First Round Draft Pick Cole to pass on Yankee offer…

The hot rumor out of New York today comes from New York Times writer Tyler Kepner, who reported this morning that the Yankees first round pick Gerritt Cole will NOT sign with the Yankees and instead opt to attend UCLA in the fall.  Article found here:

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/first-round-pick-gerrit-cole-opts-for-college-over-yankees/ 

(PS…anyone want to be nice and teach me how to link a story without having to paste the whole url?)

This comes as surprsing news to anyone who follows the draft closely, as Cole was expected to have a high price tag, but if there was any team that would meet such pricetag, it was the Yankees. 

Many saw Cole as a top 10 talent, due to his mid to high 90’s fastball which scouts say has excellent movement.  However big talent always attracts the big sharks, and it was no surprise when it was announced that Scott Boras was Coles “advisor” (having an agent is against NCAA rules and can result in loss of eligibility), which only meant the price tag on Cole just raised about another 3 million dollars.  Still despite the Arod-Boras debacle in October, the Yankees took a chance by drafting Cole #28 overall since it still made sense for Cole to sign.  I say it made sense for Cole to sign for three reasons.  And they are:

1) If Cole opts to go to college, he would not be eligibile for the draft until after his Junior year, which would be the 2012 draft (there are loopholes to this, mostly depending on a players age).  2012 will seem like a decade to a young pitcher with potential to make millions, and you always run the risk of getting hurt in college or just being ineffective against better competition.  Not to mention most college programs (RICE!) don’t use pitch counts, and its normal for a pitcher to throw upwards of 130 pitches a game.

2) Early reports were the Yankees would be willing to give Cole up to 5-6 million dollars, which is a very lucrative signing bonus.  Even if Cole went back to school, pitched extremely well and re-entered the draft in 2012, he wouldn’t be making a whole lot more money than he could get right now, regardless of his draft position.  (Last year’s #1 pick David Price received 8.5 million guaranteed dollars from Tampa).  So is the risk of getting hurt over the next 3 years really worth 3-4 million dollars more? 

3) While this is a very small factor in his decision, Cole himself mentioned how he grew up a Yankee die-hard Yankee fan.  Also if getting a college degree was so important to him, I’m sure the yankees would have paid for him to attend classes in the fall, which is not uncommon for professional teams to do. 

So with those factors at play and Cole saying he was looking to sign with the Yankees, you had to figure a deal would get done.  However now according to Tyler Kepner, a source is saying the Cole family (mainly his dad) wants Gerritt to attend UCLA and get an education.  You can’t fault a kid for wanting to go to college, as I myself went to college and I would recommend it to anyone debating whether or not to attend.  However is getting an education Cole’s main objective, or could it be because of the rumor that the Yankees are relucatant to give Cole a $9 million dollar signing bonus AND a major league contract that he requested. 

Let’s forget for a second that a $9 million dollar signing bonus is unheard of for a kid coming out of highschool(or even a college prospect), but the thought of a major league contract for a 17 year old is even more ridiculous.  The Yankees gave their first round pick from last year Andrew Brackman a major league contract, but Brackman was also 3 years older and had pitched against higher competition (btw Brackman was also a Boras advisee).  If your wondering, a major league contract means you have to be placed on the team’s 40 man roster, which means another player near mlb ready needs to be bumped off and thus becomes available to be taken in the rule 5 draft (Confusing stuff I know). 

So basically the Yankees said no, and now Cole is saying he wants to go to college, and that no offer will change his mind.  If you ask me, Cole is full of sh*t.  This seems as if Boras is sticking it to the Yankees after the Arod smear campaign .  However why would Boras do this, especially since he wouldn’t receive any commission from Cole for at least 3 more years?  He has advised mainy HS prospects in the past to go to college, but usually it benefits them since their expected bonus would be far far lower than what Cole could get.  Reports now are that Cole’s father has taken control of the negotiations, thus the source stating his dad is the one that wants him to attend school. 

Or perhaps this is all a barginning ploy, and the Yankees and Boras(or Mr. Cole) will sit down at the 11th hour and hammer out a deal.  This is a big possibility, so don’t be shocked if he signs tonight.  Personally, as much as it would suck to lose a talent like Gerritt Cole, I’d pass if he insisted on a major league deal.  While Cole is a special talent, he’s not a once in a generation type of player.  His fastball is very impressive, and he has the potential to throw 2 plus breaking pitches.  But reports are his mechanics are sloppy (which are fixable I should add), which can lead to injury and that he’s very immature (according to Pete Abraham he blew off a conference call on draft day to go golfing).  And as much as we fawn over prospects, we have to remember that they are still prospects.  Cole is just coming out of HS and wouldn’t even reach the majors for another 3 years at the earliest.  A lot can go wrong in that time span, so it’s not like he is the second coming of Roger Clemens…okay bad example, lets just say Sandy Koufax.

If the yankees don’t sign him it wouldn’t be a total loss, as they would receive compensation in the form of another first round pick next season, which would be known as pick #28A.  Since it appears the Yankees will be making a run at either Sabathia, Sheets or Teixeira, all of whom will be Type A free agents, it would be nice if the Yankees could sign one and still have a pick in the first round.  I’ll keep you posted on the Cole situation, but if he sticks to his word and no deal is reached by midnight tonight, Cole will no longer be property of the New York Yankees.  And if so, may he break his arm in 5 places this fall (or at least have one of this ACNE anvil’s fall on Boras’s or Mr. Cole’s head if they’re behind this nonsense). 

- Oh and Cole isn’t the only Boras player who still hasn’t signed.  Of the first round players taken, 10 haven’t signed, and 5 of those players are represented by Boras.  In case you are wondering they are, Pedro Alvarez (Pittsburgh), Eric Hosmer (KC), Josh Fields (Seattle) & Allan Dykstra (SD).  The non Boras clients who have yet to sign are Brian Matsuz (Baltimore), Buster Posey (San Fran), Yonder Alonso (Reds) & Aaron Crow (Washington).  Alvarez and Matsuz apparently want major league deals, while Posey is expected to sign today and Dykstra has a hip condition that concerns that Padres.  Fields is a senior so he doesn’t have to sign by today’s deadline, and Alonso and Crow are seeking large cash amounts and may not sign at all according to reports.

In other Yankee related news:

- Hey it’s not all bad news for the Yankees.  In the light of the team losing its first round pick and the potential run of 13 straight seasons with a playoff berth ending, the Yankees are apparently close to signing their supplemental 1st round pick Jeremy Bleich (whose also advised by Boras!).  Bleich is a lefty out of USC, and while he doesn’t have overpowering stuff, he has showed he can succeed against wood bats, which he did in the Cape Cod league last year.  It’s expected Jeremy will receive a 7 figure bonus. 

- (Final bit on the draft, I promise)….If you are looking for a sleeper from this years draft, take a peak at Brett Marshall who was taken in the 6th round out of Sterling HS in Baytown, Texas.  The Yankees wooed him a few months back by giving him a locker between Posada and Pettitte while they were down in Texas for the Houston series.  Marshall slipped because many thought he’d be a tough sign, and because scouts were concerned about his velocity dropping while a senior in HS.  However according to the Yankees, his velocity returned to normal (mid 90’s) while they worked him out this summer, and now that he has signed a big deal with the Yankees, he will be on his road to the show.  I look forward to following his progress in the next few years.

- Finally I was going to talk about some players in the Yankee farm system who were having big years, but I think I’ll save that for another time.  Instead of I want to comment on the other big story in NY, which is the split of radio personalities Mike and the Maddog.  If you are from Canada or out west, you’re probably reading this and saying “who”? Well I’ve mentioned them in my column before, and while I think they can be obnoxious and misinformed at times (especially Mike and his Joba to the pen crap), they arguably revolutionized talk radio and will be missed.  I grew up listening to them, and they were always there to cover the big story and get the inside scoop.  Also their interivew’s were always top notch, as they never feared angering a player or coach with a tough question.  And although they talked too much NBA and avoided Hockey like it was the plaque, they were always entertaining when it came to football and baseball talk.  So while Mike will remain on WFAN for now, alone, Maddog will reportedly take $3 million!!! dollars and run off to join Howard Stern on Sirus radio.  So I say, so long fatso and fruitloops(a nickname by many in the blogger community, and i won’t listen to Mike if he’s alone) you’ll be missed.  PS to WFAN management, please don’t promote Craig Carton!!!!

Okay that’s it for me today, I’ll keep you updated on the draft situation this weekend on how it all plays out.  Should be an interesting 11th hour tonight for many teams in baseball.  Thoughts and Comments can be sent to jvg019@yahoo.com.  Peace.

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