http://collegebaseball360.com/college-players-sign-contracts-before-mlb-deadline/ http://collegebaseball360.com/college-players-sign-contracts-before-mlb-deadline/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:53:58 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=12930

www.simplesharebuttons.com

#1 Pick Harper Heads List Of Signees…

It came right down to the wire, but number one overall MLB draft pick Bryce Harper signed his first professional contract with the Washington Nationals just before the deadline late Monday night.  The 17-year-old junior college player inked a five year contract worth a reported $9.9 million, including a $6.25 million signing bonus.

Bryce Harper

Harper’s deal was inked just seconds before the 12:01 am E.T. deadline early Tuesday morning.  Like Harper, last year’s top pick, Stephen Strasburg, is also represented by Scott Boras. Like Harper, Strasburg’s negotiations with the Nationals went down to the wire.

Harper is expected to be introduced to the Washington D.C. media next week during the Nationals’ next homestand. He will begin his career in the Gulf Coast League and then play in the fall Instructional League.

Seven other college players who were taken in the first round of June’s draft also inked deadline deals.  The highest of those pick is former Ole Miss pitcher Drew Pomeranz.  The lefty was taken with the #5 pick and signed with the Cleveland Indians for $2.65 million.

Other college first round signees (with their corresponding draft order) include:

7. Matt Harvey-RHP-North Carolina/New York Mets – $2.525 million signing bonus

11. Deck McGuire-RHP-Georgia Tech/Toronto Blue Jays – $2 million signing bonus

12. Yasmani Grandal-C-Miami (FL)/Cincinnati Reds – $2.99 million four-year contract

24. Gary Brown-OF-Cal State Fullerton/San Francisco Giants – $1.45 million signing bonus

25. Zack Cox-3B-Arkansas/St. Louis Cardinals – $2.99 million four-year contract

26. Kyle Parker-OF-Clemson/Colorado Rockies – $1.4 million bonus

CLICK HERE to continue reading about the college player drafted in the first round who didn’t sign as well as Kyle Parker’s unique contract.

www.simplesharebuttons.com

]]> http://collegebaseball360.com/college-players-sign-contracts-before-mlb-deadline/feed/ 0

Nine College Players Among Unsigned First Rounders…

The countdown is on for big league teams to sign players who were selected in the 2010 MLB Draft. With the deadline Monday night at midnight E.T. (officially 12:01 am Tuesday, August 17), 17 first round draft picks remain unsigned. Nine of those 17 are college baseball players.

Overall #1 draft pick Bryce Harper

Number one overall pick, Bryce Harper, played just a year at the College of Southern Nevada. The 17-year-old phenom got his GED so he could skip his senior year of high school to begin his march toward the professional ranks. He hit ,442 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs while leading Coyotes to the Junior College World Series. He also received the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player.

The Washington Nationals took Harper with the top pick in this year’s draft, just as they did with former San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg last year. Like Strasburg, Harper is a client of mega agent Scott Boras, who is known as a tough negotiator. Harper also still has three years of college eligibility remaining, which gives him plenty of bargaining leverage.

Interestingly, Harper’s junior college coach, Tim Chambers, has already left Southern Nevada to become the head coach at UNLV.

Most of the other eight unsigned first round college players are juniors, which gives them negotiating leverage as well.  Zack Cox of Arkansas is one of the exceptions. He is a draft eligible sophomore because he is already 21 years old.  Cox was taken by St. Louis with the 25th overall pick in June.

Here’s a look at other unsigned first round college players with their corresponding draft order:

5. Drew Pomeranz-LHP-Ole Miss./Cleveland Indians

6. Barret Loux-RHP-Texas A&M/Arizona Diamondbacks

7. Matt Harvey-RHP-North Carolina/New York Mets

11. Deck McGuire-RHP-Georgia Tech/Toronto Blue Jays

12. Yasmani Grandal-C-Miami (FL)/Cincinnati Reds

24. Gary Brown-OF-Cal State Fullerton/San Francisco Giants

26. Kyle Parker-OF-Clemson/Colorado Rockies

Parker is a bit of a wild card, because he plays both football and baseball at Clemson. This past year he became the first player in Division One history to throw 20 touchdown passes and hit at least 20 home runs in the same academic year. He has three years of eligibility remaining on the football team, but just one season remaining with the baseball team.

Parker’s self-imposed deadline for the Rockies to sign him passed last month, but there is always the chance he could sign with Colorado before the deadline, continue to play football for the Tigers and then play minor league baseball next spring and summer.

ASU Faces Clemson/Alabama Winner At CWS

Drew Maggi sent ASU back to Omaha with his 12th inning two run HR.

of the 9th.

By clicking the “Tempe Super Regional” link above this page will expand to fully support the table below.

CLICK HERE for our Super Regional Central page where you will find links to other Super Regionals.

Arizona St. Super Regional Media Guide

Best two of three series (all times Eastern)

Gm 1  Saturday - FINAL: Arizona State 7,  Arkansas 6 (12 inn.)  |  Final Stats
ASU Recap | ARK Recap

Gm 2  Sunday – FINAL:  Arizona State 7,  Arkansas 5 (12 inn.) |  Final Stats
ASU Recap | ARK Recap

* ASU wins series (2-0)

The Skinny

This Super Regional pits two teams that both advanced to last year’s College World Series.  They also played against each other in Fayetteville during the 2009 regular season with Arkansas ranked #1 in one national poll and Arizona State ranked #1 in another poll.

Arizona State: (#1 National Seed) The Sun Devils are the overall #1 national seed in this year’s tournament.  Tim Esmay is in his first year as the Sun Devil’s head coach, but he is no stranger to Omaha.  He played in the CWS twice at ASU and he was an assistant coach on four of Pat Murphy’s Omaha teams.

Esmay is 50-8 in his first season at the helm, and what’s probably the most impressive is the fact that he’s done it without two pitchers who led last year’s Pac 10 champs to Omaha.  Josh Spence (10-1, 2.37 ERA last yr.) returned to ASU after being drafted, but he’s missed the entire season due to injury, while Mike Leake (16-1, 1.71 ERA in ’09) is 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA in 11 starts this year for the Cincinnati Reds.  Starters Merrill Kelly, Jake Borup and Seth Blair have combined to go 33-3 this season, while Jordan Swaggerty (2.05 ERA, 14 SVs) slams the door at the end.  The 3.10 team ERA ranks third nationally.

Arizona State’s line-up is filled with tough outs.  Seven different players who have started at least 33 games are batting .325 or better this year, and three different players lead the team in the triple crown categories.  Riccio Torrez is batting .404, Zack McPhee leads the team with 63 RBIs and Kole Calhoun has a team best 16 HR.  McPhee also leads the nation with 14 triples.  The athletic Sun Devils have also stolen 130 bases this season and the team’s .975 fielding % is 11th.

Arkansas: Dave Van Horn’s Razorbacks limped toward this year’s NCAA Tournament by winning just two of its last five SEC series and then going 0-2 at the conference tournament.  The late season slump cost the Hogs any shot they had at being a national seed.  However, like last year, Arkansas was 3-0 in Regional play.  Only this year they got to host rather than go on the road.

Third baseman Zack Cox (.427, 9 HR, 48 RBIs) is considered one of the best pure hitters in the nation.  Brett Eibner (.337, 21 HR, 69 RBIs) is the team’s top run producers.  He made 11 starts on the mound this season, but his only outing at last week’s Regional was one inning in relief.

Sophomore Drew Smyly (9-1, 2.56) has both of the pitching staff’s complete games this season.  T.J. Forrest (8-0, 3.10 ERA) started two Regional games, and picked-up his 8th win in the title game vs. Washington State.

Tempe Super Regional

More From Chase Titleman at our partner site Road2rosenblatt.com

The Sun Devils Win If?

The Sun Devils will need to ignore their past transgressions as this is the best program in the country (kind of like Vanderbilt in the SEC) that has not won a national title recently.

If the Devils continue to play as they have all season, under the calm collective influence of Esmay and staff, they have more than a snowballs chance.

Lurking in the shadows of the Sun Devil mindset, however, is the fact that Washington State gave the Sun Devils their only series loss of the season, and Arkansas just defeated the Cougars last weekend from the field of 64.

Other common opponents between the two include California, which the Devils swept, while the Hogs took two-of-three in Berkeley in the early spring.

Arizona State is loaded with talent and depth, and I would really be surprised if they botch this series, but it has happened to the Sun Devils before, losing to Oregon State in Omaha in both 2006 & 2007, and losing in a home super-regional match-up with the Wonderdogs of Fresno State in 2008.

Like Casey said, “the best teams don’t always win the title.”

Should be an entertaining series with both teams having a host of players drafted in the 2010 MLB Draft.

The Razorbacks Win If?

Zach Cox will play a pivotal role in this series, but he limped off the field on the final day of the Fayetteville Regional and his health is in doubt for the game on Saturday.

Drew Smyly will have to perform his magic in Game #1, as this is a must win for the Hogs, and they must get into the bullpen and the psyche of the Sun Devils.

This has been a hard thing to do as the Sun Devil Regional was the 10th weekend sweep for the Sun Devils this year, 11 if you count the Coca-Cola Classic.

ASU is number one for a reason.

Arkansas will need to score runs in bunches to win this series as they don’t have the pitching to match up with one of the deepest bullpens in the country.

Smyly, however, does have the stuff needed to get the Hogs off to a fast start.

The question becomes, should the Hogs hold Smyly back from Game #1 and try to work backwards in their pitching match-ups, or should they come right out and attack ASU head-to-head?

This would be a gutsy move by Arkansas skipper Dave Van Horn, who is no stranger to the College World Series, being one of a small number of coaches that have taken two schools (Nebraska & Arkansas) to the greatest show on dirt.

Here’s a look at the official Division One NCAA baseball statistics leaders in selected categories.  Stats are through games played on 5/9/10.

Kevin Tokarski

BATTING AVERAGE

Minimum 3.0 Plate Appearances Per Game &  Minimum 120 Plate Appearances

1. Kevin Tokarski-Illinois St.  .469

2. Effrey Valdez-New York Tech  .453

2. Gary Brown-Cal St. Fullerton  .453

4. Joe Leonard-Pittsburgh  .452

4. Tom Clayton-Youngston St.  .452

6. Paul Hoilman-East Tennessee St.  .448

6. Sean Allaire-Central Connecticut St.  .448

8. Anthony Gomez-Vanderbilt  .447

9. Zack Cox-Arkansas  .446

9. Phil Cerreto-Longwood  .446

Jordan Ribera

HOME RUNS

1. Jordan Ribera-Fresno St.  23

2. Dan Paolini-Siena  22

3. Alex Dickerson-Indiana  20

4. Paul Hoilman-East Tennessee St.  19

A.J. Kirby-Jones-Tennessee Tech  19

Peter O’Brien-Bethune-Cookman  19

Jacob Tanis-Mercer  19

Phil Wunderluck-Louisville  19

9. Pat Biserta-Rutgers  18

9. Wes Cunningham-Murray St. 18

Kevin Tokarski

ON-BASE PERCENTAGE

1. Kevin Tokarski-Illinois St.  .583

2. Michael Choice-UT Arlington  .581

3. Nate Roberts-High Point  .576

4. Taylor Dugas-Alabama  .559

5. Kyle Roller-East Carolina  .554

6. Effrey Valdez-New York Tech  .551

7. Yasmani Grandal-Miami (FL)  .545

8. Paul Hoilman-East Tennessee St.  .540

8. J.D. Ashbrook-Morehead St.  .540

10. A.J. Kirby-Jones-Tennessee Tech  .538

Jacob Tanis

RBIs

1. Jacob Tanis-Mercer  73

2. Wes Cunningham-Murray St.  72

3. Steve McQuail-Canisius  71

4. Mac Doyle-Mercer  70

5. Paul Hoilman-East Tennessee St.  68

6. Nate Woods-Belmont  67

7. Eric Cain-South Dakota St.  66

7. Greg Wallace-Evansville  66

9. Robert Maddox-Ohio  65

10. Danny Brock-St. Louis  64

Quentin Cate-Wright St.  64

Drew Lee-Morehead St.  64

Matt Leeds-College of Charleston  64

Jake Overstreet-South Alabama  64

Chace Perkins-New Mexico St.  64

Nate Roberts

RUNS

1. Nate Roberts-High Point  72

2. Ryan Aguayo-New Mexico St.  71

3. Paul Hoilman-East Tennessee St.  68

3. Tyler Holt-Florida St.  68

5. Dallas Poulk-North Carolina St.  67

5. Perry Silverman-Canisius  67

7. J.D. Ashbrook-Morehead St.  66

7. Wes Cunningham-Murray St.  66

9. Jeff Rowland-Georgia Tech  65

10. Justin Howard-New Mexico  64

Paul Hoilman

SLUGGING PERCENTAGE

1. Paul Hoilman-East Tennessee St.  .875

2. Wes Cunningham-Murray St.  .870

3. A.J. Kirby-Jones-Tennessee Tech  .841

4. Alex Dickerson-Indiana  .827

5. Chris Duffy-Central Florida  .827

6. Mac Doyle-Wofford  .821

7. Sean Allaire-Central Connecticut St.  .814

8. Rob Segedin-Tulane  .803

9. Dan Paolini-Siena  .802

10. J.D. Ashbrook-Morehead St.  .801

Chance Ruffin

ERA

Pitchers must have 1 IP for every game played by team & Minimum 50 IP

1. Chance Ruffin-Texas  0.89

2. John Stilson-Texas A&M  0.98

3. Brady Rodgers-Arizona St.  1.44

4. Cole Green-Texas  1.45

5. Alex Wimmers-Ohio St.  1.61

6. Anthony Meo-Coastal Carolina  1.71

7. Jordan Cooper-Wichita St.  1.79

8. James Giuletti-Binghamton  1.88

9. Chris Sale-Florida Gulf Coast  1.98

10. Danny Hultzen-Virginia  1.99

Chris Dennis

SAVES

1. Kevin Arico-Virginia  13

1. Chris Dennis-Portland  13

1. Chris Patterson-Appalachian St.  13

4. Andrew Burkett-Cincinnati  12

4. Neil Holland-Louisville  12

4. Kevin McKague-Army  12

7. Mark Andrews-Bryant  11

7. Andy Mee-Florida Atlantic  11

7. Matty Ott-LSU  11

7. Chance Ruffin-Texas  11

Chris Sale

STRIKEOUTS

1. Chris Sale-Florida Gulf Coast  114

2. Drew Pomeranz-Mississippi  112

3. Josh Smith-Lipscomb  110

4. Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel  106

5. Gerrit Cole-UCLA  104

5. Barret Loux-Texas A&M  104

7. Jason Mitchell-UT Arlington  101

8. Daniel Bibona-UC Irvine  100

9. Eric Cantrell-George Washington  99

10. Trevor Bauer-UCLA  98

10. Nate Garcia-Santa Clara  98

Quintavious Drains

WINS

1. Quintavious Drains-Jackson State  (11-2)

2. Corey Baker-Pittsburgh  (10-2)

Cole Green-Texas (10-0)

Anthony Meo-Coastal Carolina (10-1)

Shawn Teufel-Liberty (10-1)

6. Daniel Bibona-UC Irvine (9-2)

Jake Borup-Arizona St. (9-1)

Blake Cooper-South Carolina (9-0)

Coty Green-UT Martin (9-2)

D.D. Hanks-South Alabama (9-4)

Cortney Jackson-Jackson St. (9-4)

Justin Jones-Cal (9-4)

Merrill Kelly-Arizona St. (9-0)

Kyle Kraus-Portland (9-1)

Matt Purke-TCU (9-0)

Nick Rogers-NC A&T (9-3)

Thomas Royse-Louisville (9-1)

Cody Wheeler-Coastal Carolina (9-0)

Alex Wimmers-Ohio State (9-0)

Brandon Workman-Texas (9-1)

Six 2009 Semifinalists On 2010 List

USA Baseball announced Thursday its preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List, marking the organization’s first step toward identifying the top amateur baseball player in the country. Sponsored by Major League Baseball, the Golden Spikes Award will be presented in 2010 for the 33rd time.

The Watch List features 50 of the nation’s top amateur talents, and it will be a “rolling” list to ensure that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the Golden Spikes Award, to be presented live on Tuesday, July 13, at the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest in Anaheim, Calif.

Headlining the 2010 Watch List are six athletes who were among the 30 semifinalists for the 2009 Golden Spikes Award. Those players are Daniel Bibona (LHP, Sr., UC Irvine), Bryce Brentz (OF/RHP, Jr., Middle Tennessee), Deck McGuire (RHP, Jr., Georgia Tech), Addison Reed (RHP, Jr., San Diego State), Anthony Rendon (3B, So., Rice) and Alex Wimmers (RHP, Jr., Ohio State).

“We’re very pleased to announce the 50 members of the preseason Watch List for the 2010 Golden Spikes Award,” said Paul Seiler, Executive Director/CEO of USA Baseball. “The level of amateur baseball talent in our country continues to rise each year, and there is no greater evidence of this than seeing six 2009 semifinalists named to the 2010 Watch List.”

The list of 50 names also features Bryce Harper of the College of Southern Nevada, a junior. The freshman catcher is the only junior-college player named to the list. Alex Fernandez, as a sophomore pitcher for Miami Dade Community College (now Miami Dade College) in 1990, stands as the only junior-college player to ever win the Golden Spikes Award.

LSU leads all schools with four players named to the Watch List. Texas is second with three, and Alabama, Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech, University of Miami, Rice and Virginia have two apiece.

The SEC tops all conferences with 15 Watch List players. Other leading conferences include the ACC with 10 athletes, the Big 12 with five, and the Big West and Conference USA with three each. Juniors dominate the list with 35 players named. Sophomores are next with nine players, there are five seniors, and Harper is the lone freshman.

On Tuesday, June 1, USA Baseball officials will cut the list of players to 30 names. The final list of 30 will then be sent to a voting body consisting of select professional baseball personnel, past USA Baseball National Team coaches, select members of the media, former USA Baseball sports information directors, and current USA Baseball staff — about 150 voters in total.

All voters will be asked to choose five players from the list of 30 names. Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2010. June 1 will also mark the day when college baseball fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player for the Golden Spikes Award on goldenspikesaward.com. On Tuesday, June 8, USA Baseball will announce the five finalists, and voting for a winner will commence that same day.

The 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award will be presented nationally July 13 on an award show via live telecast from Anaheim on goldenspikesaward.com, USABaseball.com and MLB.com in conjunction with All-Star FanFest.

Past winners of the Golden Spikes Award include Terry Francona (1980), Will Clark (1985), Robin Ventura (1988), Jason Varitek (1994), J.D. Drew (1997), Mark Prior (2001), Jered Weaver (2004), Tim Lincecum (2006), David Price (2007), Buster Posey (2008) and last year’s winner, Stephen Strasburg.

2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Important Dates

Thursday, Feb. 18 – 50-player Watch List released, shaped by USA Baseball officials, advisors and college SIDs
Tuesday, June 1 – 30 semifinalists announced, selected by USA Baseball officials; semifinalist voting begins; voters select five
Friday, June 4 – Deadline to vote for finalists, 5:00 p.m. ET
Tuesday, June 8 – Five finalists announced; finalist voting begins; voters to select one
Friday, June 18 – Deadline to vote for winner, 5:00 p.m. ET
Tuesday, July 13 – Golden Spikes Award presentation live at All-Star FanFest in Anaheim

Complete 2010 preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List:

Name, School, Position, Class (in order of name)

Chad Bettis, Texas Tech, RHP, Junior
Daniel Bibona, UC Irvine, LHP, Senior
Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee, OF/RHP, Junior
Michael Choice, Texas-Arlington, OF, Junior
Gerrit Cole, UCLA, RHP, Sophomore
Christian Colon, Cal State Fullerton, SS, Junior
Zack Cox, 3B/RHP, Arkansas, Sophomore
Todd Cunningham, OF, Junior
Blake Dean, LSU, Jacksonville State, 1B/OF, Senior
Sam Dyson, South Carolina, RHP, Junior
Brett Eibner, Arkansas, RHP/OF, Junior
Micah Gibbs, LSU, C, Junior
Sean Gilmartin, Florida State, LHP, Sophomore
Yasmani Grandal, University of Miami, C, Junior
Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt, RHP, Sophomore
Justin Grimm, Georgia, RHP, Junior
Jedd Gyorko, West Virginia, 2B/3B, Junior
Rick Hague, Rice, SS, Junior
Bryce Harper, College of Southern Nevada, C/3B/OF, Freshman
Cody Hawn, Tennessee, 1B, Junior
Chris Hernandez, University of Miami, LHP, Junior
Tyler Holt, Florida State, OF, Junior
Danny Hultzen, Virginia, LHP/1B, Sophomore
Kevin Jacob, Georgia Tech, RHP, Junior
Taylor Jungmann, Texas, RHP, Sophomore
Leon Landry, LSU, OF, Junior
Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech, RHP, Junior
Hunter Morris, Auburn, 1B/OF, Junior
Jarrett Parker, Virginia, OF, Junior
Drew Pomeranz, Mississippi, LHP, Junior
Anthony Ranaudo, LSU, RHP, Junior
Addison Reed, San Diego State, RHP, Junior
Anthony Rendon, Rice, 3B, Sophomore
Daniel Renken, Cal State Fullerton, RHP, Junior
Kyle Roller, East Carolina, 1B, Senior
Cameron Rupp, C, Junior, Texas
Chris Sale, Florida Gulf Coast, LHP, Junior
Jake Smith, Alabama, 3B/RHP, Senior
Josh Spence, Arizona State, LHP, Senior
Tony Thompson, Kansas, 3B, Junior
Preston Tucker, Florida, 1B, Sophomore
Kolbrin Vitek, Ball State, 3B/RHP, Junior
Austin Wates, Virginia Tech, OF, Junior
Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina, LHP, Junior
Ross Wilson, Alabama, 2B/SS, Junior
Alex Wimmers, Ohio State, RHP, Junior
Mickey Wiswall, Boston College, 3B/1B, Junior
Kolten Wong, Hawaii, 2B, Sophomore
Scott Woodward, Coastal Carolina, 3B, Junior
Brandon Workman, Texas, RHP, Junior

#1 Arkansas Beats #1 Arizona State

17.  Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

18.  Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19.  North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20.  Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21.  Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22.  Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23.  LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24.  Oregon Brings Back Baseball