The signing deadline is one month from today

2008 Draft

And here’s basically where we stand. The following players are unsigned


109. Jonathon Pettibone, RHP (Esperanza HS, CA)
196. Colby Shreve, RHP (CC of Southern Nevada)
226. Johnny Coy, 3B (Benson HS, MO)
376. James Weber, RHP (Central Clearwater Catholic HS, FL)
766. Daniel Edwards, RHP (Kansas State)
886. Keon Broxton, 3B (Lakeland High School, FL)
916. DJ Henderson, SS (Southeastern HS, MI)
976. Sean Ellis, RHP (Polk CC, FL)
1006. James Simpson, 1B (Dowagiac Union HS, MI)
1036. Blaine O’Brien, RHP (Scituate HS, MA)
1126. Matthew Johnson, OF (John W North HS, CA)
1156. Jarred Cosart, RHP (Clear Creek HS, TX)
1186. Joseph Pond, RHP (Judge Memorial Catholic HS, UT)
1216. Daniel Marrs, RHP (James River HS, VA)
1246. Michael Petello, OF (Scottsdale CC, AZ)
1335. Charles Law, RHP (Mainland Regional HS, NJ)
1363. Justin Zumwalde, 1B (Sabino HS, AZ)
1390. Giovany Soto, LHP (Advanced Central College HS)
1444. Mark Ginther, SS (Jenks HS, OK)
1471. Michael Russo, RHP (Hun School, NJ)
1498. Josh Hake, RHP (Park University, AZ)

At this point, I think Shreve is going to get done, and I think we will see Pettibone sign as well. Coy is not going to sign. I think Weber is 50/50, since his Florida commitment is now gone. But it will take above slot to sign him, and because Shreve will cost more than slot, its iffy. Do we have hope for anyone else? Could the Phillies surprise us and sign a guy like Cosart, Marrs, or Broxton? We have one month to wait and see.

34 thoughts on “The signing deadline is one month from today”

  2. What’s the over/under on the number of players that we signm from that list? Is 7 realistic??

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  3. I’d put the over/under at 2.5. Schreve and Pettibone are realistic and I’d expect them to sign. Aside from that, I think there’s less than a 50% chance at any one guy.

    As an aside, would Worley have lasted until the Pettibone pick? If so, wouldn’t it had made more sense to pick Worley with the comp pick and Pettibone with the regular pick? If we don’t sign the comp pick, there’s no comp next year, so you pick the tougher sign with the regular pick, right? I wonder why the Phillies didn’t go that route.

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  4. My guess, and this is only a guess, is they knew a team that picked after their comp pick and before their next pick, was also on Worley. When teams scout players, they also look to see who else is scouting the player.

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  5. If our system is so bad, why did we have 4 players in the Futrures game, with the potential for 5 (Bastardo coiuldn;t play becuase of injury). Also, why do we have 3 candidates for the Olympic team if our system is so barren? Are the records of the teams THAT determinative??

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  6. Cosart would be a nice signing. 6’3″ and has touched 93mph on the radar gun. I read that he’s a smart kid. college seems more likely for him. Broxton’s a 2 sport guy and it seems like football may be a bigger upside for him. He likely to try his hand at that. Marrs seems linked to another kid on his HS team (Austin Stadler). They’re going to Wake Forect together. My gut feel is that we won’t sign any of the 3 but if 1 were to sign it would probably Cosart. Then again I might be full of $#@%.

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  7. people should remember Joe Saunders when this month is done. We could have had him but couldn’t get him out of his college committment. Sign as many as you can because you never know what they end up to be. Who’s to say Daniel Marrs (picking any example here)won’t be a great pitcher one day?

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  8. Mike Russo, I have no clue why I still hold out hope, but he seems like a talented, level headed, local kid who said he would give us a fair shot.

    Has anyone heard anything regarding this, or has this just become my pipe dream. Does anyone know if he has lefit talent. It really seems he should have been drafted way higher, but his signability was a so called issue….

    Is it possible at all the phils would bust slot to sign their 49th rounder?

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  9. -Pettibone and Schreve should be no brainers; the Phillies need more hard-throwing “horses” in their system.

    -I’m not upset about not signing Coy, but never loved his selection in the first place. With Mattair and Hewitt, the Phils have enough power hitting 3B projects in the lower levels of their system. I also think height is a little overrated; its a plus, but shouldn’t be a prospect’s best attribute. I’m okay with stockpiling athletes, but prefer players who are committed to baseball.

    -I’d really like to see the Phillies sign James Weber, even if it takes a little extra. Although Weber is small in stature and lacks overpowering stuff, he seems extremely polished for his age. Crafty prep pitchers like Weber don’t often become Aces, but they tend to reach the major leagues in a hurry and stay there for a while.

    I never really paid much attention to anyone after the 25th round. Who are some notable names after Weber?

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  10. Can’t anyone project the lakewood pitching staff for next year? It might be very young and good. I think.

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  11. lakewood next year could be pretty good. Guys like Roth, Worley, Sampson, De Fratus, Stutes, Ballestas, and cloyd could all potentially be in the starting rotation. I wouldnt be shocked at all to see Kyle Drabek pitching for the blueclaws next year as well. He should return to them for the end of this season and i would think, start there next year. Some of our younger draft picks this year could find themselves in Williamsport. We definitely have good potential coming up in terms of pitching arms.

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  12. Given their spending limitations and so many extra picks, maybe the Phillies chose Coy because he was so unlikely to sign. That wouldn’t be a bad strategy for a franchise with a self-imposed limit on their spending. “Passing” on a selection gives the Phillies the flexibility to offer more to other picks. I just hope that money saved is actually used to sign players.

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  13. I would rather see the Phillies sign a few of these guys as opposed to wasting money on the Jon Liebers, Adam Eatons and Geoff Jenkins of the world.

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  15. My real rough guess on Lakewood next year

    Roth
    De Fratus
    Knapp
    Arroyo
    Miguel Matos

    I think Worley might skip over Lakewood next year and go to Clearwater. If Knapp is held in Extended, they might start Worley in Lakewood, but I dont see the need.

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  16. baxter: I believe the Phils chose Coy believing they could get a deal done, but the situation changed when Herb Sendek pulled out all the stops and got Coy in with the ASU baseball team. They made a reasonable offer, the Coys declined, and the Phils get to use their money elsewhere. Fine by me.

    Oh, and I’m planted right next to you on the Weber bandwagon. Not saying he’ll necessarily turn out to be as good, but guys like Shawn Marcum and Trevor Cahill (the A’s prospect in the Futures Game) get by with fastballs in the high 80’s because they command their pitches incredibly well.

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  17. I’d love to see Correa back in the picture at Lakewood also, depending on his visa issues of course. He would have been on track for Lakewood if he pitched this year. If it is only visa issues they might try to get him some winter innings somewhere and then start him in the bullpen next year to minimize the innings.

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  19. I would rather see the phillies pass on weber and go after marrs or russo plus fastball pitchers. The way your talking weber is mid 80’s we have enough of those types.Unless he is a lefthander pass.

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  21. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were no more draft pick signings for the Phillies until the August 14th-15th deadline time period. From the articles, I expect they will sign Shreve but am really not sure about anyone else. I am hoping for Shreve and 2 other HS signings by the deadline.

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  22. Thank you Marc H for saying this: “I would rather see the Phillies sign a few of these guys as opposed to wasting money on the Jon Liebers, Adam Eatons and Geoff Jenkins of the world.”

    I have been making this point repeatedly for several years. To the Phillies’ credit, they do seem to slowly be coming around to this position. Things are starting to change.

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  23. I think most everyone would rather see them spend the money on prospects vs. guys like Eaton, Jenkins, etc.

    The problem is identifying which $3-$8 million player will become an Adam Eaton vs. which one will become a Jamie Moyer or Jason Werth.

    To win at the big league level, you need a combination of your own prospects and low-level veteran FA contributors to fill the holes..

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  24. To me, Werth and Dobbs were great signings – not only because it worked out but because they spent so little on these players. When you put $24 million on a player, he should have a better track record or more ability than Adam Eaton. It was a foolish investment. Similarly, Freddie Garcia was a bad move because they did not even bother to check out whether he was healthy. And the Gordon signing was also ill-conceived, it’s just not a very good idea to take a very old player with a health history and give him a three year contract to be a closer.

    I won’t kill them on Jenkins – he was not all that expensive and the contract was not long. It seemed like a smart move at the time. Similarly, having Pedro Feliz around was not the worst thing, although he is a bit of an offensive liablity. Finally, I think everyone thought the Myers signing was a good idea at the time. Myers projected to be a top of the rotation guy and may even return to that form – and he was a decent closer for one year.

    I think it’s convenient to think of the Phils’ recent signings as disastrous, but, honestly, I think they are somewhere in the middle of the pack. They could be a lot better, but they could also be like Seattle – the former GM of that team had no idea what he was doing.

    All of that having been said, it seems to me that teams like the Red Sox and Tigers have it right. When the proper player comes along, forget about the Commissioner’s slotting budget – get the player under contract and pay above-market rates. Even if a number of players fail, it’s still cheaper in the long run than the Adam Eaton route.

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  25. EXACTLY…if you bust slot on 5 players (which is alot) you are still probably under what you pay Eaton for 1 season. Even if just one of those guys hits you are still better off having him than a mediocre, over-priced veteren.

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  26. Catch22 good points. It was the reason detroit was able to get cabera. They overpaid for the center piece miller, Miller get more money than hamels this year, and last year they busted slot for porcello.Who if he was in our system would be the number one prospect right now.

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  28. I am very surprised that daniel edwards hasn’t signed. he would have to be considered a long shot not to sign. As a senior, what options does he really have other than playing indi ball till nexy year, or making a career at home depot. He must either think he’s really hot stuff, or really hate the phillies.

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  29. I agree that I’m surprised that Edwards hasn’t signed. Since he is a senior, I wonder if he becomes a free agent on August 15th?

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  30. i cant imagine that they become free agents, then why wouldnt every senior not sign and play the open market?

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  31. Maybe Edwards got a real world job and he wanted to do that over playing minor league baseball. I can’t blame him for wanting to get a start on his real career if he doesn’t figure he has a future in baseball. The real job sure has to pay better than a 1K signing bonus and 1K a month salary.

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  32. i’m pretty sure that a drafted senior remains in the control of the darfting team until may of the following year. i mainly know this due to the drama that went on with jason varitek. drafted by the mariners, boras client, threatened to play out his time with an indi club, actually did play indi ball, and eventually signed with mariners, but well into the winter or next spring if i remember correctly.

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  33. Note: After August 15 the Player isn’t technically under control of the drafting club since they can no longer sign him but other team’s cannot sign him as a FA either. Instead, he would have to play elsewhere and then reenter the 2009 draft.

    From my understanding, the only way he would become a FA is be not being drafted next June.

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