Here’s a nice article on our 30th round pick, Jacob Diekman. Diekman is reporting to the GCL squad, and reportedly got something “close to 7th round money”, which is probably between $50,000 and $100,000, if I had to guess. He seems like a good kid, and you can never have enough live arm lefties.
Slow day at work today. Google can be a wonderful thing. The Phillies media guide is apparently available for free on the MLB web site. Check out the link on this page for minor league players. Media Guide Link. The interesting prospect info is on the part 2 link. There are bios of all Phillies minor leaguers, including the Latin American signings. Most interesting thing learned? The Phillies are now active scouting in Mexico. Sebastien Valle, the Phillies 17-year-old catcher in the DSL this year was signed out of Mexico last October, several months after his 16th birthday.
Pitching is the most sought after commodity in baseball and every team has learned that you can never have enough of it. Good pitching is hard to come by, especially in this day of small parks, tightly wound baseballs, more frequent arm injuries and hitters swinging for the fences. The recent first year player draft was certainly proof of that with young, strong arms being drafted often and in the first rounds. As arm injuries seem to be more and more frequent, pitch counts have grown to be considered paramount in trying to prevent arm, injury and shoulder mishaps. There is also the obvious learning curve for young pitchers moving up through the minor leagues and the progressively tougher competition.
Continue reading Triple A-Last Stop Before The Show? (Part Two) The Pitchers
Less than 12 hours after deciding to pass on pro baseball for now, Jiwan James changed his mind and signed with the Phillies. The article talks about James going back and forth, including attending an orientation session at Florida, but ultimately deciding to sign. The Phillies had contacted James on draft day and offered him the money if they took him in the 6th round, but he said he wouldn’t sign for that. Within the article linked above, it mentions the Phillies visiting him and upping their offer. My guess? Between $250,000 and $350,000, around 3rd-4th round money. We’ll know eventually, as Baseball America normally gets all the bonus amounts right. This leaves Julian Sampson as our prized prep prospect, as the Phillies already came to terms with 30th round pick Jacob Diekman, a live armed JuCo lefty. Mark Adzick is 99% committed to Wake Forest, leaving Sampson as our main target. I’m not sure how the signing of James will affect the latter, time will tell, but for now, this is quite an exciting development.
Want the skinny on James? Check out the writeup on PhilliesDraft.com
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