Tough Signs-High School Players

[Cardinals31]

Most of you can probably tell by my name that I'm a Cards fan(although I like the Brewers) so this question kind of surrounds the Cards first round picks.

 

Which high school players would be tougher to sign if they fell to the Cards at 28 or 30?

I've heard Jordan Danks is committed to honoring his commitment to Texas. I've heard Brett Jacobsen could be a tough sign if he began to slip. The same with Austin Jackson.

What high school players would be tougher to sign if they fell to the later part of the draft?

I know a tough sign could be made easy with the right dollar figures, but with 4 first/supp first picks, the Cards have to budget their money.

[colbyjack]

Players really don't start to get completely unsignable until the fall completely out of the first round. I think Brett Jacobson is serious enough about a pro career to sign in the late first-round, despite his commitment to Vandy. It may take a cool 7-figures to make it happen, similar to the Twins sigining prep Vandy recruit Kyle Waldrop late in the first round a year ago.

 

With Danks it may just be a matter of him seriously wanting to go to Texas. He was already considered a late first-rounder, although I'm not as high on him as others, so if he's serious about his Texas commitment I don't think he qualifies in that he should be a late first-rounder (at best) anyway. In other words, he wouldn't really fall to that position.

 

I've heard less & less about Austin Jackson, which to me means he's not impressing people as much and he may be telling teams how much it is going to take to sign him away from his Georgia Tech basketball/baseball commitment.

 

One player that may make fit the description perfectly is Mark Pawelek, a prep lefty from Utah. He's represented by Scott Boras, which alone may cause him to fall. The Cardinals have never been scared away by Boras clients, particularly in the draft (Drew, Ankiel), so it may be a perfect fit if Pawelek falls that far.

 

Zach Putnam or Sean O'Sullivan may be good examples, although they're falling because they haven't been performing as well this spring. Otherwise, I think you can take just about any high school player late in the first round and give him slot money to sign. Few players turn down 7 figures, and the ones that do are often made to look more foolish than not.

[Cardinals31]

I think Danks is one of the more underrated players in the draft, but is getting his fair share of looks from the pros.

IMO, he should be a mid to late first round pick. If he was more willing to sign, I'm sure a team from picks 15-25 would take a chance on him. Instead he's just been talking of honoring his commitment to Texas, and that's what is getting him pushed down lower.

He's got the talent of a mid first rounder.

 

In regards to Mark Pawelek. When I made this thread, I thought about the possibility of him falling to the Cards at 28(and even 30 as the Marlins won't touch him at 29) and whether or not he would sign, and there's little doubt in my mind that Walt Jocketty and Co. would snatch him up in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

I feel that this offseason, Scott Boras and the Cardinals gained a better relationship through Rick Ankiel. It seemed Boras really wanted him to be a Cardinal, and the Cards felt the same way so they offered Rick the best offer they could.

The Cards will probably have very little reluctance in selecting Boras' clients. And going back to Pawelek, the Cards have 6 great pitching prospects, but all are right handers. The only lefty on the horizon is Low A Eric Haberer. Pawelek is a good fit for the Cards, however I doubt he'll fall. If there's one team that can afford a Boras client, they'll be wise to take a lefty who can toss a mid 90s fastball with 3 other great pitches.

 

Austin Jackson was a bad example. Although, I think what I was thinking was that if Jackson fell far enough(even if he wasn't considered a mid to late first pick), would he be tough to sign? Maybe if he was drafted early second round?