Justin Upton Thread

[coyoteshockeyfan]

I wouldnt get concerned yet, the #1 overall pick not signing is pretty muh unheard of in the MLB. I cant remember exactly how long its been since that has actually happened, but I know its been a long while.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Also - interesting note about Rizzo and the open GM slot in that article. He's obviously been an incredible scouting director for the Dbacks, but would that success neccesarily translate to being a good GM? I wouldnt mind finding out.

 

[AZZenny]

Also - it comes from Bob Nightengale, I see as I peruse my Sports Weekly - he's been wrong about SO many things having to do with the DBacks this year (numerous times on Drew)that I give him little credibility.

He also says, FWIW, that we denied Mike Rizzo permission to interview with the Blue Jays, which may mean he 'has the inside track' on the GM job after the season. Since historically this organization has NEVER refused guys permission to interview for an upward move - and not too many requests for lateral moves have been denied that I can recall - that is an interesting tidbit, if true. But then, why not just put HIM in as interim and go on from there? Man, I'd hate to lose him.

oops! Timing is everything! Beat me to the scoop!

 

[CronosCard]

"..And in this corner.."

Isn't this where I got kicked off last time for calling some men "Gentlemen" and some females took it "EOTM" Personal? Was I talking to Females? If so I would direct my comments as such..
That off my chest, Upton, according to many articles leading up to and after this year's draft, has incredible upside true, but when the DBacks signed Stephen Drew, They signed the #1 position player in the 2004 and 2005 draft, and in drafting Upton along with the rest of this years class, moved from the middle of the majors as far as quality players, into the top 7-8..Some Baseball America people[the same who said Conor Jackson''s defensive abilities were nonexistent] Said SDrew would be in the Majors starting inthe 2006 or 2007 season, but Upton, based on his age[I presumed] a year or two later.. Either way Rizzo is a Star and we need to keep him in the organization if at all possible!!!!!!

 

[Espo]

D-Backs view Aug. 30 as deadline to sign Upton
By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com

Justin Upton, the first player chosen in the June baseball draft, might be about to make history -- but not on a baseball field.

Upton is threatening to head for junior college this month instead of signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Justin Upton
Justin Upton is apparently looking for nearly $1 million more than what the Diamondbacks have offered.

No overall No. 1 pick has gone unsigned since Tim Belcher in 1983 (by Minnesota). But the buzz around baseball over the last few days is that Upton has made plans to enroll in Louisburg (N.C.) Junior College in two weeks if he and the Diamondbacks can't negotiate a deal.

Unlike draft picks who go to four-year colleges, Upton would not totally close the door on signing with Arizona by starting school. Because he's attending junior college, the Diamondbacks would retain his rights until just before next June's draft.

But Arizona scouting director Mike Rizzo said the team still regards the start of classes on Aug. 30 as "a deadline to be taken seriously -- because once he goes to school, we'll only have a one-week window [after the 2006 junior-college season] before the '06 draft to get something done.

"He's already wasted a half-year of development time. So at least if he signs [this month], he'd be looking at getting some time this fall in the Instructional League or the Arizona Fall League. But if it gets prolonged out, then we've lost that window, too. So from a developmental timetable, this definitely concerns us."

Larry Reynolds, who is advising Upton and his family, said Friday that his "advice to the family has been to accept a deal that is consistent with the highest-paid players in the draft, because of his talent and the fact that he was the No. overall draft pick."

Reynolds refused to discuss Upton's contract demands. However, indications are that Upton is looking for a package larger than the $5.5 million (over four years) the Diamondbacks guaranteed last year's No. 1 pick, Stephen Drew.

The difference between Upton and Drew, though, is that Drew was signed as a 22-year-old coming out of college and was given a major-league contract, which allows the guaranteed money to be spread over several years.

Upton was drafted as a 17-year-old high school player. So Arizona has balked at offering him a major-league contract, which means his guarantee would have to be paid out as a straight signing bonus.

Rizzo also declined to comment on details of the negotiations. But it's believed that the Diamondbacks have offered Upton a signing bonus close to $4.7 million, which would be about $700,000 more than Drew's signing bonus -- and about $100,000 more than Upton's brother, B.J., received when Tampa Bay made him the second overall pick in the 2002 draft.

The highest signing bonus in history, in a non-major-league deal, was the $5.3 million bonus given by the White Sox to Joe Borchard in 2000. But Borchard was a quarterback at Stanford who used his NFL opportunities for negotiating leverage.

So Rizzo said the Diamondbacks "feel like we've acted in good faith by putting a very fair offer on the table for a player we like very much."

However, the player it appears Upton is comparing himself to is the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft, Delmon Young. Like Upton, Young was drafted out of high school, and Tampa Bay gave him a package worth $5.8 million -- about $1 million more than Arizona is offering Upton. But unlike Upton, Young's offer was part of a major-league deal.

"We understand the value of this player," Rizzo went on. "He's a very talented individual who we want to make into a core player for the Diamondbacks for years to come. So we're keeping the lines of communication open, and we're trying to think of everything we can do to satisfy the player and his family."

But it appears that the Upton family has dug in hard. So this has all the makings of yet another long, painful, post-draft negotiation marathon -- for a team that only finished surviving its last one (with Drew) three months ago.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

 

[AZZenny]

$1 Million? That's all?

Make Joe Jr. pay it - he blew more than that giving Choate a totally wasted 2 year extension. $1 Million, sorry to say, is peanuts. Split the difference or something. Get him to Fall League.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

It does seem like the Dbacks are offering a very fair contract. However, there really is no excuse to fall just $1M short considering the team is below its budget (even without including a cent of the $19M+ they picked up last off-season).

 

[BOB_Man24]

All i have to say is taht if they dont sign him that will be a big embarrasment to the organization, that has lined up potentially the best few prospects int he game recently. For 1M? gimme a break thats like Chump change to the organization....

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Upton is looking for a record bonus, and unlike the deals Drew or TB's Delmon Young got, Upton's money would be completely upfront as opposed to spread out.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=46111

 

[AZZenny]

Put the difference into easy incentive clauses or something. Get him on board.

I hope Joe Jr. works on the issue of firmly slotted bonuses in his new job. I don't quite know why the player's union would have any say, since the draftees aren't members of the union.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

All i have to say is taht if they dont sign him that will be a big embarrasment to the organization, that has lined up potentially the best few prospects int he game recently. For 1M? gimme a break thats like Chump change to the organization....

It will get done. This is just posturing by both sides.

 

[devilalum]

It will get done. This is just posturing by both sides.

This is what everybody said about Drew?

 

[Diamondback Jay]

This is what everybody said about Drew?

And Drew signed with the team right?

I'm not saying Upton's signing tommorrow, it's gonna take time.. However, I do think it's going to get done, sooner or later.

 

[devilalum]

And Drew signed with the team right?

I'm not saying Upton's signing tommorrow, it's gonna take time.. However, I do think it's going to get done, sooner or later.

If later means 11:59 on the last possible night someone should be fired.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

If later means 11:59 on the last possible night someone should be fired.

Agreed. I doubt things will escalate to that point with Upton. Or perhaps I should say I hope they don't.

 

[boondockdrunk]

If later means 11:59 on the last possible night someone should be fired.

The #1 overall picks have a way of holding out and missing alot of the first season (if not all of it). For example, Bryan Bullington RHP was drafted #1 overall in 2002, but signed at the last possible moment. Delmon Young OF was the #1 overall pick in 2003, but held out until the last possible moment before signing. Both of these players (or agents I should say) were trying to milk their team for as much money as they could possibly get.

The only #1 pick I can remember who didn't hold out until after the season was Matt Bush (San Diego, SS). However, he was only picked #1 because he was easy to sign (He hasn't done very well at all since being drafted) and he was the best talent that would agree to a contract with San Diego PRIOR to being drafted.

Don't be so shocked at the amount of time that Upton holds out. There is no doubt in my mind that he will sign. Although both sides will have to come together and compromise.

 

[AZZenny]

Nothing official yet one way or another - he either did attend classes and we're cooked, or he's stalling a couple days and hope remains... found this from the Portland OR paper today:

When Larry Reynolds descended on Corvallis for his 30th high school reunion a couple of weeks ago, few knew much about what he’s been doing for a career the last two decades.
Reynolds, 48, is one of baseball’s most high-powered agents. A member of Corvallis’ first sporting family, including ex-major leaguers Harold and Donny Reynolds, he represents shortstop Justin Upton of Chesapeake, Va., taken No. 1 in the June draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Unless eleventh-hour negotiations between Reynolds and Diamondback brass get something done, Upton will enroll at Louisburg (N.C.) College next month and eye re-entry into the 2006 draft.
Arizona has offered a $4.67 million signing bonus; Reynolds is seeking $6.25 million in guaranteed money. The D-backs claim Reynolds wants more than they gave last year’s No. 1 pick, Stephen Drew, who got $5.5 million after three years at Florida State.
Reynolds has represented eight first-round picks in the last four years and has had about 50 big-league clients, including Torri Hunter, Carl Everett, LaTroy Hawkins, Chad Cordero and Brian Howard. He says Arizona is playing a shell game to make him look bad in the media. Reynolds says Upton is comparable to outfielder Delmon Young, who got a five-year, $5.8 million guarantee out of high school in 2003.
When Drew signed, Reynolds says, his contract called for him to make as much as $7.5 million if he made it to the major leagues. Reynolds also was willing to let the Diamondbacks spread the deal over five years with a minor-league contract. Upton is a prospect along the lines of an Alex Rodriguez or Ken Griffey Jr.
“Justin wants badly to play, but only (if compensation) is fair,” says Reynolds, who lives in Riverside, Calif. “My advice to his family has been consistent with all the players we’ve advised over the years — get a deal that is consistent with the market.”
Reynolds was a three-sport standout who helped Corvallis to the 1974 state football finals. He started in football and baseball at Stanford and is in the school’s sports Hall of Fame. He reached Double-A baseball before retiring and becoming an agent.
“I enjoy it,” he says. “It’s been a fun career. There are times when we have little challenges. That’s what’s happening with Justin, but I don’t consider this one frustrating. It comes with the territory.”

 

[AZZenny]

Man, I've been looking everywhere for any comment about his attending or not attending classes, or something, but not a peep. I would sort of think that might be good - if he did attend it slams the door and that's the kind of thing sports reporters would jump on. When it was Drew who decided not to attend classes, it was big news.

Do we have a fingers crossed smiley?

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Upton did NOT attend class today.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0830dbacksupton.html

 

[AZZenny]

YAY!! Very good sign! Now get his name on the dotted line!

 

[AZZenny]

Not about Upton, but this from BA is amusing -

Luke Hochevar admitted to having a difficult Labor Day weekend.

The Tennessee All-America righthander said Thursday that yes, he switched advisers on Sept. 2. He faxed a letter to Dodgers scouting director Logan White—who had selected Hochevar with the organization’s top draft pick, the 40th overall selection—instructing him to negotiate not with Scott Boras but with Matt Sosnick of the Sosnick-Cobbe Sports agency.

And yes, Hochevar said in a telephone call that also had Boras on the line, White and Sosnick negotiated a $2.98 million signing bonus for the Colorado native, one that would be the highest in Dodgers history and would set a record for any player ever drafted outside the first round.

But before the Dodgers could get an official contract signed, Hochevar spoke with Boras and changed his mind, returning to the Boras fold and refusing to sign with the Dodgers. He remains unsigned and says Boras is his attorney.

It goes on and on from there - Hochevar was visiting a friend who was drafted and whose agent is Sosnick, and at first said the idea of getting a deal done was exciting, but then says Sosnick has been stalking him almost and thank God Boras talked sense into him in time. (His parents just shrugged and said, 'whatever you want to do, kid.')

Boras is saying Sosnick is not a lawyer, and therefore getting a 'sweetheart deal' with the scouting director is unethical, the client-stealing scum, and he will only deal with DePodesta himself now. Sosnick says Boras thinks because he's a lawyer he holds all the cards, but if the best offer he could get was a $2.3 M bonus and his client is still sitting there unsigned and losing ground, well... "We offered the kid a Get Out of Jail Free card, but he decided to build his hotel on Baltic Avenue."

 

[ActingWild]

"We offered the kid a Get Out of Jail Free card, but he decided to build his hotel on Baltic Avenue." [/COLOR]

Great quote!

 

[AZZenny]

Todays news is that Upton's people have not responded to the team in two weeks, and Moorad said it appears they have truly reached an impasse. Bummer. I am still hoping a new GM would somehow scrounge up the extra million it will take to sign the kid. Or that mlb puts firm bonus caps in place in 2006. (Come on Joe Jr. - do something useful for once.)

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Todays news is that Upton's people have not responded to the team in two weeks, and Moorad said it appears they have truly reached an impasse. Bummer. I am still hoping a new GM would somehow scrounge up the extra million it will take to sign the kid. Or that mlb puts firm bonus caps in place in 2006. (Come on Joe Jr. - do something useful for once.)

This is very bad news...you would think with all the apathy the team has had to deal with this year, they would cough up the extra million just for credibility sakes. Im hoping we get a big name GM like Towers or Cashman (but def. not Duquette) and start to clean up the mess that Joe Jr has brought on the last few years.............

 

[boondockdrunk]

Todays news is that Upton's people have not responded to the team in two weeks, and Moorad said it appears they have truly reached an impasse. Bummer. I am still hoping a new GM would somehow scrounge up the extra million it will take to sign the kid. Or that mlb puts firm bonus caps in place in 2006. (Come on Joe Jr. - do something useful for once.)

And it isn't like they were even off by a million to begin with. Wasn't it more around 750,000? Joe Jr. is trash though, so he, and so far the interm, tried to screw us before leaving.