draft news

The deadline for players picked in the 2007 sraft to sign with major league clubs was yesterday at 11:59 p.m. After it looked for much of the day like several first-rounders wouldn’t sign, all of them did. Had they not, it would have been the first time since 2004 that a first-rounder didn’t sign.

According to Baseball America’s Draft Blog, a deal with Tennessee’s Julio Borbon is expected to be announced today, leaving former Yarmouth-Dennis closer Josh Fields as the highest unsigned pick. Fields pitched on the Cape in ’06 and won the top reliever award. The righthander was a preseason all-america pick heading into this spring but didn’t have his best campaign. He was still drafted with the 69th overall pick (third round) by the Braves. It looks like he’ll be back with the Bulldogs for his senior season.

(By the way, I’m getting signed-unsigned info from the Baseball America draft database.)

The highest unsigned pick in last year’s draft was pitcher Sean Black, who was taken 59th. Black ended up at Seton Hall and pitched briefly for Harwich this summer.

Some other draft tidbits with Cape League connections:

• It appears that Y-D’s Scott Green did not sign with the Boston Red Sox. Green was a 15th-round pick after this his redshirt sophomore season, and the Cape Cod Times reported Tuesday that Green had taken a physical with Boston and that “There’s a lot of interest on both sides right now.” But as of this posting, Green is still listed as unsigned. From what I can gather, that’s not entirely unexpected in baseball circles. This from a July 12 PG Crosschecker article by Allan Simpson: “The Red Sox took a flier on the University of Kentucky’s oft-injured righthander Scott Green in the 15^th round amidst speculation that Green has a chance to become a first-rounder in 2008 with another year in college.” So there you go. The summer Green had can only help his cause in next year’s draft.

• Green’s rotation-mates in Y-D also went unsigned. As The College Baseball Blog reported early yesterday, Terry Doyle, who was a 21st round pick of the Dodgers, will be back for his senior year at Boston College. Eddie Burns, a 16th-round pick of the Braves, is listed as unsigned and will be back at Georgia Tech next year.

• A side note. Pretty amazing that Y-D had three draft picks in its starting rotation — and three who will probably be higher picks next year. Sometime down the road, that Y-D team will have a lot of players in professional baseball.

• Dominic de la Osa, a 10th round pick by the Tigers, is expected back at Vanderbilt for his senior season. De la Osa had a big summer for Wareham in ’06, upping his draft stock, but returned the Cape this summer and struggled mightily.

• Former Georgia tech star and Cape League Top Pro Prospect Matt Wieters received the largest up-front bonus in draft history. The catcher was the fifth overall pick in the draft by the Orioles and signed a $6 million bonus. Wieters hit .307 with eight home runs for Orleans last summer.

• The highest pick in the ’07 draft who played on the Cape this summer was South Carolina pitcher Wynn Pelzer, who was drafted in the ninth round by San Diego. Pelzer made three starts for Orleans before getting hit with a line drive and fracturing his kneecap. Pelzer left the Cape but still ended up signing with the Padres.

• Falmouth’s Matt Hague, an 11th-round pick of the Indians, did not sign and will be back on a college campus for his senior year. It’s not clear where. Hague was at Washington but it has been reported that he will transfer.

Here’s a list of some of the top high school players who went unsigned (or were still listed as unsigned on Thursday). A lot of these guys — if they honor their committment to four-year colleges — will end up on the Cape, possibly next summer:

Second Round

• Hunter Morris – OF – Auburn (Highest Unsigned High Schooler)

Third Round

• Tommy Toledo – RHP – Florida
• Brandon Workman – RHP – Texas
• Derek Dietrich – 3B – Georgia Tech
• Matt Harvey – RHP – North Carolina

Fourth Round

• Garrett Nash – SS/OF – Oregon State
• Brett Eibner – RHP – Arkansas

Fifth Round

• Kyle Blair – RHP -San Diego
• John Gast – LHP – Florida State

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