It’s been an eventful month or so since the draft. The Phillies have done some nice work in signing their college guys taken early in a rather quick fashion, and they wrapped up their two top prep guys in d’Arnaud and Mattair quickly. They’ve also nabbed Jiwan James, one of their best flier prospects taken after the 20th round. But, we’re now only 6 weeks from the deadline, and a few important guys are yet to sign.
1. Joe Savery – I think this is going to get done. Last year, Drabek took a while to sign, and I have to think that it’s not a bad thing that Savery isn’t signing quickly and adding mileage onto his arm. He’s had a long junior season recovering from injury, I’m sure he wanted time to decompress after the CWS, and I think he signs for right around slot money sometime in the next week.
3. Brandon Workman – It now appears Workman is leaning toward college. If this is his true intention, it’s really disappointing. It seemed the Phillies took him in the 3rd round because that’s the money he told them he needed to sign. Is he going back on his word now and angling for more? It wouldn’t be an issue if he were taken in the 25th round and we couldn’t work out a deal. If he doesn’t sign, we get the exact same pick in next year’s draft.
3. Matt Spencer – Really not sure what the deal is here. He was rumored to be signed, then they changed it and said he was “close” to signing…..ok, so what’s the holdup? I don’t really know he’s in a great position to demand over slot money based on his performance this past season.
12. Julian Sampson – Sampson was probably 50/50 on signing, but I’m not sure if the Jiwan James signing will impact this move. I think it’s still 50/50 to be honest, but if we don’t sign Workman, then I believe that money will be used to pay Sampson. I just wish it weren’t an either or type deal and we’d just sign both.
Phuture Phillies 
I have no doubt that Savery and Spencer will get done, but I imagine both are being offered the 10% decreased slot money the Phillies seem determined to offer. I’ll be happy if they get in 5-6 weeks of a season and a week in the FIL, considering the long college season and level of competition each faced.
With Workman and Sampson, it’s really simple. The Phillies know each kid’s asking price and must meet it or the kids are off to school. Both have strong college commitments, so the Phillies can’t stick with their original offer and wait for a “change of heart” from either. It’s not going to work. Whether or not the Phillies sign these two will show us just how much ownership is committed to player development.
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Hey are you going to do any features on D’Arby Myers again because this kid has been very good so far. 2-2 tonight with 2 RBI’s as the crosscutters batted around. He is up to .352 and he has walked 5 times already this year though he needs to work on his K’s 13 in 12 games.
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Mattair. Is this kid the real deal? Ive heard how he is a good prospect but how good is this kid and is he better than Costanzo?
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Myers: 4-6 last night and is hitting .341. Yeah, the strikeouts are hight (11 in 41 AB) and the walks could be higher (only 4BB), but remember he won’t turn 19 until December. Realistically, he should’ve have been graduating high school a few weeks ago. This kid has some serious potential.
Mattair seems to be scuffling a bit, but that’s probably nothing more than just his adjusting to a higher level of competition, a wooden bat, etc. At this point, he’s probably more of a 3B prospect than Costanzo, although I’m betting Costanzo will be given a shot at third sometime in 2008, and struggle a bit before settling into a Greg Dobbs-type role. Given how he struggles against righthanders, I think that MC will have a nice major league career if used properly.
– Jeff
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My bad – Myers is actually hitting .362. The .341 is his average for the last ten games.
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D’Arby is great. I hope to have something on him in the near future. Mattair is fine, he gets an adjustment period, and I think in a month, we’ll start to see better results.
Savery will attend tonight’s Phillies game with the area scout who recommended him, and a deal should be done by the end of the week.
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A real question here. Given the evident desire to restock the organization with right-handed pitched (based on the number in the draft) and the unwise overpayment of free agent righthanders at a MLB level, why is the organization NOT making an all out effort on the two seemingly legit RHP prospects they drafted (Workman and Sampson)? A few weeks ago, Sampson sounded 75% ready to sign with college as a fallback. What are the guys thinking? Are we just being pennywise?
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I’m sure they are hoping that both guys blink first. Workman’s commitment seems stronger, because it’s a better baseball school, but Sampson may well go too.
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Notice the last three Phils #1 picks are from Texas and the lousy scout Steve Cohen’s name is attached to all of them. Cohen must have this super eyesight or something since he sees things in players that no one else sees. Just think how nice Hunter Pence would look in the Phillies lineup, but we had to go with Golson that year. I bet Workman is another one of Cohen’s gems. Where did this guy come from? Mike Arbuckle scouting skool?
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You’re kidding right? True, Golson had been a bust thus far but six or seven Phils scouts all saw him and evidently agreed to draft him. Drabek and Savery haven’t even really begun their careers yet so there is no way to tell. In fact, you base this claim on 1 pick (and I’m sure that every scout, even the most highly rated, have made mistakes before. Projection is still more art than science). Meanwhile, Texas is a baseball hotbed so it would make some sense that we draft heavily from that area.
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No I’m not kidding. Do you think I’m kidding when I say it’s the same people drafting the same old tried and failed methods year after year with 0 playoff appearances in 15 years? If the Phillies tell you enought times that projection and athletes is the way to go, soon the fools believe them. Why would these draftees be any different? Do you really think Drabek is going to be good with his 4.00+ ERA right now and small fame that has no projection and can’t can’t bigger? His numbers are worse than Gavin Floyd’s when he was in Low-A. Drabek has elbow problems and his best pitch is a curveball. That doesn’t sound like a great combination to me. Golson will be a huge bust. Book it. What scouts ever said he could/would hit, except for Steve Cohen? Show me where a player with his BB/K/AB ratio has been a successful major leaguer. You did say Texas is a hot bed, and it sure could be if we drafted the correct way and dump these failed methods Arbuckle and the Phillies currently use. I an very, very anti-Arbuckle and believe HE is one of the main culprits this franchise is going nowhere. In 15 years of drafting, I still don’t see a real pitcher that can be relied upon to take the hill start after start. That’s pretty poor if you ask anyone. Dont’ say Cole Hamels either. The jury’s not in yet. Wait another year or two.
Sometimes people should actually go to a minor league game like I’ve been since i was a little kid seeing Greg Luzinski hit bombs at AA Reading. You can spot talented players easily, even without knowing a player or seeing his stats. Unfortunately, for me, that talent I’ve seen for the last four decades has been on the visiting team. It’s still that way.
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Better check your facts here. Workman and the Phillies did have an agreed upon amount. When he is actually offered that amount I’m sure he will sign quickly. Coming in with an offer 20-25% lower than the agreed amount will send him to Texas.
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texan – Thanks for your insight. We, as Phillies fans, want very much for the Phillies to sign Brandon Workman and we are frustrated by the Phillies seeming stinginess with their draft picks. If it doesn’t work out I will be upset with the Phillies
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Hey texan, thanks for the update. I think most of us assumed the Phillies and Workman had a pre draft deal in place, and it’s not totally surprising they are trying to cheapen the offer now. I’m guessing they’ll sign him, but they are just trying to haggle over a few dollars. Hopefully it doesn’t sour him on the org and he doesn’t decide to head to school.
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I’m definitely not questioning anything that was said but just curious- how do you know that the Phils came in 20-25% below the agreed-upon number? Definitely sounds like something they would do. 🙂
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to be totally correct it was not so much of an agreed upon number but rather him clearly answering the question(s) “what would it take for you to sign?”, “would you sign for that amount if we take you in the third”….”just calling to confirm your number”. In each case the number was clearly communicated (always the same number) and understood. During the draft, just before the 107 pick, the Phils called and offered signifigantly less (approx. 20% less) and he said no. They drafted him anyway. His number has not changed although he is starting to pitch again. Hell the kid is 18, all he knows is the summer is for baseball and its time to get on the bump.
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Not surprising at all, considering the Phillies. Thanks for the update on that.
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texan – Thanks for the clarification. The Phillies really don’t like to waste top round draft picks so I suspect that they will come up from their initial offer. I suspect Brandon’s signing number might have been higher than the slot recommendation for the 107th slot and, thus, the Phillies may be waiting until later in the summer to avoid the ire of the Commissioner’s office. We all look forward to Brandon joining the organization.
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