O's Sign Matusz: What's It Mean For Crow?

by Dave at Bottomfeeder Baseball on Aug 15, 2008 4:16 PM EDT Comment 2 comments

Here's the story about the Orioles signing first round pick, fourth overall, LHP Brain Matusz out of San Diego.

Here's the pertinent part:

The Orioles and first-round pick Brian Matusz have agreed to terms on a major league deal that would immediately insert him onto the club's 40-man roster and toward the top of the organization's list of pitching prospects, The Sun has learned.

Matusz, a left-hander out of the University of San Diego and the fourth overall pick in June's amateur draft, will receive a $3.2 million bonus.

So what does it mean for the Nats first rounder RHP Aaron Crow? Well, that's quite a bit less bonus money than he's reportedly demanding, but he got the Major League contract. Would Kasten relent if Hendricks lowered the up front bonus money that much? Would Hendricks blink if Kasten ponied up $5M - $7M and not the contract?

This is really fascinating stuff. I haven't seen any other signings yet today, so this could very well be the first domino of the six top-ten picks (and 10 of the top 30) that at the start of the day were still left unsigned.

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http://bottomfeederbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/08/os-sign-matusz-whats-it-mean-for-crow.html

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6 hrs. 50 min and counting...

"Ahh! Sarcasm! The lowest form of wit."

by Ed Chigliak on Aug 15, 2008 5:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

MLB.com's Kevin T. Czerwinski...

…has an up-to-date article entitled, “Clock ticks on draft signing deadline”, in which he writes that Crow:

"…and his reps, the Hendricks brothers, are playing hardball, looking for considerably more than the $2.15 million the club gave Ross Detwiler, last year’s first-rounder. This one is contentious, and it doesn’t appear the Nats will budge. Crow was talking in the $8-10 million range before the Draft, and that’s just not realistic.

“He can take his chances and go back to Missouri for another year, but next year’s crop of Draft-eligible pitchers is much deeper. Crow has some leverage, but he might just use it to push himself out of a good deal. Washington signed its third- and fourth-round picks earlier this week, but the club has been adamant about not giving out a Major League contract.”

Looks like Chico Harlan’s take on the situation, which I wrote about in Today’s Game Thread, is becoming the general consensus…Will Crow and his reps bend in the end and sign a reasonable deal, or try again next year and hope for the best…

My big worry is that the Nationals will just draft him again if Bowden’s in charge…just kidding, but seriously, isn’t Mike Rizzo great…

"Ahh! Sarcasm! The lowest form of wit."

by Ed Chigliak on Aug 15, 2008 5:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs