A quick note

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In case you didn’t see it in the comments section of a previous post, Tyler Mach and Jarrod Freeman have both retired, based on the info thats been uncovered. I guess maybe it somewhat justifies my harsh criticism of the Mach pick at the time. Most college seniors aren’t elite prospects, but most stick around for at least a full season. Its really a shame to waste a 4th round pick on a guy who is only going to play 2 months of pro ball. Freeman is more surprising, as he did seem to have a few legit tools, though he was probably going to take time to develop. But, its just a reminder that pro ball, especially for guys who are facing a major uphill climb, isn’t for everyone. Which makes a guy like Chris Coste all that more amazing.

13 thoughts on “A quick note”

  1. Any word on whether Mach has to repay part of his signing bonus? I remember a big flap a few years back when Josh Booty retired from the Marlins over his bonus. As a first round pick, he obviously had a much higher bonus than Mach, but it would still be nice to see the Phils recoup at least part of Mach’s bonus and put it back into this year’s draft. If I remember correctly, it was $80k or so — nothing spectacular, but might allow for the Phillies to bust slot on a pick (or at least take guys unlike Mach who are more expensive but actually have an upside).

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  2. I wonder if Mach looked at the small possibility of making the majors given his age and position skills that he decided that 5 years of minor league ball to have a small shot at the majors was going to be tough. The Phillies might have also talked to him about being a utility player this year, given that he and Cardenas both play 2B. I think Mach would have been double-jumped to Clearwater because of his offensive skills, but once he got there he probably would have had to find at bats at multiple positions because of Cardenas. If he went to Lakewood he would be 1 level behind Cardenas and 3 years older, another bad position to be in.

    If I were the Phillies I would not ask for the bonus back. It is small and inconsequential in the larger scheme of things. There is a far greater chance that Mach will come back if they let him keep the money. If this were a million dollar bonus it might be a different story.

    It does bring into even greater focus the question of why the Phillies made the pick in the first place. It sure looks like they were trying to save money and not like they had a great relationship with an underrated prospect.

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  3. I know for a fact the News Journal’s Scott Lauber is trying to interview Marti Wolever for a story. He hasn’t seen Wolever around the training complex this spring, although he’s sure he’s here. Lauber wants to write a feature story on him, if not during spring training than definitely before the June draft. These wasted signings would be good questions to start the interview with.

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  5. two quick points:

    1) minor leaguers really don’t paid much at all…especially in the lower minors. i’d be surprised if the average is over $30K.

    2) anyone who has a subscription to scout.com care to post the jist of the article about the two sudden retirements?

    thanks!

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  6. Here is the story from Scout.com…

    There are two players AWOL from the Phillies minor league camp in Clearwater and both are considering retirement.
    Pitcher Jarrod Freeman – the number 47 prospect on the Philly Baseball News list of the Phillies top 75 prospects – has informed the team that he’s considering retirement after just two seasons in the minros. Freeman, who was the Phillies 11th round pick in the 2006 Draft, hasn’t reported to camp and is considering heading to college full-time rather than continuing his minor league career.

    In two seasons, Freeman has gone 3-7 with a 4.27 ERA and finished the season at Lakewood in 2007. He struggled in his stint with the BlueClaws, but was slated to return there to start the 2008 season.

    A bigger concern than Freeman is infielder Tyler Mach, who also has informed the team that he is considering retirement. Mach, the number 20 prospect on our Top 75 list, was the Phillies 4th round pick last June and hit .287 at Williamsport. Mach had initially been drafted by the Cardinals in the 40th round of the 2006 Draft, but returned for a final season at Oklahoma State and greatly increased his draft position with a nice senior season.

    Mach’s possible retirement is interesting because of a quote from him in his hometown paper, The Maple Valley Reporter after he was drafted. “Being 22, I’m going to give myself five years. At the end of that, we’ll see where I’m at. Minor league life is definitely not like major league life… Ever since I was little, I looked up to guys in the major leagues and wondered what it would be like to be in their shoes. It’s weird to know I have the opportunity now. I might have the chance to make a dream come true.”

    Neither player has officially filed retirement papers, but neither has told the Phillies that they will be in camp anytime soon. It’s still possible that either or both will return to the team. One question is whether Freeman would qualify for the college money that high school players

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  7. Hmmm… paging Art D., paging Art D.

    If Mach retires, it would be a bit of a surprise. He put up fairly decent numbers. My guess is that he didn’t feel it was worth a shot, especially since the Phillies are pretty stacked at 2B, and he figured he would start an otherwise normal life. Best of luck to him.

    – Jeff O

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  8. If true, then drafting Mach was an extremely high level mistake. When an organization plays it safe and uses a high pick to draft a less expensive, more experienced player with, presumably, a higher upside, it better be damned well sure that the guy wants to play. Someone probably did not do his or or her homework very well.

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  10. Disappointed to hear about mach. He must be making a life decision over a baseball one. No one would give up that quickly because he doesn’t want to compete. This guy is a competitor. There might be something else going on. If so, you can’t blame him. Embarasing for Phillies, but not horrible. These things happen.

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  11. Machs average of 287 looks decent until you find out that he was hitting around 410 after the first three or four weeks and then the bottom dropped out. Now I have no if this may have been caused by pitching adjustments or a possible injury. Also a players listed as the 20th best prospect in our organization is not one to get worked up about

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