2015 Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5

[Eye Black]

TWEET from yesterday via Adam McCalvy.

 

@AdamMcCalvy: Look for the #Brewers to introduce No. 1 pick Trent Clark and a couple other Draft picks on Monday at Miller Park.

[SRB]

Trent Clark and Nash Walters have both tweeted about traveling to Milwaukee, so presumably both have formally signed.

[Mass Haas]

Eventually the bonuses fo the Top 10 rounds will be announced, but for now, Jim Callis tweet:

 

8th-rder Nate Griep's bonus w/@Brewers=$150k (241 pick value=$171,100). Kansas St Redshirt Soph RHP, TJ in past, to 94 & good spin at best

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO via WTMJ: Scout.com's MLB writer Jeff Ellis joined Justin Garcia on Wisconsin Sports Weekend to take a look back at what the Brewers did in last weeks MLB Draft.

 

***

 

AUDIO via @BrewerNations' blog -- Nearly two hours of podcast, interviews back-to-back-to-back beginning around the 38:30 minute mark:

 

Biloxi RHP Brooks Hall

 

8th round RHP Nate Griep out of Kansas State

 

9th round RHP Karsen Lindell, an Oregon high schooler

 

Podcast was taped last Wednesday, both draft picks indicated, as we've since learned elsewhere, that they've signed with the Crew.

[splitterpfj]

Trent Clark's deal is for 2.7M, which is just a few thousand dollars over slot for that pick.

[Mass Haas]

MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis Tweet:

 

3rd-rder Nash Walters' bonus w/@Brewers = $800k (90 slot = $646,300). Texas HS RHP, projectable 6-ft-5, 88-93 sinker, 3/4 brk ball

[trwi7]

Nathan Kirby will be starting tomorrow for Virginia tomorrow at 2 pm Central Time on ESPN2 so set your DVR's.

[brewmann04]

done

[Mass Haas]

Tweet from BrewCrewBall's Derek Harvey -

 

According to MLB's draft tracker, the #Brewers gave 5th rounder Blake Allemand a $40,000 bonus. Slot value was $348,600.

[pacopete4]

Kirby just froze a batter to win the CWS!

[Eye Black]

Nathan Kirby experiences storybook ending to UVa career

By Mike Barber / Richmond Times-Dispatch

 

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Nathan Kirby’s remarkable college baseball career could have ended in the most unremarkable of fashions.

 

Instead, it concluded in a spectacular style, with Kirby at the bottom of a dog pile celebrating Virginia’s first baseball national championship.

 

“It was a very humbling experience to be out there with my teammates, to be the guy they called on to finish it off,” Kirby said last week, after the team returned to Virginia from Omaha, Neb., where it beat Vanderbilt two games to one to win the College World Series.

 

Kirby, the former James River High School star and two-time all-American, walked off the mound in the third inning of a regular-season game against Miami on April 17 and felt discomfort on his left side. He had strained a lat muscle and would sideline him for nearly three months.

 

That could have been it.

 

Had U.Va. not turned in one of the most improbable postseason runs in NCAA history, earning an at-large bid to the tournament, then winning five straight games to sweep through a regional and super regional to reach the College World Series for the second straight year, Kirby’s last college game would have been that Miami game.

 

“I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t think about that,” Kirby said.

 

But in this storybook season for the Cavaliers, it was only fitting that Kirby would be toeing the pitching rubber to author the final few sentences.

 

And what an ending he penned, recording the final six outs, five by strikeout, to save the 4-2 victory in the decisive Game 3.

 

“You could just see the determination in that guy’s face, that he wasn’t going to be denied,” U.Va. coach Brian O’Connor said. “He was in complete control of the game. You could tell he really wanted it for his teammates.”

 

You could make even more of the story, if you feel the need to. You could consider Kirby’s past failures in the College World Series, and view his triumph as a redemption story, the star pitcher setting Omaha straight before heading off to pro ball.

 

Kirby did have an awful outing to start last year’s championship series, taking the loss in Game 1 after giving up eight runs, five of them earned, in 2 1/3 innings of work. He only allowed two hits but have walked five batters. U.Va. went on to lose the series, also against Vanderbilt, in three games.

 

And Kirby’s return to the mound following this season’s injury came in the Cavaliers’ 10-5 loss to Florida. He gave up four runs in 2 2/3 innings in the only game U.Va. Lost in the entire NCAA tournament.

 

With each diving slider, it was as if Kirby was telling Omaha, "This is the pitcher I really am."

“I was just throwing as hard as I could,” he said. “Whatever pitch was called, I was just throwing as hard as I could and hopefully it would be over the plate.”

 

But Kirby, who was drafted 40th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in this year's MLB draft, insists he didn’t take the mound at TD Ameritrade Park to exorcise any personal demons.

“No, I pitch for the guys in our dugout and the guys on our team,” Kirby said. “It’s nothing more than that. Each year is a different year, it’s a new year and you’ve got to turn the page. If you go out there and make it more than it is, I think that’s where people get caught up in the future and the past. Baseball’s a game where you have to be in the present. I just wanted to win.”

 

His teammates could tell.

 

“It was well deserved, but I don’t think it was much of a redemption game,” junior starting pitcher Brandon Waddell said. “They’re two different teams. I think he took that approach. I think if he took it as a redemption game, he would have been a little crazy, a little too pumped up for that. I think he kind of came in there really relaxed and just confident.”

Behind him, the Cavaliers were plenty confident, too. It had been Josh Sborz, the series’ Most Outstanding Player, who closed out U.Va.’s Game 2 by throwing four dominant relief innings in the 3-0 win.

 

But Sborz had thrown 77 pitches. He was spent. He and O’Connor both knew it. But Virginia had an ace – its ace – still up its sleeve.

 

“My coach said, if we’re in a spot to win, I want you out there,” Kirby said.

 

The week before, Kirby had been drafted by the Brewers. He hasn’t signed yet but fully expects his next pitch to come in the minor leagues.

 

His U.Va. career is over.

 

Instead of ending early because of an injury, it ended perfectly, with a championship.

[LouisEly]

Daz Cameron signs with the Astros for a reported $4M. The Astros saved ~$1.6M with their #2 overall pick Bregman, and about $700K with their other picks, to allow them to go ~$2.3M over the ~$1.6M slot.

 

Would be nice if the Brewers could get three years of top-five picks and that type of bonus pool to come out with a top five and a top 15 talent out of each of those three drafts.

[CheezWizHed]

Anyone know the hold-up in signing Kirby?

[TheCrew07]

The College WS.

[And That]

The Brewers may be taking a close look at his physical, and he's not going to pitch much the rest of the year anyway.

[WV Brew]

--but it would be nice to know how much he is signing for so the Brewers can get on with signing anyone else they may be still interested in.

[And That]

He'll go relatively close to slot, and I don't think he'll have a great impact on the Brewers' few remaining potential signings. There might even already be an agreement in place. Again, not too much of a rush because he'll pitch little if at all the rest of the year. I'll be worried if he's not signed by the 15th.

[ebmackenzie]

Any chance that we don't sign Nathan Kirby?

[TheCrew07]

Very slim, the Brewers haven't made that kind of mistake in the past.

[CheezWizHed]

I knew the College WS was done weeks ago, so it was the medical part that was getting me worried now. I would expect that would be the only thing that would keep the Brewers from signing him; something uncomfortable in the medical report...just re-pick next year.

[SRB]

Was trying to find video of Clark's cycle and found this instead (video of his draft day party):

 

Kind of cool! Also, somebody brings him a Brewers hat almost immediately after his name is called so I guess there was (not surprisingly) some pre-draft discussion there.

[CheezWizHed]

Question on Allemand signing for $40k:

 

I realize the guy is a senior, but how does the disparity get that bad? Was this a pre-negotiated deal? Or did the Brewers just do a "screw you, you're a senior" move? I didn't think he was drafted so far out of slot that $40k would have made sense.

[WV Brew]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/135876790/several-top-draft-picks-remained-unsigned

 

Article mentions Kirby. Says the Brewers were expected to reach agreement earlier but it hasn't happened yet. Gives the number available including savings from other picks.

 

CheezWizHed: The BA thread below message #104 has a story about seniors. Yes, they get screwed basically. Allemand got relatively lucky.

[trwi7]

Question on Allemand signing for $40k:

 

I realize the guy is a senior, but how does the disparity get that bad? Was this a pre-negotiated deal? Or did the Brewers just do a "screw you, you're a senior" move? I didn't think he was drafted so far out of slot that $40k would have made sense.

 

It's part of having no leverage and part of it is the area scout finds a player like Allemand (a senior with little leverage) and they ask "If we draft you here, will you sign for this amount?" And if the player says yes, there's a pretty good chance that the team will take him for the savings.

[CheezWizHed]

Maybe I've not paid that much attention to signing bonuses in the past because I don't remember one that far out of line, even for seniors.