Our long regional month of boredom is over. Jim Callis is reporting that second overall pick Kris Bryant has agreed to terms with the Cubs for exactly what was prescribed by slot value, $6,708,400. Jon Heyman appears to have gotten the story first, but Scott Boras neglected to fill him in on the details, instead emphasizing the "record-setting" nature of the contract, which means very little since the current slotting system was put into place last year. Paul Sullivan gets honorable mention as he was perhaps the first to officially report, but he was imprecise, and will get no link from me.
Cubs Lose?
The Cubs had first overall pick Mark Appel first on their draft board, as well, and he signed with the Astros for $6.34 million weeks ago, and has already made two minor league starts. For the second year in a row, the 'Stros have performed admirably in acquiring talent and getting it signed cheaply. (Though if I were an Astros fan, I would not be happy watching what Byron Buxton is up to these days). No one doubted that an agreement would be reached, but Bryant appears to have gotten the better end of the negotiations. The Cubs were offering only in the neighborhood of $6 million about two weeks ago, and have apparently gone up considerably since then.
Implications
That Bryant signed for the full slot value means that the Cubs will not be able to do as much with later round picks. They did manage to get Tyler Alamo in the fold (24th-rounder), and my guess is that 12th-rounder Trevor Clifton will sign soon. Clifton won't get the $570k he was hoping for, however, as the Cubs can now only offer ~$441k (less whatever Alamo and every other post-10th rounder signed for over $100k). Based on the limited funds left to the Cubs, I doubt we see any other high-schoolers sign, unless they are really having second thoughts about this whole college thing. 25th-rounder Marcus Doi, for one, has turned down the Cubs' offer. The signing deadline is Friday, so we will know one way or the other on everyone else in the next two days.
All potential missed opportunities later in the draft are extremely minor compared to getting Bryant to sign, however, as first-rounders dominate major league baseball, especially the first pick or two. It will be good to see him start getting into game action.
Comments
@ josh:
they will have to pay a 75% tax on their overages, but they won’t sign anyone else to a deal that causes them to lose a pick
GWQuote Reply
Fuckin’ stoked.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Me too. Just ordered a Bryant Cubs jersey and can’t wait to wear it to his first mlb all-star game next year.
dmick89Quote Reply
FWIW Gammons has the first tweet on the amount.
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
yeah, i posted that in the last thread. i’m still giving credit to Callis, who left nothing open to question.
GWQuote Reply
Yu Darvish goes to DL. I think Texas has to get serious about Garza. I’d rather the Cubs sign Garza and trade F7 to Texas for Profar. Is that too rediculous? What is a fair return for F7. If the Cubs got Profar, they could trade Castro for pitching.
NateQuote Reply
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/2013-mlb-draft-signings-central/
GWQuote Reply
@ Nate:
doesn’t seem that serious. they are only expecting him to miss one start, with the all star break and all.
GWQuote Reply
@ Nate:
What happened to Yu? #SadFace
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Espn1000 reports Cubs want to bring Scott Baker back next year if he is healthy.
NateQuote Reply
I was pretty anti Bryant… Have come to the conclusion he was a better pick than even Appel
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
That was a good game.
dmick89Quote Reply
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
why?
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
bubblesdachimp wrote:
sorry…don’t think i’ve ever seen bubbs talk in the first person so i needed to correct that.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
If we get Clifton and Alamo still, I’ll be very happy despite all this hand-wringing. I don’t begrudge Bryant at all, regardless. He should start the season at A, see A+ by August 1.
MylesQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
(dying laughing)
Not Stationary WaLiQuote Reply
@ Myles:
yeah, I tried to emphasize that these were very minor complaints in the grand scheme of things, especially given clifton’s aversion to academics.
hoyer says bryant will probably start in boise.
GWQuote Reply
Mike Trout is fucking unfair.
MylesQuote Reply
@ GW:
Who’s that?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
some writer from his hometown
GWQuote Reply
I meant to watch this game on dvr to save time on commericals, ended up saving time by accidentally loading the live feed instead.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Remember in 2011 when Pujols was off to a slow start, and then heated up against the Cubs? I’m feeling déjà vu.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I apologize to Jeff Samardzija for putting the stink on him with my previews.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Don’t feel so bad, Samardzija. Cliff Lee gave up 4 homers today, too.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
GW wrote:
That’s interesting.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
If there were a level above the Major Leagues, he’d be a great player there, too.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’d say it’s unfair to Mike Trout that he has to play against puny mortals.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
There’s a metaphor in here.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Is anyone else watching that thinks Jeff Garlin is ridiculously drunk right now?
AndrewQuote Reply
@ GW:
Cool. Sounds like a good deal.
joshQuote Reply
@ Andrew:
I think that’s just his voice. He did have a stroke a couple years ago.
joshQuote Reply
THIS is the Samardzija we were all expecting two years ago… Hopefully he’s not turning back into a pumpkin.
joshQuote Reply
@ Andrew:
i’m not sure, but it definitely seems like it
GWQuote Reply
for those who aren’t watching
GWQuote Reply
Holy shit, we got a defensive indifference call in the fifth fucking inning.
What happened with Sori? He get traded or something?
joshQuote Reply
@ GW:
Is that Jeff Bagwell?
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
alex buccilli
GWQuote Reply
@ josh:
Josh Vitters decided to reinvent himself.
dmick89Quote Reply
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
i realize this is pretty obscure, but it had me (dying laughing)
GWQuote Reply
https://twitter.com/NotTomRicketts/status/355115993229570048
GWQuote Reply
SVB —-> Clemson University
Can’t believe I’m moving to South Carolina.
SVBQuote Reply
@ GW:
(Dying laughing) awesome. I love al begging Kim to email him. What a weirdo.
Not Stationary WaLiQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Congrats and Good luck!
Not Stationary WaLiQuote Reply
That was a pretty good emergency start for Raley
SVBQuote Reply
Just gotta have fun however you can!
http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2013/7/10/4513030/cubs-angels-fan-home-run-13-2-gif
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Hooray!
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIWRJnW0Yho
GWQuote Reply
I’m addicted to watching those Kawasaki videos. shit is hilarious
NateQuote Reply
@ GW:
email me please.
Al YellonQuote Reply
Prior to today, the Cubs had scored more runs than they allowed (by one). The universe has a way of course correcting itself, I guess.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ GW:
Looking through his feed I see a lot of familiar memes. Is NTR really notorious Ricketts hater MO?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
SVB wrote:
I didn’t think they needed roadkill scrapers in SC since good carcasses don’t last long down there?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Brandon McCarthy’s timeline this morning is pure epic win.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Jumbotron —> approved, but shrunk a bit
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Pics or it didn’t happen
WaLiQuote Reply
iBlogged about it and linked to Fran Spielman’s report of the compromises for all interested parties…
http://www.chicagonow.com/world-series-dreaming/2013/07/the-wrigley-restoration-and-beyond/
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
when did you guys move to Chicago Now? Didn’t you just send me an email a few days ago about a theme?
dmick89Quote Reply
@ WaLi:
The gist is that Mitch Williams on MLB Network was talking about the ramifications of not pitching outside and then showed a video of Brandon McCarthy taking a liner to the noggin. So Brandon had some fun with it with his followers, lots of good retweets.
Long story short, “this is what happens” is now a Twitter meme (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
We kept the original domain to host our podcast and to do silly crap with. Julie invited us to join about a month ago so most of our “regular” content goes to CN these days, but I don’t like how CN doesn’t allow for a lot of customizability.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Guess who’s back today?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6cCR6jWkuU
GBTSQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
i can’t believe no one invoked walter sobchak. talk about low hanging fruit.
GWQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Is Alvin still trying to come to terms with what we knew 20 months ago?
dmick89Quote Reply
SVB wrote:
You’ll only be a short drive from Asheville, NC which probably has the highest number of breweries per capita of any city in the US. Enjoy!
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
BerseliusQuote Reply
this is fucking great on multiple levels:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/07/the-worst-video-game-ever-created.html
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
SVB wrote:
congrats. the most beautiful women on the planet hail from south carolina.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
http://www.deadspin.com/fox-friends-anchor-throws-basketball-into-babys-face-743192112
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
This is the best thing you will see on the internet this year.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
“The kid’s crying, what do we do??”
“Put up that picture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after being tortured!!”
GBTSQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I just stumbled on that quote in an old post and it made me crack up. He was convinced the season ticket holders would bolt if the team was honest about a true rebuild, but completely failed to grasp that the wait list is what made that not matter. One way or other the tickets would sell and here we are two years later with 100 losses last year and at least another 90 this year (and I remain confident they can reach 100 again) and they’re announcing crowds no lower than 24,000 because of the season ticket holders not going anywhere.
Aisle424Quote Reply
Aisle424 wrote:
i wonder how true this will be moving forward. i was 51,000 last year; i just checked and i’m now at 21,000. just for the hell of it, i put my name on the waitlist again and my new spot is 101,000. if the waitlist attrition rate increases from 30k/season to 50k/season, it will be dried up in 2 years. i think this increase in attririon rate is feasible or maybe even conservative, given that most people on the list put there name there because they didn’t really anticipate getting offered season ticekts for at least several years. it took me like 5 years to go from 55k to 51k and then 1 year to move up to 21k…
not really sure what my point is except that i think the waitlist will be gone by 2015. hopefully this doesn’t change the rebuilding plans but i could see rickets/thoyer maybe getting (more) desperate if that waitlist disappears.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I feel like if they have an upswing in 2014 they won’t have to worry as much about that.
So then we have to hope that they get that upswing.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
yeah exactly, it probably won’t be an issue IF there’s an upswing. my point is, that could be the difference between the FO, say, trading garza for prospects vs extending him just so next year isn’t perceived as another step backwards. i hope they continue to make long-term moves but i could see how losing 30k people off of your season ticket waitlist in one year could cause the FO to revert to tribune-style short-sightedness.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
new shit
GWQuote Reply
anyone have a handle on how many season-ticket holders gave up their seats last year? just curious as to how many of the 30k that left the waitlist actually signed up for tickets. i’m sure this isn’t public information for obvious reasons but i don’t know if there’s some way to estimate this.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
In October 2011 I was 13,269
In December 2012 they invited me to view seat selections
Now, I just went to look and it seems you have to have an account number to look up your place. It’s possible I was kicked off the list when I ignored them last year, but I’ve sent an email to find out for sure.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
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