Thursday, June 10, 2010

ESPN.com Story on Vandy SS (and former Walk-On) Brian Harris

Excellent story on Brian Harris who I have to confess I had never really heard of before the past few games. I didn't follow the Commie baseball team as much this season as I have in the past. Regretting it now that we are in the Super Regionals.

Also here is a list of some Commie and Commie recruits drafted by MLB teams the past few days:

11th Round: Drew Hayes to the Reds
13th Round: Kevin Ziomek (top recruit) to the Diamondbacks
22nd Round: Aaron Westlake to the Blue Jays
30th Round: Taylor Hill to the Indians

31st Round (the first of yesterday): Russell Brewer (RS Junior) by Colorado
32nd Round: Andrew Giobbi (Senior) by Seattle;
39th Round: Joel McKeithan (recruit; SS) by Colorado
40th Round: Conrad Gregor (recruit; 1B/OF)
41st Round: Chase Reid (Junior) by St. Louis
45th Round: Robert Hansen (recruit; RHP) by St. Louis
48th Round: TJ Pecoraro (recruit; RHP) by Houston

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know too much about the draft and how it works. So are we going to loose all those guys or are they just going to have rights on them when they DECIDE to go? For example, will we have Chase Reid next year and all of our recruits? Because I know Bryce Harper is already gone. I'm just curious becuase those are alot of guys.

Andrew VU '04 said...

Your "either/or" binary was wrong. Both options, in fact. MLB draft rules are quite easy: 1) A prospect is first eligible after having graduated from high school or having obtained his GED. After being drafted, an agent or representative will attempt to hammer out a contract with the team (though usually the player's relative demands/signability are well known by the club beforehand). There's a recommended slotting system, but very few ramifications for teams that go over slot. If the player and team agree to terms by the deadline (Aug 1st, I think) he's theirs. If not, or if the player officially enrolls in classes at the college or junior college of his choice, the team relinquishes all rights to said player.

2) If he enrolls at a 4 year college/university, the player is not eligible for the draft until three years after his high school graduation. Typically, the best prospects will be drafted highly and sign as Juniors, but some bloom later, and others make outrageous contract demands and either go back to college, or, if they're advised by Scott Boras, sign with an Independent League team and re-enter the draft in a year. The same deadline for deals (once again, I think it's Aug 1st) applies.

3) Some players, who are either too dumb to qualify academically, or who are advised by Scott Boras and didn't sign out of High School, go to Junior College, and are eligible after each year of play, or can transfer to a 4 year college and have to wait until after their Junior year to be eligible.

4) There used to be a JC rule called the "Draft and Follow," but this no longer exists.

In short, these players' (Vandy's RS Sophs, Juniors, and recruits) rights only belong to the team that drafts them until the contract deadline passes, then they can either enroll in college, return to college, or sign with an Independent League team (no Vandy player has ever done that).

Just a guess, but I'd expect Hayes to sign with the Reds, Giobbi to sign with the Mariners, and everyone else to be with Vandy next year. This is a good thing for us... the only recruit I'd be worried about is Ziomek, who was BA's top rated HS LHP coming into the year, but had some struggles during the year, and signability concerns (due to his strong committment to Vandy). Unless Arizona offers him late first round money (800k-1.3mil), I'd say he's ours.

This is good news for the program, people.

Andrew VU '04 said...

Oh, and Harper is not "already gone." Boras is expected to keep his foot on the Nationals' necks until midnight on the last day of the signing period, and then sign for about $10 mil then. He could always go back to JC, or Indy League Ball and re-enter the draft next year.

To my knowledge, the only 1st round picks to sign were 2 for Texas and the Phillies LHP Jesse Biddle.