Tigers will pay up to add young gun

by Danny KnoblerTuesday August 14, 2007, 6:04 AM



DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers are about to give big money to a pitcher. A high school pitcher.
He's 18-year-old Rick Porcello, and he was the Tigers' top pick in the June draft. Monday, the Tigers and Porcello agreed to a record-setting four-year deal that will guarantee him $7.3 million.
No high school player who signed out of the draft has ever received more than the $6.1 million that Arizona gave Justin Upton in 2005. Matt White signed a $10.2-million deal with Tampa Bay in 1996, but only after agent Scott Boras found a loophole that enabled him to declare free agency.
Boras also represents Porcello, and before the draft Boras said Porcello is "the best high school pitcher since Josh Beckett."
Comments like that, and rumors of Porcello's huge demands, were the only reason Porcello was still available to the Tigers, who had the 27th pick in the first round. But even on the day of the draft, most people in the sport expected the Tigers to sign him, and now it appears they will.
In addition to offering Porcello a huge amount of money, the Tigers were able to offer him huge opportunity. They pointed out to him that 2006 first-round pick Andrew Miller has already pitched in the big leagues, that Justin Verlander was in the Tigers' rotation at age 23 and that Joel Zumaya was pitching in the big leagues at 21.
Just this week, the Tigers made the decision to call up 21-year-old Jair Jurrjens, who will start for them Wednesday in Cleveland.
Porcello isn't headed to the big leagues just yet, but the Tigers believe he could also move quick.
Of course they do. That's why they're going to pay him more than $7 million.

I wonder how much he'll pitch this season. Most minor league teams are winding down their seasons, but they could possibly send him to Arizona to compete with the fall league. I've heard Maybin might play with them this season. I tell you what, a fall league team featuring Maybin and Porcello would be amazing to watch.
Do you think he starts next season at Lakeland or West Michigan?

http://www.palmerkanestudio.com/images/hooray.jpg

Do you think he starts next season at Lakeland or West Michigan?

Since he's a HSer I would guess W.Mich.

Why would any young athlete sign an agent other than Scott Boras?

Draft Report on Porcello
http://ww2.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/index.jsp?mc=porcello

Does anyone know verlander's velocity coming out of high school? can this guy push the magic 100mph envelop?

The fact that he has 4 pitches is outstanding. He'll need to tune them up a bit to find out which ones are good enough to use regularly against this level of hitting, and it sounds like his breaking ball needs to be controlled a bit, but he has a 20-25 MPH differential between fastball and offspeed. That's almost enough for guys to swing twice.

Does anyone know verlander's velocity coming out of high school? can this guy push the magic 100mph envelop?


2. Tigers: Justin Verlander, rhp, Old Dominion

Verlander might have the best pure stuff in the draft. He has a tall, upright delivery with a lighting-quick arm, and a fastball that tops out at 99 mph with hard run and sink. He complements it with a curveball that has good late depth and sharp bite, and a deceptive changeup that has fastball arm speed and late fade and sink. Verlander's biggest obstacle is his lack of command as he struggles to repeat his delivery.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/2004draft/firstround.html

Also keep in mind that Verlander's 99 mph fastball was as a 21 year old. Porcello hit 96 at age 18. Not sure if you can develop 3-4 additional MPH of velocity during those first few years after HS, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could.

definitly exciting. i think i might make a trip out to erie PA when he gets to 2a ball. allegedly they have dollar everything night there on thursdays. i couldnt be more excited about our 4 young starter arms.

tigers need to start working on a national tv deal ala tbs and wgn. illitch and davidson alone have the money to pony up for it. and god knows there are enough out of staters now to justify it.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/2004draft/firstround.html

Also keep in mind that Verlander's 99 mph fastball was as a 21 year old. Porcello hit 96 at age 18. Not sure if you can develop 3-4 additional MPH of velocity during those first few years after HS, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could.

You definitely can. A freshman pitcher in college doesn't ever have his full stuff. I wouldn't doubt this guy throwing 99+ in three years.

Zumaya threw low 90's (I believe) when they drafted him.

Porcello deal likely to upset Selig

by Danny Knobler
Wednesday August 15, 2007, 12:52 AM



CLEVELAND -- Baseball people had two reactions Tuesday to news that the Detroit Tigers were going to spend $7.3 million to sign first-round draft pick Rick Porcello.
The first: Bud Selig's not going to be happy. "There will be fireworks coming out of New York," one official from a competing club (correctly) predicted.
The second: More power to the Tigers, because Selig's proposed slotting system doesn't work, and Porcello might just be worth all the money the Tigers are spending on him.
"He's better than (Andrew) Miller," said one veteran scout who saw both players as amateurs. "What I mean is, this kid has a higher ceiling. He's the best high school pitcher I've seen since (Josh) Beckett."
The Tigers were waiting until today to officially announce Porcello's deal, as well as reported deals with fifth-round pick Casey Crosby (for $745,000) and sixth-rounder Cale Iorg (for $1.5 million). The pending Crosby and Iorg deals were first reported by Baseball America on its Web site.
Like the Porcello deals, the Crosby and Iorg contracts will be for more than the slot figure "recommended" by major league baseball. The Tigers are hardly the only team refusing to adhere to the "recommendations," but the Porcello signing is by far the most lucrative reported so far, which is why the Tigers are drawing the ire of MLB.
It's not clear whether there's anything Selig can actually do to the Tigers in retaliation. A baseball official said earlier this year the commissioner threatened "heavy fines" for teams that went above the slot figures, but since baseball never formalized the slotting system or included it in the collective bargaining agreement with the players' association, most people believe that Selig couldn't actually carry through with that threat.
In any case, the Tigers are expected to be very careful to follow every procedure to the letter to avoid giving Selig any excuse to reject the contracts. Even so, Selig is likely to berate the Tiger representatives at today's meeting of owners in Toronto.

It was a great investment.

Would rather see them spend money on this than to deal with pitchers like Zito and his 120 million dollar contract.

Selig might issue heavy fines? What a freaking joke. I'm telling you, baseball is doing such a great job of hiding the fact that the infrastructure is a complete mess. It's a good thing everyone is talking about steroids, because if they talked about ALL the problems with baseball and Selig, the sport would be laughable.