pre-draft deal in place. Since we knew about said deal it wasn’t a huge shock to hear Baron’s name called at 33, even after the Mariners went cheap at 27.
Shortly after the draft it was reported that Baron still wanted to play for Duke, who upped their scholarship to 90%. Baron said he wanted $1.3M to play with the Mariners, and that he’ll be willing to negotiate all the way to the August 17th deadline. $1.3M is only a couple hundred thousand less than what a legitimate first rounder like Rex Brothers may be asking for, and upwards of half a million more than what Seattle planned on paying him.
What pre-draft agreement?
Keith Law, via Twitter:
Second time I’ve heard in four days that Stephen Baron has backed out of his predraft deal with the Mariners.
Backing out of a handshake agreement like that shows a lack of integrity, but I don’t really blame him for wanting to take advantage of a near full scholarship to a university as great as Duke, especially if he knows his bat may not develop enough to make big money as a pro ballplayer.
Baron is not worth slot at number 33, which is approximately what $1.3M is. He’s barely worth the middle ground of about $1M. Could be an interesting couple of weeks as our signibility pick becomes a tough sign.
There is a bright side to all of this. If he doesn’t sign then the Mariners will get the 34th pick in 2010, and maybe they’ll use it to take the best player available. (Edit: I was just reminded that since the M’s would have to sign next year’s pick, they would probably go signibility again. That could still be a better player than Baron.)
Stay tuned.
7 Responses to Baron Being Difficult?
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chris d
June 15th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Jon, I am quite pleased that Mr Baron is choosing to go this route since I thought this was a poor move on M’s part. And now we can get a better prospect next draft and have more money available, hopefully.
So good riddens to you, Mr Baron.
section331
June 15th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Wait, so if he doesn’t sign, do we get another choice, or are we going to have to deal with some kid jerking us around? Or do we have to wait until next draft?
jimmylauderdale
June 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Unfortunately, because Baron was drafted with a compensation pick himself if the Mariners do not sign him they will get no compensation in return. It will be a lost pick. This is looking to be a monumental failure on Tony McNamara’s part.
Jon Shields
June 15th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Not true. Teams will get compensated if they fail to sign their picks through round 2. If the M’s whiff on Baron they’ll get #34 next year.
Rob T.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
The Pirates drafted Tanner Scheppers with the 48th pick last year. This year they got the 49th pick for not signing him.
jimmylauderdale
June 16th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Hmmm… For some reason I thought the supplemental picks between round one and two did not count for compensation. I hope I am wrong. Regardless, this is a pretty big mistake.
Jon Shields
June 16th, 2009 at 11:47 am
If Baron doesn’t sign and Seattle failed to sign the 2010 #34 pick they receive as compensation, then they will get nothing for 2011. You can only get compensated once, which is why the Nationals picked an easy sign in Drew Storen with their makeup pick for drafting and not signing Aaron Crow in 2008. That may be what is confusing you.