Pelfrey and Mets (reportedly) agree on deal!

[Guest GYC]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050109pelfrey.html
Mets Reportedly Sign Pelfrey

By John Manuel
January 9, 2006

A highly-placed source who wished to remain anonymous said the Mets had agreed to terms with former Wichita State righthander Mike Pelfrey on a four-year major league contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Calls to Scott Boras Corp., which represents Pelfrey, were not immediately returned.

Pelfrey, 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, was the ninth overall pick. BA ranked him as the top pitcher in the draft, and he fell to No. 9 overall mostly due to his perceived price tag. His college career was impressive�his 12-3, 1.93 junior season left him at 33-7, 1.93 with 366 strikeouts and just 69 walks in 360 innings. He worked primarily with a four-seam fastball that sits in 93-96 mph with natural sink, as well as an above-average changeup. His curveball is a tick below average most of the time but has the makings of being an average pitch as well. Some scouts believe Pelfrey would be better off using a slider because of his arm slot and velocity.

His signing will be in plenty of time for him to report to his first spring training. The Mets started their 2004 first-rounder, Philip Humber, at high Class A St. Lucie, also a likely destination for Pelfrey�s pro debut.

Pelfrey�s signing leaves only another Boras client, righthander Luke Hochevar, as unsigned among highly drafted players in 2005. Hochever and the Dodgers, who picked him 40th overall, saw talks break down last September.

[Guest Beenso]

its about time.

cant wait to hear how much.

[seawolf17]

Niiiice. Get 'im in the rotation!

[nymr83]

college pitchers are generally "ready" pretty fast, i'd suspect that if the Mets wanted he could be in AA by year's end and at Shea in 2007.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

2007 sounds good to me. There will be one or two openings by then.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Fantastic.

Even without Petit (boo), there's a lot of guys converging on the 2007 rotation.

[Zvon]

]The source indicated Pelfrey received a signing bonus of around $3.5 million with a contract guaranteeing Pelfrey $5.3 million. Pelfrey�s deal is payable over four years. He could earn up to a maximum of $6.6 million if he�s on the Mets� 25-man roster in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

wow.
and thats out of the chute.

I may have to go back to that other thread and offer Reyes mo money....

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

He would have to come fairly soon, since the Major League deal means a spot on the 40... NOW!!!! ... and his option clock is ticking (meaning he has 3 option years starting in 06).

[nymr83]

its pretty bullshit the contracts that prospects can extort from major league teams. why havent they agreed on "slotted" salaries like the NBA has? it would theoretically benefit the union as much as the owners since minor league players arent union members and it would free up more money for big league players contracts.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

It's enough already to limit a player from negotiating with all but one employer. Now telling that potential hire there's a limit on what that single employer can pay him?

I'm pretty sure if someone (Boras) wanted to challenge that legally he could bring down the whole freakin system.

[MFS62]

Voice of caution here.
I recall that when the Mets drafted, then signed, Aaron Heilmann, it was reported that he was "closest to the majors" of anypitcher inthatyear's draft. Pundits estimated he would be "a number 2 or 3 starter" in the majors by the middle of the following year Let's just see what happens with Pelfrey

Later

[Guest vtmet]

MFS62 wrote: Voice of caution here. I recall that when the Mets drafted, then signed, Aaron Heilmann, it was reported that he was "closest to the majors" of anypitcher inthatyear's draft. Pundits estimated he would be "a number 2 or 3 starter" in the majors by the middle of the following year Let's just see what happens with Pelfrey Later

Hopefully they've learned their lesson (imagine that) with Heilman of "fixing what ain't broke"...from what I've seen on Heilman, he was success at NCAA with a similar delivery to what he used in the 2nd half last season...and then they decided to change his delivery to something more generic (which based on his numbers in the minors, worked ok in the minors)...and then after getting beat up a bit in the majors, they allowed him to return to the delivery that made him successful in NCAA...and his effectiveness returned...Imagine Sid Fernandez, David Cone, Luis Tiant, or Al "the mad Hungarian" Hrabosky with a generic, cookie-cutting windup/delivery; would they have been as effective? I really don't think Sid would have been, he had average stuff but IMO, because his delivery hid the ball from the batters, they lost time picking the ball up in it's travel...

What I'm saying is, if they liked this guy for his stuff and how he handled batters in NCAA, then they should just let him keep doing what has already brought him success...fixing what ain't broke, is gonna break what didn't need fixing...

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's pretty bullshit and (anti-competitive) the way MLB teams extort talent from ballplayers.

[nymr83]

thats a fuckin joke, the players are so overpaid it isnt even funny

[Frayed Knot]

Heilman was imagined to be closer to the majors than most simply on account of being a College Senior in the midst of a bunch of Juniors and HS kids, although I don't recall many claims that he'd be a #2 or #3 starter as early as the middle of the following year. Mark Prior pulled off that kind of timetable (briefly anyway) but he was considered one of the best college pitchers in years.
Heilman afterall was an 18th overall pick, not 2nd (Prior) or 9th (Pelfrey) - both of whom might have been higher if not for money concerns.

[nymr83]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: It's enough already to limit a player from negotiating with all but one employer. Now telling that potential hire there's a limit on what that single employer can pay him? I'm pretty sure if someone (Boras) wanted to challenge that legally he could bring down the whole freakin system.

nobody brought down the NBA or NFL's systems.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]thats a fuckin joke, the players are so overpaid it isnt even funny

No, it's not.

In real dollars, most minor league salaries haven't changed from the sixties. Only the bonuses have changed, and after the first two rounds that's relatively negligible. So if the guys from the first two rounds get their payday, more power to them.

Sports is a huge racket. It's not a matter of overpaid or underpaid. Somebody's making money. Who should it be? The athletes with the talent and a very short period to exploit it or the suits without the talent but rather a monopoly to leverage talent for their profit, and decades-long careers to exploit it?

Pelfrey may never see free agency and the riches it'll bring. Very few players do. He's in a position to leverage his marketablity now, let him.

It is not bullshit --- or a joke --- that these players negotiate for the best salary a team is willing to pay. It's bargaining.

[Vic Sage]

]Sports is a huge racket. It's not a matter of overpaid or underpaid. Somebody's making money. Who should it be? The athletes with the talent and a very short period to exploit it or the suits without the talent but rather a monopoly to leverage talent for their profit, and decades-long careers to exploit it?

hear hear!
well said, brother Ed.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I also agree with the above.

It's easy, and overly simplistic, to say that teachers and firefighters should make more money than athletes. Ideally, they should, because they do provide a more important service to society. But that's not how our economic system works. If the best teachers were able to bring in millions of dollars of revenues to their school districts, then teachers would be making as much as athletes.

I don't understand why fans resent the money that the millionaire athletes make, but not the money that the billionaire owners collect.

[Elster88]

Chris Rock:

There's a difference between rich and wealthy.

Shaq's rich.

The white man who writes Shaq's checks....is wealthy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I imagine the Mets are holding off on an announcement until they clear room on the 40-man.

What is announced today is that the Mets have signed Ramon Castro for $800,000. Victor Zambrano and Chris Woodward remain unsigned and eligible for arbitration.

[nymr83]

i dont really even have a problem with the draft picks getting money, i just hate the idea that A) guys get picked lower than they should because the small market teams cant afford their demands and they can pull a JD Drew.
i'm not sugesting that you slot the salaries to rip them off....base the slotting on averages from the past X years and adjust in the future.

[metirish]

] Mets introduce 2005 top pick Pelfrey BY JIM BAUMBACH STAFF WRITER January 11, 2006, 12:25 PM EST The Mets this morning introduced their newly signed 2005 first-round pick, righthander Mike Pelfrey, who said he couldn't wait for spring training to start. The Mets gave Pelfrey a four-year major-league contract, which means he is on the 40-man roster and will be with the big guys at the start of spring training. "My only concern is to go out and improve every day as a player," he said. "I'm positive the Mets will let me know when I'm ready." Pelfrey's contract is worth a guaranteed $5.2 million, with additional incentives that could push its total value to as much as a $6.5 million depending on how quickly he makes the majors. Pelfrey, however, said he is simply looking forward to regular baseball action again, after spending the last seven months since the draft resting his shoulder and taking up golf. He said he was never worried about a deal getting done despite the long wait because he knew there were no plans for him to pick up a baseball after throwing 139 2/3 innings as a junior for Wichita State last season, his junior year. "I had faith in the mets and I had faith in my advisors," said Pelfrey, who is represented by Scott Boras, "so I knew it was going to get done. It was no big deal being patient."

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm not sure what "pulling a JD Drew" means, but I have no problem with him refusing to sign and going to the Northern League. He did so at no small risk.

[Theoldmole]

Ah, yes, faith in Scott Boras.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

[metirish]

Umm, not a great shirt Jeff.

[Guest SI Metman]

ok, time to get his Tommy John surgery out of the way...