Pirates sign 16th-round pick

Over slot?

Most likely

Come join my spikes.

Is this Kid a hgh profile prospect or is he just another filler?

He will likely be paid over slot.  He had signed a LOI to play at Central Fla which was why he fell down in the draft.  Projected as a 5 tool talent with serious skills.  This is a good get.

awesome...i was hoping they would sign him...hes got some great upside...he is huge at 6'4 210 and has good speed and good power...good sign

This is what Central Fla's coach had to say about him:

"Wesley Freeman is probably one of the most publicized guys we have ever had. He was an Aflac All-American and highly rated by Perfect Game USA. We are talking about a 6-foot-5, middle of the order hitter who can really run. His best tool, surprisingly with his 6-foot-5 frame, is that he has speed. He is a five-tool player with arm strength, big-time power, exceptional speed and good batting average and defensive skills. This is a high-caliber, high-class guy whose ceiling is really high. Just a phenomenal player"

This kid is no filler despite his size.

Is this the baseball equivalent of Yi Jianlian's "posting up a chair" draft video?

Sounds like a good player can he play multiple positions looks like a 1st baseman 6'4 210

www.youtube.com/watch .....here is a video of him...he is a beast

aflac!!!

wow, he does look like a stud -- we'll see in a few seasons if that's really the case.

go spikes!

Nice looking swing.  Looks like he has some fast hands.  His footplant looks a little weird though - I guess that could be because he's just trying to wail on the ball?

According to Baseball America, Freeman is a high-ceiling talent but has a problem with his swing that needs corrected, possibly the issue wick noticed.  Definitely not filler and probably well above slot money.

That is one angry, explosive swing. Looks good.

Dejan

This kid seems like a great signing.  Was the organization surprised that they were able to sign him now?  All indications were that he was an excellent student who was heading to college.  Had a signed LOI to Central Fla.  Team must have come up with some $$.  Any indication that they are now spreading some money to guys like Freeman who were drafted lower because of signability issues becasue they are not going to pay Alvarez 's asking price?

appears to be worth the over slot if in fact it was.  nice pick up.  

I just got up from a DEEP, DEEP nap when I got the news and the video here. Honestly, I thought it was Batting Stance Guy and somebody was playing a trick on me.

Reminds me of Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Forget the foot, the guy needs a lobatamy (sic?).

Haven't seen a loop like that since Brad Eldred. Is there time for him to help the Spikes? We could quick trade him for a pitching prospect ... is that in the rules?

Wow, what a swing. Can't quite tell from the sound what kind of bat he's using, though. On some swings (the first two) you can hear a crack, but just about everything afterwards sounds aluminum.

How much of that power he showed was aluminum bat generated? Hopefully he turns out better than many of the likes of Brad Eldred, Mark Johnson, Jon Farell, etc

eldred has 30 homers and a .909 OPS this yr with the white sox AAA affiliate...i think we gave up on him too early

Hey Baywatch, why you talking poo on an 18-year-old toolsey prospect already?  

This kid seems to be exactly what the Pirates farm system needs:  Size, speed, power, arm...... A kid with some projection and perhaps a higher ceiling.   If they can add 3 or 4 of these types of guys each year and even one reaches that ceiling.......  That's how you do it.

The system is full of Jason Delaney's and hitters with AAAA tools.  Go ahead and talk poo on those guys, instead.  But if Baseball America says this kid tickles 4 or 5 tools, then how can you complain?  

Well, Stoagie, none of it comes from the bat being aluminum. Aluminum bats just have larger sweet spots, that's all.  And since he was seeing BP pitches, I imagine that particular video would look exactily the same if he were using a wooden bat. That being said, I like the swing. Smooth and long, a little LaRoche-ish. I can see what was mentioned about the foot though. He doesn't look like he'd be too fast, but I guess that long stride must help him.

Here is the Baseball America Extended Scouting Report

A full package of five raw tools, Freeman is the prototypical well-built high school prospect who scouts can dream on. At 6-feet-4, 210 pounds, he's a physical specimen blessed with strength and speed. He shows plus speed, an above-average arm and athleticism in the outfield and projects to be an average defender at worst. At the plate, Freeman's ability is still raw and he has an aggressive approach in need of refinement. Swinging with a natural uppercut, he has leverage in his swing and pure bat speed, leading to plus raw power to all fields. His swing concerns scouts, however, because he has a straight arm hitch in his load, which would affect his ability to hit quality pitching if it's not corrected. But teams won't be able to ignore his raw tools. An Aflac All-American last fall, Freeman is committed to Central Florida.

And he hurt his hand again, and sat from the middle of June until last week ... still has 30 homers. But I think it's the classic difference between the minors and the bigs.

The guy, Mike Hessman, who is 3rd in HRs in the minors with 32 (and who hasn't played in two weeks after having made our Olympic team), is 30 years old and has TOILED in the minor leagues after playing just a few games with Atlanta five years ago; and a brief callup by the Tigers last year.

While we're on former Pirates achieving this year, I've been watching Josh Phelps. He's raking with Memphis, the Cardinals AAA team, .287 BA, 27 homers and 86 RBI.

But as the proverbial first base only type, he can't even back up Pujols for the big club. I'd think he'd make a nice pickup for some AL club.

Freeman's description sounds like Dave Parker's in 1973.  Looks like a righthanded Adam Dunn.

Is that an aluminum bat ?

Sign them all, sign them all, sign the big and the short and the tall.

Who cares about money or what school they played their ball

Just for heavens sake, sign them all.

Apologies to Jane Morgan in "The Victors".

SandlotWizard -

I was just tryin' to have a little fun ... I wasn't waked up good yet!

Seriously, looks like a good deal to me from everything that's being said.

Freeman was definately one of those guys I hoped would get signed.  If I recall one of the post-draft articles in the kid's local paper said that PBC would be watching him play summer ball and see how he performed...they must have liked what they saw and ponied up appropriate $$...

Now if they can sign Grossman at #6 along with the other obvious ones should be an interesting ST...

This is probably a stupid question, but they only have his junior & sophomore stats up there.  Did he not play his senior year or something?  Just curious...

He turned away from my alma mater to play for the Pirates?  Probably a smart move, I spent most of my formative college years at Locos Bar in the UCF student union....and graduated with honors.  Ironically, both UCF and the Buccos sport black and gold.

The team has already signed five high-school draft picks this year, which exceeds the number of high-school players drafted and signed in recent years. This is a good strategy as these players have more upside potential then the college players Littlefield was so enamored with. This is also another good example of the organizational changes NH has been talking about since day one. As for Alvarez, if he is stupid enough to leave the money on the table, so to speak, so be it.  

Not only what kind of bat, but why no helmet?

Meestro, check out the link comparing wood vs aluminum. The larger sweet spot is true but the ball also travels about 8mph faster off aluminum resulting in greater distance compared to the same swing with a wood bat.

Back to Freeman, how does hit off speed pitches?

www.kettering.edu/.../alumwood.html

Thanks Stoagie.  That's weird, since I've always heard that it was only the sweet spot.  And JHadar, it's some type of home run hitting contest, thats why the pitches are so slow and theres music playing in the background, and also why hes swing all out.

Okay, now that I just wrote that post, I didn't realize how obvious it was that it's not in game.  I guess you just meant game or no, why no helmet?  Point taken.

Wait, they took this guy out of high school? He looks old enough to have served in Korea with Greg Oden's kids.

Hey Fair Warning,

While working at Siemens-Westinghouse across the street from UCF, I was told that UCF stood for U Can't Finish - apparently you can!

Unless Frank 'N Neal make some significant progress signing additional, high draft picks between now and Aug. 15th, this years amateur draft could turn out to be a disaster, and really contradict everything Nutting & Frank N' Neal claim they are trying to achieve in building a winner through the farm system.

Having signed 28 of 50 picks is about average across MLB, however many of those signings were low round picks.

The Bucs have only signed 13 of their top 25, more talented draft picks, and only 5 of the top 10. - With the 1,2,5,6, and 10th pick remaining unsigned.

On the other hand, they have signed 15 of the lesser talented players picked between 25-50.

For the Bucs to build a winner through the farm, they need two things:

1) To sign a higher than average number of picks compared to other teams and work like heck to develop them into major league players.

2) Talent.

A higher than normal of affordable, low round draft picks will achieve very little.

Why do I suspect Nutting is once again limiting his GM's chances of success by underfunding this aspect of the operation?

Just for comparison purposes, the Milwaukee Brewers have signed 31 draft picks from this years class, including everyone of the top 22 picks and 25 of the top 26.

The Brewers have done what the Bucs need to do.

They have signed a lot of picks, but focused on the most talented players they drafted.

Another comparison....

The Cubs have signed 22 picks from the 1-25 rounds compared to the Bucs 13 of the top 25 picks.

The Cubs have signed no picks after round 35 yet while the Pirates spent some portion of their budget signing 11 of the Nutting-friendly affordable picks from rounds 35 to 50.

Hostage - couldn't agree more.  Thanks for giving the examples of other teams.  Do you have a site that lists all of the team's draftee's status?  I want to compare some other teams as well.

Interesting stats, but there are still 7 days left in the signing period.  I think we should wait to see how this plays out before passing judgement.  If those numbers still hold up 8 days from now, not good.  But I have a hunch we will catch up signifcantly.  Keep in mind we drafted a lot more above slot guys with out 1st 25 picks than other teams did, so that tends to take longer to play out.

Pgher in Leverkusen--Oh you can certainly finish, it's where you end up after you finish that's the great unknown.  Currently, my degree hangs above my toilet.  'nuff said.

Fair Warning -

>>Currently, my degree hangs above my toilet<< There's nothing wrong with that assuming you are either (a) a plumber or (b) Dr. Phil.

Seriously, though, it's a shame that college degrees don't carry much assurance of success anymore. Still, one is at a distinct disadvantage without one.