1871
by buck84
2012 Indians Draft: 6/25 Signing update
Caleb Hamrick (Photo: Prefect Game)
By Tony Lastoria
June 25, 2012
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The July 13th deadline is about two and a half weeks away and to date the Indians have signed 18 of their 40 draft picks. The Indians are expected to sign a few more, and some higher profile signings are still definitely coming.
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I had a chance to sit down and talk to Indians 8th round pick right-handed pitcher Caleb Hamrick for a few minutes last night to get an update on his signing status.
Hamrick is excited to be a Cleveland Indian and I could tell he is very interested in signing, though he and the Indians are still working their way through the negotiation process of his signing bonus. The “slot” value for the Indians 8th round pick as depicted by Major League Baseball is $136,000, but that’s not the kind of money he is looking for.
“The very morning before the draft started on the second day I got an email and a call [from the Indians] that I was going to go in the 5th round,” Hamrick said. “I slipped down to the 8th round and then all of a sudden I got a call and they [asked] ‘will you take this amount for the 8th round?’ and I said ‘sure, just get me drafted’. It was pretty exciting to get drafted in itself, but I was kind of disappointed that the finances of it slipped down a little bit.”
Going into the draft the Indians had a strong presence with Hamrick as they scouted him many times and were in constant contact with him.
“The area scout and I had talked a lot even before the draft came about,” Hamrick said. “We had an in-home visit probably in late February or early March, so I knew they were interested and I stayed in contact with the area scout quite a bit.”
Right now it appears to be a stalemate between Hamrick and the Indians. He wants 5th round money, which is the round he says he was told the Indians would take him and also the money other high school players in the Indians draft are getting. But according to Hamrick, at the moment the Indians are sticking to his slot value of $136,000 and nothing more.
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Hamrick noted. “The slot amount is what they are saying is all of what they will give me. But I have been looking online and the 7th round pick got $250,000 for his signing bonus which is $100,000 over slot. Right now a $136,000 bonus is borderline for me not signing, especially when they tell me I am not going to get a cent over $136,000 when some other people are getting way more over slot. It is a thing where they are finding money for others around me, but where I am at they can’t find any of it. So I am just [waiting to see] what happens.”
Hamrick has a commitment to attend and play baseball at Dallas Baptist University, a four year school which has a good baseball program that went to the Super Regionals last year and just missed it by one game this year. But if he chooses the college option, he would not be eligible for the draft again until his junior season in 2015.
It comes down to whether Hamrick and the Indians budge a little in the negotiation process, which will probably happen. As the July 13th signing deadline one or both sides may budge a little and a deal could be completed.
The Indians have every intention of signing all of their top ten round picks, and Hamrick maintains that if the Indians give him 5th round money – which is somewhere around $250,000 - that he would already be signed.
“My advisor and I talked to them about get me drafted into the top five rounds and that we will take the money,” Hamrick said. “We would even take a cut in money in the slot so that they have more money for later rounds. They ended up picking me in the 8th round, but my advisor told them it does not matter where I am picked that as long as they give me 5th round money I am a go. That is what our previous agreement was to be. I would have already signed by now if they gave me that money.”
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26th round pick right-handed pitcher Justin Garza has elected not to sign with the Indians and instead will fulfill his commitment to attend and play baseball at Cal State Fullerton. I had a chance to speak to his former high school coach John Knott in the past few days, and he relayed that he had gotten word that he turned the Indians offer down to sign and that he will be going to college.
Here is what he said to me: “I have been told that Justin is planning on attending Cal St. Fullerton. I know the Indians have offered him money well above the round he was drafted, but his interests still remain to attend school. This is a very special kid. He is undersized which is why he didn’t go in the first round; however, he can flat out pitch and field his position. He is consistently 91-94 MPH with a tight slider and a pretty good change up. I think Fullerton is getting a steal and this kid if he stays healthy will definitely be a big leaguer.”
One caveat on this is that if the Indians find they have a lot of leftover bonus pool money come the July 13th signing deadline, I still think they could throw a big bonus out there to him. Some players that were considered out of the game last year (Shawn Armstrong) suddenly had a change of heart when the Indians threw some extra money at them on deadline night because other picks fell through (Stephen Tarpley and Dillon Peters).