Pirates reach deal with first-rounder

Good to hear. Hope he gets to work and impresses. Maybe he can catch up to Pedro and motivate him...

That was fast

Great job NH and Pirates' mgmt.

I like this draft. You never know how prospects pan out, but they have a good plan and are sticking to it. The key is signing the high school arms.

My take:

vivaderekbell.blogspot.com/.../pirates-draft.html

Very good--starting right away--be interesting to see what he does in my home state

That is excellent news. - Guess that is why they drafted him instead of a better player but I digress.

Good to get a top pick signed quickly......

SAJUtah

Make a deal with you--you get an avatar (click on my name for instructions) and I will look at your blog every morning and put on the morning links when you post something about the Bucs.

I wonder if the Pirates and Sanchez had a dollar figure worked out before the Pirates drafted him?

I wonder if the Pirates know what some of the high school kids want that are considered to be high upside prospects?

Do you think there was in agreement between Sanchez's agent and the Pirates to be signed within a certain time period prior to being drafted because managment didn't want another Pedro?

And what was the money given to the 4th overall last year? Is this signing in the same ball park, did we low ball him, or over pay?

Either way I'm glad he is signed and starting to get his feet wet in single A

leadoff

Reports the day of the draft said a deal had been reached but saw no details or whether it was fully put together.

I thought I read somewhere that they had preliminary talks prior to the draft. Probably just hammered out the details now. At least there won't be the same drama and we can see him THIS year.

I chuckled yesterday watching MLBN.  I had the sound muted because I was on the phone when the graphic came across saying that Strasburg and the Nats were "No where near" an agreement. Hmm..imagine that!  ;-)

Anyway, I love the enthusiasm and williingness to get started.  Good luck Tony!

I like that this kid gets on a ballfield in the Pirates system right away.

Last year the # 4 pick was Brian Matusz, a college pitcher and he signed for around $3.4 million

Dmac,

The Nats might as well give up until like... August 16th with the way Boras is.

It truly is a great day to be a Pirates fan when the big squad signs their no. 1 pick and future backup catcher. Diaz and Jaramillo beware!

JAL,

"Last year the # 4 pick was Brian Matusz, a college pitcher and he signed for around $3.4 million"

ALL RIGHT NEAL!!!!!

Way to save a million dollars!!!!!

;-)

Yotum...No doubt!  I wish them good luck with that.  

Gotta love those who don't even know enough to have an avatar yet think they can predict the future before the player has played one inning of pro ball

Leave it to Hostage to still make a snarky comment about the club.

This is great news, we get our #1 pick on the fiield immediately.  I think that this kid should be in Lynchburg by August, and if they can fix the swing may pass Lerud into Altoona early next year.  Nice job FO.

Kraig

My apology, you did get an avatar--thank you--still don't think you can predict the future any better than I can :)

I'm thinking about removing my avatar ;)

I'm going to hold judgment on the kid--he looks like a hard worker with good character. A guy who's going to come to work has a solid chance of success.

I'm less sold on the much ballyhooed Mr. Alvarez, he had a money-first attitude and is struggling to do anything other than hit HR's down at A ball. He'll come around, but I don't like his poor attitude.

Just curious, for those people who feel the need to respond.

Would you have preferred for NH to spend more on this player?  They paid right around the slot value for the #4 pick.  

Should the team picking #26 pay more as well?  Are the Brewers just being cheap as well for paying right at slot for their 1st rounder?

Sometimes paying the correct amount is the right thing to do.  Overpaying for talent seems to remind me of Littlefield.  Hmmmm?

I like this guy. He kept his word and just wants to play ball. Thats good to hear. Now we just have to wait and see if he's gonna be anything. Give him 2-3 years and then we can make a decision.

P.S. - I'll have an avatar by the end of this weekend.

Menkrick - I couldn't agree with you more.

JAL,

<----- Better?

eh, we'll see what he can do on the ballfield, it is a different attitude than what we had to deal with last year with pedro.  this kid's got a great attitude and i like it, hopefully, he'll be ready for the big club in 3 years when ryan gets traded.

JAL- why so *** about an avatar?

@leadoff

RE: High School Kids Demands

My understanding is that in the day or two prior to the draft, most High School prospects who have major college commitments have their "advisers" leak their approximate demands so that clubs know what to expect when they draft them, so I believe that the FO has a very good idea of who is looking for what kind of money.

I would like to wish young Mr. Sanchez a long and distinguished career in baseball.  Best of luck young man!  The Pirates need all the help they can get!

As a thank you to the asylum members that bought up some of my world series suite tickets, I now have an avatar-let me know what you think :)

Go Bucs!

Let's get all gladiator on those tigers :p

I like that this kid is so eager to get on the field and play to prove his worth.  By the way, I read Johnny Utah's blog and came across this from the National guys on the overall draft:

First is Jim Callis from 'Baseball America'. He had this to say in an ESPN chat the other day:

"The Pirates said before the draft that if they took a below-slot guy (Tony Sanchez) at No. 4, they'd put the money into later picks. Looks like they'll do that, as they've taken several talented guys today who could be costly: Texas HS lefties Zack Dodson and Colton Cain, Louisiana HS righty Zack Von Rosenberg (a personal favorite) and Arizona prep righty Trent Stevenson."

Next is Keith Law, who is ESPN's 'Mel Kiper of the MLB Draft':

"Pittsburgh's selection of Tony Sanchez at No. 4 overall on Tuesday was the most controversial pick of the day, but the Pirates did do one thing they promised, taking some tough-sign high school pitchers on Wednesday. Their philosophy is that high school arms are so volatile that paying premium prices in the first round is a poor strategy, and that the value of that first pick (when you might get a premium bat or college arm) is too high to surrender, so try to stockpile young arms in later rounds. Whether Sanchez was the best pick for slot is another question -- I don't think he was -- but the idea of adding young arms who fell due to signability reasons is a sound one, and they added four good ones, two from my top 100 in Jordan Cooper and Zach Von Rosenburg and two who would have ranked in the next 50 or so players in Colton Cain and Trent Stevenson. Stevenson and Cooper both looked like top-two-round picks last summer, but neither had a good spring, with Stephenson losing a little velocity and Cooper pitching very inconsistently until late in the season. If the Pirates sign three of those four kids, it's a great draft, and if they sign two, it's still a good one."

SAJUtah

Thanks

STLRFANRC

Because it looks better and makes things easier.  Avatars are the quickest and easiest way to find previous posts and that something many us do regularly--someone posts--didn't I see a list of X  a couple of days ago and someone remembers that STLRFANRC  posted that  and they go through a past thread with 350 posts on it and find your post quickly and bring the info to the new thread.  

Since avatars are free and make things easier to find why not have one?  

C Chris

I like it :)

I'm not questioning his attitude. He could be an MIT graduate for all I care. We need players, not reach picks.

Nutho,

Neil may have saved $1 million on the first round pick, but they may end up spending the same amount or more than they did on last year's draft.

I'm glad the kid will get started as soon as possible.

You can argue about the pick and worthiness of it all you want. Bottom line is, they got a good player - possibly great - you really don't know with anyone, for a great price. In addition, the guy already signed a contract and will be playing in the next couple weeks in A ball. That's a huge plus in my book. So the fact that the Pirates "saved" a million bucks signng this guy is a non issue to me.

Couple that with the fact the the "left over" money is anything but, so long as they spend it signing some of those college bound HS kids away from their scholorships.

Looking good all around! Pass me the kool-aid!

BuccoFever4life

That is too much info to past here--copyright law--just post links.  The copyright issue in the guide to commenting on the left side of this page.

Good to have our number 0ne pick signed early and ready to start.  Does this put him on the schedule as alverez since he lost a full season and sanchez is starting in a ball this year.  Question if hes tearing the cover off the ball does he move up to the next level.

Chris

That's a great avatar...... especially for the start of summer

Another way to find things quickly is to search for them, CTRL+F is your friend. Apple+F on OS X.

dami

If he is tearing the cover off the ball he will probably move up.  On draft day the former players on the MLB network said his defense is already at MLB level.

Whether he was the correct choice for our 1st draft pick or not.......it is a good thing to get him into our system, tutored by our coaching staff, and playing baseball professionally right away.

scottauth

Control F is much slower  --If I type scottauth   and search it will stop at every response that uses scottauth  , such as this one.

Control F also lacks the the aesthetics of an avatar.

I do believe that sanchez has a better attitude than PA.  Does that make him better , no.  Will he make the majors before PA, Possibly.

??? for the asylum whats the odds Freddy and Jack are still playing second & ss this time next year?  If not them then who.  They would have to pick someone up in a trade.  Which makes little sense to me.  Unless it is someone who is more ready then what we have now.

A few thoughts on the draft.

Last year the Pirates were able to get Grossman and a high school pitcher (cannot remember his name) late in the signing period because it became clear they could not sign Scheppers. If Scheppers had signed, the Pirates might be without both of those players.

I liked Neal Huntington's statement that the Pirates don't have any certain pitchers that they absolutely want to sign. I'm sure they have a rough ranking but that does allow them to be pretty flexible.

Signing Sanchez and all the players needed to fill out minor league rosters will take roughly $3 million. If the Pirates have the same budget as last year, that leaves $6-7 million for the higher value players they are targeting.

Good news on the signing.  It sounds like it's roughly the same amount as the signed Moskos for.  Now let's see who else the can land.  If it's a choice between Sanchez, Von Rosenburg, Cain and Cooper (and let's get greedy and throw in Stevenson) or just Purke, I'll take the Pirates approach.  Purke was reported to be seeking Porcello $ ($7.25 million).  How many of the high upside guys can you get with the extra close to $5m?  I'm guessing at least 2-3.

What a difference a year makes...in more ways than one!

Welcome to the fold, Mr. Sanchez.  You do sound like a gamer!

I see the SS and 2B this way: Since the draft went the way the FO wanted it to, now they can get SS and 2b AAA prospects for jack freddy and adam. This is the part that doesn't fair well until September 1 (or worse, next year): Bixler at SS and Young at 2B with Vazquez and maybe Ford spelling those two. No other way around it. No one will trade a major leaguer SS/2B for Wilson or Freddy. Those prospects will really depend on how Adams value increases by July 31. I see the SS spot to be more dire right now.

And I will take a "sign me so I can get going attitude" over just about any other attitude. I read a lot from PA's family last year that all he wants to do is play ball. Well....he really didn't. Remember they can say this is fine I want to play ball, instead of insisting they get a few more dollars. Congrats to Tony and the FO.

It will be interesting to see how quickly the Pirates can sign any of the high value pitchers they drafted. Since they are putting a premium on getting players signed quickly, they might be very aggressive early in the signing period. It would be great to see them sign at least 2 of the top 5 pitchers by mid July. Anything after that might be a bonus.

Overall I'd like to see them sign at least 10 pitchers who are not just fill-ins, especially high schoolers. The more they sign, the better chance to get some of them to the majors. It would be great to come up with at least one major league stud out of the whole group.

I still disagree with the pick and strategy, but am very glad that he is signed and will be rooting for him! Let me caution everyone to not expect too much too early, Low-A is about as high a place as any newly signed college player starts and growing pains as he converts from metal to wood bats are to be expected. But there is little question that he will be an upgrade from our current low-A catchers.

Scorus << metal vs wood bat >>

Sanchez played this season using a wood bat..... he was thinking ahead to pro-ball  

Glad to get that Sanchez signing out of the way so quickly, though we knew they had a handshake deal all along.

Nice signing of the Cardinal pitcher Tyler Herron too. These are the kinds of moves (Steve Jackson, that other yankee pitcher,etc) that the previous two regimes never did. They showed their ignorance of talent by their failure to grab such guys when they came available.

This is kind of like the Donnie Veal deal (no rhyme intended), a former top prospect mired in control problems, but you know that potential exists here. The great thing about Herron is that he doesnt have to be kept on the major league roster like Veal. It's a no lose situation.

Sanchez' BC coach indicated that he made the other players on the team better by his presence and his play.   Catchers are in a position to do just that, if they know their business.  Apparently this one does.  

Wecome to the organization, Tony, and best of luck.