Daily Archives: August 16, 2008

Phillies sign Jarred Cosart

Taken from an updated article on the Phillies.com website

The Phillies signed high-school right-hander Jarred Cosart, a 38th-round pick, in the hour leading up to the deadline. His fastball has been clocked as high as 94 mph.

This definitely came out of left field. I was under the impression, based on everything I’d read, that Cosart was unsignable. This is what BA had on him

As an outfielder, Jarred Cosart broke Jay Buhner’s Clear Creek High record for batting average this spring, hitting .506 to Buhner’s .480. But pro teams are more interested in Cosart as a loose, athletic 6-foot-3, 180-pound righthander. He reached 96 mph with his fastball in the fall, but he topped out at 92 this spring. He’s more of a project as a pitcher than he is as a hitter, as he has an awkward pause in the middle of his delivery that compromises his ability to throw strikes or refine his secondary pitches. He wanted top-three-rounds money to sign, which means he’ll likely attend Missouri, where he’ll play both ways.

So we’re talking somewhere around $400K or so, it would seem. It will be real interesting to see whether the Phillies want him to pitch or hit. This is a big signing on a lot of levels.

EDIT —>

PGCrosschecker’s most recent comments on him

Jarred Cosart is a 2008 OF/1B/3B/P with a 6’3”, 180 lb. frame from League City, TX who attends Clear Creek HS. Tall athletic build, outstanding raw tools, recorded highest velocity ever in a workout from the outfield, quick wrists at the plate, solid middle of the field contact, level swing plane, good raw hitting tools, great actions, solid footwork, unbelievable arm strength, quick clean arm action on the mound, balanced delivery, nice extension, sharp 11 to 5 curveball, curveball is an out pitch, nice sink and run on change-up, feel for three above average pitches, strong student, highest level prospect, potential early round draft pick.

EDIT #2 —->

I created a small chart to highlight the Phillies notable picks and how the slotting came into play. You can see it here.

The bonus figures for the first 5 rounds are estimates from BA in terms of the slots, the bonus amounts for everyone but Cosart are confirmed. The Cosart bonus is a pure guess on my part, but its based on what was given to Sampson last year, it could have been even higher. There is no real slot past the 10th round, and even bonuses from the 6th-10th rounds widely vary. This was a huge draft for the Phillies. Not only did they nab a big time arm in the 38th round, but they took a bunch of high ceiling guys in the first 10 rounds and signed all but one. Shreve is an easy guy to overlook because hes out injured, but before the injury he was considered a supplemental first round pick.

This was a huge draft for the Phillies. Huge.