g$$
07-23-2007, 07:36 PM
FYI: As reported Sunday, RHP Kyle Drabek (Woodlands HS, 1st round pick last year, son of Doug) will have season-ending elbow reconstructive surgery this Wednesday. He was 5-1 this season with a 4.33 ERA at low A ball Lakewood & made the mid-season All Star team. My nephew played select ball with him for 2 years on the Houston Heat & he is legit (would have been drafted as an infielder/hitter too, he is that good & all state football WR as well in 5A). Tough break for him & best of luck coming back. Just recently Huston Street, JB Cox, Brandon Backe, & now Drabek have had major elbow problems (Street is almost back, Backe rehabbing, others surgery). Life of a pitcher.
Monday, Jul 23, 2007
Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
NATI HARNIK / Associated Press
The Phillies gave Joe Savery a signing bonus of $1,372,500. He also got tuition for his final three semesters at Rice, and an invitation to big-league spring training camp in February. The Phillies introduced their newest pitching prospect yesterday, and if they are really serious about upgrading the quality of arms in their system, they will introduce a couple of more in the coming weeks.
Even before throwing his first professional pitch, Joe Savery looks like someone you can dream on: 21 years old, 6-foot-3, lefthanded, good three-pitch mix, impressive big-time college resume, athletic, competitive, confident.
If you add enough of these pitchers to your system - and develop them - there will come a day when you won't have to get some other team's over-priced used car in free agency or a trade. Sign enough pitchers like Savery and someday you'll be looking at a homegrown, economical starting rotation.
There was never any mystery whether the Phillies would eventually add Savery to their system. They wouldn't have spent their first pick (19th overall) in the June draft on him if they weren't sure he'd sign. The former Rice University all-American received a signing bonus of $1,372,500. He also got tuition for his final three semesters at Rice, and an invite to big-league spring training camp in February.
It's a nice deal.
Now, it's time for the Phillies to make a couple more.
The franchise has a chance to add two more top arms (and maybe more) to its system before the Aug. 15 deadline for signing this year's draft class.
Most notable are third-round pick Brandon Workman and 12th rounder Julian Sampson, two big righthanders who have college scholarships waiting if they don't sign.
Word in scouting circles is that both are, as they say, signable. For less than $1 million, the Phillies could probably sign both. That would significantly upgrade the quality of pitching prospects in the system.
Lure Workman away from the University of Texas and Sampson away from the University of Washington and suddenly you have five outstanding pitching prospects with Savery, Kyle Drabek and Carlos Carrasco being the others. Throw in Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick and you have seven arms age 23 and under that you can really envision being part of a solid, major-league rotation.
Of course, envision is the key word here. Even the most bountiful minor-league systems have to budget for attrition - injuries, flame-outs, etc. Once upon a time, the Phillies envisioned Hamels and Gavin Floyd at the top of their rotation. Floyd never panned out, but such occurrences can't stop a team from stockpiling young arms, especially in the day of high-priced free-agent pitchers.
It probably takes six or eight good pitching prospects to get one major-league difference-maker. Given that, a team has to continually cast its nets for young pitching. And if it means baiting those nets with dollar bills, so be it. One million bucks for Brandon Workman and Julian Sampson is a fraction of what the Phillies will make on home games this month. And in the end, it might pay off better than $10 million for a broken-down Freddy Garcia.
The Phillies baseball people are salivating to get Workman and Sampson signed. (Eighteenth rounder Mark Adzick of Penn Charter also remains on their radar screen, despite a commitment to Wake Forest.)
General manager Pat Gillick personally scouted Sampson in Seattle a couple of weeks ago and liked what he saw. The folks at Washington want to know if Sampson is coming or not, so deal-or-no-deal time is close. Yesterday, Gillick was in the Dallas area to check out Workman.
The decision to sign these pitchers ultimately rests with club president David Montgomery, who must balance the wants of his staff with a mandate from the commissioner's office to keep signing bonuses in check.
Signing Workman and/or Sampson won't guarantee that they will ever pitch for the Phillies. Not signing them, however, will guarantee that they will never pitch for the team, unless, of course, they are drafted again by the Phils in coming years.
On the day a highly touted pitcher signs, he's on top of the world, as Savery was yesterday when he pulled on a bright, red Phillies cap and smiled for the cameras. The next day, however, he's at the bottom of the minor-league ladder, starting an uncertain climb to the majors.
Savery, who is headed for Williamsport of the New York-Penn League, thinks he can be a fast riser, and the Phillies won't complain if he is. After all, they have the worst team ERA in the National League.
While listening to Savery speak in a news conference yesterday, it was easy to hark back to 1993, when first-round pick Wayne Gomes visited the Phillies' clubhouse during Mitch Williams' time as closer.
"What position do you play?" John Kruk asked Gomes.
"I'm a closer," Gomes said.
"Hurry," Kruk said.
Gomes made it, but never lived up to being the No. 4 pick in the country. There are no guarantees in player development, but lots of good minor-league inventory helps.
Joe Savery is on board. May Brandon Workman and Julian Sampson follow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Jim Salisbury
at 215-854-4983
or jsalisbury@phillynews.com.
Monday, Jul 23, 2007
Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
NATI HARNIK / Associated Press
The Phillies gave Joe Savery a signing bonus of $1,372,500. He also got tuition for his final three semesters at Rice, and an invitation to big-league spring training camp in February. The Phillies introduced their newest pitching prospect yesterday, and if they are really serious about upgrading the quality of arms in their system, they will introduce a couple of more in the coming weeks.
Even before throwing his first professional pitch, Joe Savery looks like someone you can dream on: 21 years old, 6-foot-3, lefthanded, good three-pitch mix, impressive big-time college resume, athletic, competitive, confident.
If you add enough of these pitchers to your system - and develop them - there will come a day when you won't have to get some other team's over-priced used car in free agency or a trade. Sign enough pitchers like Savery and someday you'll be looking at a homegrown, economical starting rotation.
There was never any mystery whether the Phillies would eventually add Savery to their system. They wouldn't have spent their first pick (19th overall) in the June draft on him if they weren't sure he'd sign. The former Rice University all-American received a signing bonus of $1,372,500. He also got tuition for his final three semesters at Rice, and an invite to big-league spring training camp in February.
It's a nice deal.
Now, it's time for the Phillies to make a couple more.
The franchise has a chance to add two more top arms (and maybe more) to its system before the Aug. 15 deadline for signing this year's draft class.
Most notable are third-round pick Brandon Workman and 12th rounder Julian Sampson, two big righthanders who have college scholarships waiting if they don't sign.
Word in scouting circles is that both are, as they say, signable. For less than $1 million, the Phillies could probably sign both. That would significantly upgrade the quality of pitching prospects in the system.
Lure Workman away from the University of Texas and Sampson away from the University of Washington and suddenly you have five outstanding pitching prospects with Savery, Kyle Drabek and Carlos Carrasco being the others. Throw in Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick and you have seven arms age 23 and under that you can really envision being part of a solid, major-league rotation.
Of course, envision is the key word here. Even the most bountiful minor-league systems have to budget for attrition - injuries, flame-outs, etc. Once upon a time, the Phillies envisioned Hamels and Gavin Floyd at the top of their rotation. Floyd never panned out, but such occurrences can't stop a team from stockpiling young arms, especially in the day of high-priced free-agent pitchers.
It probably takes six or eight good pitching prospects to get one major-league difference-maker. Given that, a team has to continually cast its nets for young pitching. And if it means baiting those nets with dollar bills, so be it. One million bucks for Brandon Workman and Julian Sampson is a fraction of what the Phillies will make on home games this month. And in the end, it might pay off better than $10 million for a broken-down Freddy Garcia.
The Phillies baseball people are salivating to get Workman and Sampson signed. (Eighteenth rounder Mark Adzick of Penn Charter also remains on their radar screen, despite a commitment to Wake Forest.)
General manager Pat Gillick personally scouted Sampson in Seattle a couple of weeks ago and liked what he saw. The folks at Washington want to know if Sampson is coming or not, so deal-or-no-deal time is close. Yesterday, Gillick was in the Dallas area to check out Workman.
The decision to sign these pitchers ultimately rests with club president David Montgomery, who must balance the wants of his staff with a mandate from the commissioner's office to keep signing bonuses in check.
Signing Workman and/or Sampson won't guarantee that they will ever pitch for the Phillies. Not signing them, however, will guarantee that they will never pitch for the team, unless, of course, they are drafted again by the Phils in coming years.
On the day a highly touted pitcher signs, he's on top of the world, as Savery was yesterday when he pulled on a bright, red Phillies cap and smiled for the cameras. The next day, however, he's at the bottom of the minor-league ladder, starting an uncertain climb to the majors.
Savery, who is headed for Williamsport of the New York-Penn League, thinks he can be a fast riser, and the Phillies won't complain if he is. After all, they have the worst team ERA in the National League.
While listening to Savery speak in a news conference yesterday, it was easy to hark back to 1993, when first-round pick Wayne Gomes visited the Phillies' clubhouse during Mitch Williams' time as closer.
"What position do you play?" John Kruk asked Gomes.
"I'm a closer," Gomes said.
"Hurry," Kruk said.
Gomes made it, but never lived up to being the No. 4 pick in the country. There are no guarantees in player development, but lots of good minor-league inventory helps.
Joe Savery is on board. May Brandon Workman and Julian Sampson follow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Jim Salisbury
at 215-854-4983
or jsalisbury@phillynews.com.