Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5

[jwill535]

reminds me of Jeff Dmico. Not a lot of wasted motion, almost all arm, which may be alarming somewhat. I will say this though, that the motion is effortless.

[DHonks]

wow jwill, I mentioned the D'Amico comparison in the draft forum...we think alike

[Hate those Rodents]

The question I have is...do we want Texas and Jungmann to win or lose. Winning is good but losing means we can maybe sign him and get his pro career a rollin.

[markedman5]

He throws alot of breaking stuff.

 

I know the gun says 93-95 but it just doesn't look that fast to the eye. More like 90-92.

[jwill535]

I think that is more of a product of his delivery then then the speed. If he was more assertive in his motion then I would imagine that it would seem faster.

[battlekow]

Jungmann still quiet on his future with Brewers

Adam McCalvy/MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- Taylor Jungmann was still a University of Texas Longhorn on Friday night, and until that team's collegiate season is officially over, he had little interest in discussing a future with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers picked Jungmann, Texas' 6-foot-4, right-handed ace, with the 12th overall selection in the First-Year Player Draft on Monday. He declined to participate in a Draft-day conference call with Brewers beat writers, bucking a tradition followed by each of the team's top picks since at least the early 1990s, because the Longhorns are still alive in the NCAA Super Regional. Jungmann pitched 7 1/3 strong innings but lost to Arizona State, 3-1, in the opener of a best-of-three series on Friday.

The loss could prove to be Jungmann's final amateur outing, but when Austin American-Statesman reporter Kirk Bohls asked the pitcher about a potential future with the Brewers, he had little to say.

"It's exciting for my family and friends, but I'm just not focused on that right now," Jungmann said.

Jungmann made clear he has nothing against Milwaukee. He simply has business to tend to first.

"There's just not anything going through my head right now," he said. "Like when you asked about this maybe being my last game here. It's not something going through my mind. I'm not worried about that at all."

Jungmann was one of two Brewers first-round picks; the team also selected Georgia Tech left-hander Jed Bradley at No. 15 overall. He has also declined interview requests at the urging of his advisor, Greg Genske. Genske is a well-known football and baseball agent who also represents Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks.

[battlekow]

Melvin doesn't expect to sign top picks soon

Adam McCalvy/MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers general manager Doug Melvin would like to get both of the team's first-round Draft picks signed and sent off to a Minor League affiliate, but he's not holding his breath. More and more, top Draft picks are waiting until the signing deadline -- midnight ET on Aug. 15 this year -- to settle on a bonus.

Right-hander Taylor Jungmann, the 12th overall pick in the Draft who is advised by agent Alan Hendricks, is still active with the University of Texas in the NCAA Super Regional, and talks cannot begin until his collegiate season is over. Georgia Tech left-hander Jed Bradley, the 15th overall pick in the Draft, is advised by Greg Genske.

Melvin and Brewers amateur scouting director Bruce Seid will at some point open negotiations with both players. Melvin will push the benefits of signing early in the summer, in time to join one of the team's Minor League affiliates.

"I try to tell guys that and they don't understand," said Melvin, who has spoken personally with both Jungmann and Bradley. "Look at all of our guys who signed quickly and were in the big leagues by 23 -- Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks -- and now they're all making $30 million-$100 million on their contracts.

"You can also look at players on other clubs -- [Tim] Lincecum, Ryan Zimmerman -- I think [buster] Posey signed fairly early. They all played, and they're in the big leagues. They don't understand that players need to sign and get going."

That group of players represents a cross-section of high school and collegiate Draft picks. Weeks, for example, was the Brewers' first-round selection in 2003 out of Southern University.

"Jonathan Lucroy is another guy that's here," Melvin said, referring to Milwaukee's starting catcher, a third-round pick in 2007. "He was a quick sign and had [about] 250 at-bats his first year. If he doesn't have that, he's not here now."

Why do so many first-round picks wait until the deadline to sign? Because the size of one player's signing bonus is tied to the pick before and after him in the Draft, and nobody wants to be the first to set the standard.

Melvin wishes that more players would buck that trend.

"The money is made up here" in the Major Leagues, he argued.

[brewmann04]

hey if they don't want to sign right away then that there lost .It the players that lose out here and they don't get the early advantage of starting early.They also can go to college and get that education and hopefully not hurt during there stay .

[tyguy20204]

Melvin fails to mention that many players, even first rounders, will fail to make the major leagues. So it's obviously in a player's interest to negotiate the best signing bonus that they can. And it's totally understandable for them to do so.

[RickyWeeks4Prez]

I would hope that the players getting drafted in the 1st round are not assuming they're not going to make it in the majors. The bottomline is most of the mid to late first rounders are not going to get paid over slot. Obviously there are some exceptions to that rule but for the most part the picks kind of know what their bonuses are going to be. Instead of being greedy, make the deal and get your butt out there any play. To me, I want to be in uniform as soon as possible and start my assent up farm system.

[jmeks23]

Can Jungmann go back to Texas for another year? And is he actually considering doing it if so? That scares me a bit in his comments. I don't want to jump the gun on anything though, I seem to get be-rated for reading too much into comments.

[Mass Haas]

From Jim Callis' Ask BA:

• [tt]This question gets asked every year, so who am I to break from tradition? Which of the top picks in this year's draft will become their respective team's No. 1 prospect once they sign?
   
  J.P. Schwartz
  Springfield, Ill.[/tt]

Surprisingly, I only came up with four 2011 draftees who are locks to be their team's top prospect in the 2012 Prospect Handbook. In order of selection, they are Mariners lefthander Danny Hultzen (the No. 2 overall choice), Diamondbacks righthander Trevor Bauer (No. 3), Astros outfielder George Springer (No. 11) and either of the Brewers' two first-rounders, righty Taylor Jungmann (No. 12) or lefty Jed Bradley (No. 15).

 

***

 

Not surprising...

[battlekow]

I think an argument could be made for Jorge Lopez as the #1 prospect over both Jungmann and Bradley (and Peralta, who's being written off too easily by Callis). I'm toying with voting him that way on my next Power 50 ballot.

[And That]

I just found our first Jorge Lopez quote, translated by Google from Spanish from this article on the Puerto Rican website PrimaHora.com:

 

For Lopez, being selected by Milwaukee in the second round opened the door to a world in which we know you will have to work harder than ever. "Now, I can only work harder to reach the Major Leagues. Just a matter of time and God gives me health to do it, "said Lopez, whose playing style is compared to the Dominican starter Ubaldo Jimenez Rockies.

[battlekow]

Reed’s career gets Brewin’

Habeab Kurdi/Cedar Park Citizen

Michael Reed’s path to the pros seems to be coming full circle.

Reed’s life changed with a few words June 7, as the Leander graduate heard his name called on TV when the Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the fifth round (161st overall) of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last week.

Surrounded by about 20 family and friends at home in Leander, Reed couldn’t stop smiling as he heard the news fill the quiet room.

“I’m so excited,” Reed said shortly after he was drafted. “It was just like a weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Nearly every MLB club had visited the 18-year-old prospect since November —with the first team to visit being the Milwaukee Brewers. He also worked out for several clubs this spring, but he declined the Brewers invitation (among others) because of travel and time constraints during the end of his senior year and baseball season.

When the team that first paid him a visit took him in the fifth round, Reed could see the dots of his dream connecting.

“It was pretty cool, it was the very first one and it was kind of the start of my dream of this really happening (when Milwaukee visited),” he said. “Yeah, I was somewhat surprised, but you know I really didn’t know who was going to pick me … they were the very first ones to come into my house in the fall.”

Waiting for the pick

During the earlier rounds of the draft, several teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres, called Reed to gauge what it would take to sign him but made too low an offer, he said. Then the Brewers called shortly before their pick in the fourth round, and though he wasn’t assured of being picked, Reed had a feeling it was about to be his time.

As the 161st pick, the Brewers next pick, approached, Reed and the room around him fell mostly silent.

Then the announcement came: “Reed, Michael,” was all he heard before everyone broke out into loud cheers.

“I was pretty quiet and so was everybody else in my house,” Reed said. “I was nervous too. Once they called that 161st, I got real quiet. Then they said Reed and then I knew. It was pretty cool.”

Play in minors or college

Reed has some time to negotiate with the Brewers before he is eligible to officially sign starting Aug. 15. Though a verbal agreement can be reached, Reed will be deciding whether to fulfill his scholarship to Ole Miss University or head to the minor leagues to play in the Brewers farm system. Reed said it would take an offer above his scholarship from Ole Miss to get him to sign.

“A few teams called me and wanted to know if I would sign for X amount and I told them it probably wasn’t going to cut it, it was a little low,” he said. “Then I had a few teams call me telling me they were going to try and give me what I wanted in the later rounds, and that’s what happened.”

Brewers amateur scouting director Bruce Seid said Reed was drafted as “the best talent available,” though he could not comment further on the center fielder because contract negotiations are ongoing.

Austin-area scout Jeremy Booth identified Reed’s abilities and a national cross-checker, Joe Ferrone, also saw Reed play and recommended him as a solid pick for the Brewers, Seid said.

A few days after he got the call in the draft, Reed finally had a moment to step back and unwind, as he headed to California for a short vacation with close friends.

In the week since, Reed has caught a few more Brewers games on TV as the club has climbed into first place in the National League Central Division.

“I can’t wait until I’m actually wearing one of those uniforms. Hopefully, that’s coming up soon,” Reed said. “There have been a lot of emotions, but really good emotions.”

http://cedarparkcitizen.com/files/2011/06/TopstoryReedMLBDRAFT.jpg

[UeckerPowell]

I think an argument could be made for Jorge Lopez as the #1 prospect over both Jungmann and Bradley (and Peralta, who's being written off too easily by Callis). I'm toying with voting him that way on my next Power 50 ballot.

Callis has never really been high on Peralta. He usually favors Scarpetta over him.

 

[battlekow]

The Austin American-Statesman's Kirk Bohls:

Texas' Taylor Jungmann won Dick Howser Trophy Tuesday morning. He's a lock to sign with Brewers but said, "We'll see." Warned of assuming.

[brewmann04]

Does this kid really want to join the Brewers and do we want a guy who does not seem excited about comming here.

[YoungGeezy]

It really seems like he wants nothing to do with the Brewers but that is IMO. Good trade chip for the future so yes, I still want him.

[And That]

It is beginning to be slightly bothersome that we haven't heard a peep about Jed Bradley.

 

Remember, the guy we picked 15th overall, Doug? Unprotected pick, yah?

[Tedaldtada]

Blows my mind that teams just don't take the players first offer. Hard slotting is on the way, Is Jungmann asking for 10 million? I mean, c'mon. It's really easy. and I am not even going to look at the slots.

 

Jungmann 2.5 million

Bradley 2.1 million

Lopez 750,000

Gagnon 300,000

Ramirez 200,000

Reed 250,000

Houle 150,000

.

.

.

Cain 75-100,000

Mallex 75-100,000

 

and on and on.

 

That is like 1000 years of service time for the cost of one YuniB.

 

This penny pinching nonsense is not cool. Quit it with the slick negotiations and just get a deal done.

Edit: If one wanted to trust in Doug....maybe these deals are not 'done' because they are over 10% slot? So stupid.

[Kricket755]

Blows my mind that teams just don't take the players first offer. Hard slotting is on the way, Is Jungmann asking for 10 million? I mean, c'mon. It's really easy. and I am not even going to look at the slots.

 

Jungmann 2.5 million

Bradley 2.1 million

Lopez 750,000

Gagnon 300,000

Ramirez 200,000

Reed 250,000

Houle 150,000

.

.

.

Cain 75-100,000

Mallex 75-100,000

 

and on and on.

 

That is like 1000 years of service time for the cost of one YuniB.

 

This penny pinching nonsense is not cool. Quit it with the slick negotiations and just get a deal done.

Edit: If one wanted to trust in Doug....maybe these deals are not 'done' because they are over 10% slot? So stupid.

Justifying the cost of everything in baseball in relation to the Betancourt contract would lead to wild and rampant spending that we have never seen before.

 

Given the percentage of players that fail to make any positive contribution to the Major league team, the patient approach is understandable, albeit frustrating. Saving a couple hundred thousand through negotiation here could lead to more money to be put back in the system by other means (such as a few latin american signings.) I think that open international market completely changes the negotiating angle of the teams with draft picks. I would love to see an Andrew Cain-type pick sign immediately after the draft, if he is demanding $150,00-$200,000 bonus, that could also be used on an international kid who may or may-not have more upisde than him.

[Tedaldtada]

You are right, Kricket. I was mostly venting. Still, why can't they have both? Our team is one that should be leading the league in amateur spending. It is the best way for us to stay competitive. I am talking 6,7,..10 million every year. That is a very solid investment. What am I missing?

[TheCrew07]

Jungmann is just incredibly difficult to get a read on.

 

I haven't decided if he's just extremely confident or an arrogant jerk... he's said things like he doesn't want to hit at all, wasn't thrilled to be drafted (was happy for friends and family), wouldn't even return Melvin's phone call, and his continual "we'll see".

 

He's also been less than inspiring in the NCAA tournament which happen to be the only times I've actually had a chance to see him pitch, and the pitch I like the best he throws the least.

 

Outside of his track record at Texas and raw ability he certainly hasn't given us much to be excited about, I actually found myself wondering on Saturday night if he'd even be willing to adjust his mechanics.

 

He'd be much easier to root for if he seemed genuinely appreciative or excited to have been drafted by the Brewers at all.

[Tedaldtada]

Yeah, something stinks here. I hope he is just making a bad first impression. (Why would anyone ever want to hope that?)