Draft and Low Minors Roundup: Pirates Still Talking to Alvarez

by Charlie Wilmoth on Jun 30, 2008 2:13 AM EDT

The Bucs are still in talks with Pedro Alvarez, which is no surprise--it isn't exactly unusual for Scott Boras clients to wait until the last possible second before signing. If the Pirates had signed Alvarez already, it probably would've been because they overpaid.

Fifth rounder Justin Wilson, one of the heroes in Fresno State's recent College World Series win, is talking to the Bucs too. In this article, incidentally, he comes off as a pretty classy guy:

"Basically, I just pounded the strike zone," Wilson said. "When you have a really good infield and outfield, like I was thankful to have this year, you just want to throw a lot of strikes down in the zone and make them hit it."

Meanwhile, 14th rounder Mike Colla has already signed, according to his college coach. From what I can tell, that's not official yet.

If you're not keeping track of who's signed and who isn't, WTM has you covered. Basically, few of the really high-upside guys the Pirates took later in the draft have signed yet, and neither have Alvarez or second-rounder Tanner Scheppers (who the Pirates will probably wait as long as possible with in any case, because of his injury), so as far as I'm concerned, the signing season hasn't even really gotten that interesting yet.

Nonetheless, a bunch of picks are already playing in the low minors, and a couple have been assigned fairly aggressively, or at least more aggressively than the previous administration would've. Third-rounder Jordy Mercer and ninth-rounder Matthew Hague are playing at Hickory, and Hague has two homers in his first 12 at bats there. (Which is nice, but he's almost 23 already, so that shouldn't be taken as a clear sign that he's loaded with upside.)

Meanwhile, Chase D'Arnaud (4th round), Jeremy Farrell (8th), David Rubenstein (11th) and Calvin Anderson (12th) and several pitchers are all a rung lower, at State College; Farrell and Anderson have started out strongly.

The most impressive hitter in the first few games of Bradenton's season has been 18th-rounder Jarek Cunningham, although Andury Acevedo (not a 2008 draftee) is also holding his own there at age 17. If we could see him next year in a full-season league at 18, that would be great.

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Don't forget Miguel Mendez

Apparently a 20 year old Domincan signee, he is hitting .545 with a 1.600 OPS so far as a catcher at Bradenton. It’s just been a few games, but wow, looks like he needs to be bumped up a level to be challenged.

by Dignan on Jun 30, 2008 4:33 AM EDT reply actions

High-upside signings

Basically, few of the really high-upside guys the Pirates took later in the draft have signed yet, and neither have Alvarez or second-rounder Tanner Scheppers (who the Pirates will probably wait as long as possible with in any case, because of his injury), so as far as I’m concerned, the signing season hasn’t even really gotten that interesting yet.

I’m getting quite concerned that outside of Alvarez and Scheppers there will be no high-upside signings from this draft. The latest talk out of the front office has indicated that they might not sign very many more players.

The whole reason most of us considered this draft a big step in the right direction was the quantity of high-upside picks made by the Bucs, but if they don’t sign any of them this draft turns out to be basically Alvarez and Scheppers. While Alvarez will most likely be a good player, Scheppers is no sure thing because of his injury (although in my mind no doubt worth the risk). Outside of that, the Bucs have signed mostly college players with little to no upside… sounds a lot like old business to me.

by Dignan on Jun 30, 2008 5:12 AM EDT reply actions

Fiscal prudence

It depends on what those high upside guys are asking. They may have decided they want to attend college which is a once in a lifetime social event. Most were considered 2nd or 3rd round talent and there is a reason they fell to later rounds. They may pick one and go 3rd round money but I do not expect more than one of Grossman,Gagnon ,Freeman,Miller or Z. Wilson to sign.

by buccoben on Jun 30, 2008 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Alvarez

I’ve read a few different times in Baseball America chats that MLB won’t allow teams to announce major league contracts before the Aug. 15 date. Presumably, the league doesn’t want above-slot signings or major league contracts to be used by other agents in negotiations. Now I’m not sure how the league can get away with this, but if that’s the case, we aren’t going to see Alvarez “signed” until the deadline date.

by mak_DC on Jun 30, 2008 9:04 AM EDT reply actions