Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Gold Canyon
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 5:44 am Post subject: Max Scherzer only unsigned player remaining from 1st round
Nick Piecoro this morning wrote:
With the Red Sox signing their first-round pick, pitcher Daniel Bard, on Monday, Diamondbacks draft pick Max Scherzer is the only unsigned player remaining from the first round.
The Diamondbacks and Scherzer, selected 11th overall out of the University of Missouri, are still in the "preliminary stages" of contract negotiations, according to General Manager Josh Byrnes.
That comes as no big surprise, considering Scherzer is represented by Scott Boras, who did not return a call seeking comment. Boras clients often take the longest to sign.
When asked if there's reason to be concerned whether the two sides will reach an agreement, Byrnes said: "We'll see. It's never a guarantee that you sign your first-round pick."
Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 486
Location: Louisiana
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:25 am Post subject:
I'm not completely educated with how good Scherzer really is, but I heard he was the best pitcher in the draft. And he may not be worth Upton money, or even Drew money, but I can't image what Boras is holding up the negotiations with.
Scherzer was hurt his last year in college; his velocity was down and his mechanics were shit. I was pretty shocked that Rizzo took him; may be that he thought Scherzer was the best "talent" left on the board at 11. I doubt it.
I personally think the Dbacks should hold out as long as possible before signing him, if they have ANY doubts that he's hurt; let him pitch in indy league next year and show he's healthy before gambling on him.
_________________
Old school Hollywood baseball,
Joe Girardi is ten feet tall,
Old school Hollywood baseball,
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Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Gold Canyon
Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:22 am Post subject:
Steve Gilbert tonight wrote:
The Diamondbacks continue to have dialogue with Scott Boras, the agent for No. 1 draft pick Max Scherzer.
"We're beginning the process," Boras said.
Boras and D-Backs general manager Josh Byrnes have spoken, and Boras said they planned on talking again soon.
Scherzer is the lone selection from the 2006 First-Year Player Draft that has not signed a contract yet, but the fact that the process is taking a little longer is not unexpected given the right-hander's workload this past season at the University of Missouri.
"We had a meeting earlier in Arizona, and we knew he wasn't going to pitch this summer," Boras said. "He's been working hard on his conditioning."
According to Boras, Scherzer is on the same conditioning program that other Boras clients like Jered Weaver, Luke Hochevar and Mike Pelfrey were on before they signed their professional contracts.
I'm not completely educated with how good Scherzer really is, but I heard he was the best pitcher in the draft. And he may not be worth Upton money, or even Drew money, but I can't image what Boras is holding up the negotiations with.
Hopefully we get this settled before June 1st
Here's an article before last season. Scherzer slammed a door shut on his hand just after this article was writtne, and it took him all year to work his way through it. He was just starting to touch the upper-90's near the end of the year. If he can get back to where he was a year ago, he'll be worth whatever Boras is asking.
Quote:
Searing Fastball Sets Scherzer Apart
2006 College Preview Index
By Will Kimmey
January 18, 2006
Tim Jamieson remembers the first time he saw Max Scherzer pitch.
"He was very violent, with a lot of body parts moving in different directions," the Missouri coach said. "Pardon the pun, but he was a max-effort guy."
Most college hitters remember their first look at Scherzer, too. Their memories aren't as fond after facing a 6-foot-2 righthander whose fastball pushes the upper 90s and has such impressive command that he considers a walk the equivalent of a pitcher's error.
Scherzer's sensational sophomore season turned him into one of the nation's elite pitchers and prospects. He limited opponents to a .163 average, which ranked second in the country among starters, and led the Big 12 Conference with 131 strikeouts in 106 innings. Scherzer finished the year 9-4, 1.86 and then watched the honors pile up: Big 12 pitcher of the year, second-team All-American, Team USA starter.
Scherzer opens 2006 with a shot to become the draft's first overall pick, and seems a lock to become the first first-round draft pick in Missouri history.
"For me he's a once in a lifetime type of guy," Jamieson said. "You can't think that you'll ever coach another player like this."
Jamieson lauds his ace for his maturity and intelligence as much as his physical gifts, marveling at how fast Scherzer responds to instruction. A 43rd-round pick of the Cardinals out of high school in Chesterfield, Mo., Scherzer embraced the new mechanics he learned during the fall of his freshman year (which emphasized body control and balance) in a span of two months. He earned 20 innings on a veteran staff before heading to the Northwoods League.
Pitching regularly as La Crosse's closer helped Scherzer's velocity, command and national profile all jump at once. His fastball climbed from topping out at 94 mph during the school year to 96, then 97, then 98. He started throwing more strikes with his fastball, generating more advantage counts. He paired that pitch with a slider in the low 80s to strike out 41 hitters in 26 innings to rate as the league's No. 2 prospect, behind 2005 first-rounder Lance Broadway.
Scherzer's intense demeanor led to success in the bullpen, but stamina questions hovered over his move to the rotation. As Missouri prepared to open its 2005 schedule, Jamieson still didn't know if he was going to use Scherzer in relief or as a starter.
He got the ball for the season-opener against Winthrop and struck out eight batters in his first four innings, but he ran out of energy and reached his pitch limit in the fifth. He recorded only one more out and left after giving up four walks and five runs in a game Missouri lost 7-4.
Jamieson talked to Scherzer after that start, stressing efficiency. Then Scherzer transformed his style of pitching faster than his fastball reaches hitters, working smarter by his next start. He pitched at 92-94, threw strikes and could dial up a better fastball when the situation called for it. "I never had a guy who made those adjustments so fast," Jamieson said. "We had a talk, and from next start on, he became who you saw last year."
That season included Scherzer's throwing the first seven innings of a combined no-hitter against Texas Tech and recording 14 strikeouts. He also beat league champion Nebraska 2-1 by throwing his first career complete game. Scherzer allowed four hits and two walks. He struck out five of the last six hitters he faced in that game, including College Player of the Year Alex Gordon, and buzzed 97 mph routinely in the ninth inning.
"I like being a closer because you can be as intense as you want. You can't let a hitter get on," Scherzer said. "Starting, there's going to be runners on. They're going to get hits. You're going to walk people. The game's going to happen, you have to be a lot more low key. You can't blow it out in the first inning because the seventh inning really matters. I like it because it really feels like your game and you can give your team a chance to win a lot more."
Scherzer found most of his success with just his fastball and slider as a sophomore, and he will incorporate more changeups this year. He experimented for years with different changeup grips before finally finding a comfortable one while throwing on flat ground last season. If that pitch becomes a third average offering, especially against lefthanders, his stuff will allow him to start as a pro. If not, his intensity and raw power should still make him a potentially dominant closer.
"The thing that amazes me, watching him in high school and his first year, in the back our of minds, here was a closer. Let it loose for six outs, and that’s who you are," Jamieson said. "He proved he can pitch 92-95 and when he needed to get an out in run-scoring situation, he became the closer again by reaching back for more. I've never seen another guy who can elevate himself to closer-type situations and then bring it back down to starter. So for me, he's whatever you want, a closer or a starter."
And another:
Quote:
Max Scherzer: Eyes of the Tiger
By Derrick Goold, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
The following article appeared in the Feb. 8th edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
COLUMBIA, MO. -- The thrill of the gas was so exhilarating, so necessary to his success that Max Scherzer as a high school pitcher would reach peak mph on his fastball only as his mechanics flew apart in a berserk jumble. Forsaking economy for power and balance for speed, Scherzer "touched 90" but did so with a wicked flourish:
Whiplash.
"I used to have the worst head jerk, my hat would fly off sometimes," said Scherzer, the Parkway Central grad who is the All-America ace for the University of Missouri's nationally ranked baseball team. "That's how violent I was. It was violent, real violent. I was so raw."
Working with Tigers coach Tim Jamieson, Scherzer refined his delivery. In drills, he toed the rubber like a flamingo, steadying himself on his push-off leg and bending down to pluck baseballs off the mound. He closed his eyes, repeated the flamingo. He found a mental signpost and repeated it: Chin over toe. Chin over toe.
Balance was the goal.
Firing 99 mph when it mattered most was the result.
Scherzer and the 10th-ranked Tigers open the season today in the Buccaneer Classic in Charleston, S.C. He was the scheduled starter for the season opener until slamming his pitching hand in a car door Tuesday night. The injury, to the middle finger, is not serious but will delay his first appearance.
. . .
Drafted in the 43rd round in 2003 by his favorite club, the Cardinals, Scherzer opted for college. His freshman year he reworked his delivery. The mechanics fixed, balance restored, he said he added the final element - "confidence" - that summer as a closer in the Northwoods League.
He came out of summer ball with a national rep for his mid-90s fastball and, over his sophomore year at Mizzou, he matured as a starter. He struck out 14 as he pitched the first seven innings of a combined no-hitter against Texas Tech. In Nebraska, he told Jamieson he was spent after the seventh. Supporting a 2-1 lead, however, he was the Tigers' best bet to win.
He pushed through to finish his first career complete game by beguiling the Cornhuskers with his slider. He struck out five of the final six batters he faced, including Alex Gordon, the winner of baseball's Heisman, the Golden Spikes Award. He finished the season with 131 strikeouts in 106 innings.
Then, in July, he hit 99 mph.
"It wasn't just that it was 99," he said. "It was 99 when it was needed."
Both Smith, the head coach of Team USA, and Jamieson, an assistant for the team, confirmed what the scoreboard in Durham, N.C., reported. USA led Nicaragua 2-1 in the sixth - the runs provided by Mense's two-run single - and there were two runners on and one out. By his count, Scherzer figures he has "10 good bullets" in his arm every game. To escape the inning, he unfurled a changeup and then fastballs at accelerating speeds - 95, 98 and, to end the inning with a strikeout, 99.
"I haven't seen a guy like this guy we saw then," Jamieson said. "At the most important time, he dialed it up, took it beyond anything I've seen. He has that ability."
obviously this is premature, but does anyone know if the team wants scherzer as a starter or a reliever?
I remember Mike Rizzo being interviewed right after the draft, and he said he thinks Scherzer will be a starter, but if he's in the pen he's the best closer prosect in the draft.
I saw Scherzer pitch in the College World Series right after the draft, and he was buzzing the corners from 92-96 mph and had a nasty slider for about six innings, then gave up a few cheap hits and walked a few guys and gave up a couple runs so they pulled him. He reminded me of Brad Penny a little bit. I really hope we sign him.
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:43 pm Post subject:
Update from BA
Quote:
Scherzer News Scant
No movement was reported in the Max Scherzer talks, as the No. 11 overall pick and only unsigned first-round pick and his agent, Scott Boras, continued to negotiate with the Diamondbacks.
Scherzer was working out at Boras’ facility and back home in Missouri to stay ready, but Boras said there was no urgency to the talks.
“We told them in good faith that Max would not return to college, so they would not feel pressured to do something by any kind of deadline, and they indicated to us that the organization didn’t feel any rush to get this done,” Boras said.
Instead of discussing contract terms in the interview, Boras said Scherzer was “one of the top two or three pitchers available in the (2006) draft.”
New Diamondbacks scouting director Tom Allison indicated in an earlier interview that the organization was not affected by the change in scouting director. Mike Rizzo was scouting director when the Diamondbacks picked Scherzer but left the organization over the summer to become assistant general manager with the Nationals.
"We’ll all put our heads together and work on it," Allison said. "I did scout Max and I have my own reports on him, but (general manager) Josh Byrnes is also very familiar with him obviously, and I’m sure he’ll do what’s best for the organization.”
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 784
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:29 am Post subject:
Quote:
“We told them in good faith that Max would not return to college, so they would not feel pressured to do something by any kind of deadline, and they indicated to us that the organization didn’t feel any rush to get this done,” Boras said.
A kinder, gentler Boras?
Just pay him his money so we can get a look at him this spring.
_________________ Oops in the 2 hole!
I know its not good to let positional players take a year off and not progress, but maybe it's not so bad that a pitcher takes a year off and let their arms rejuvenate. If so, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let these negotiations drag out.
Any studies or knowledge about the health benefits from time off at his age?
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The pen is mightier than the sword, if that pen is shot out of a gun
I know its not good to let positional players take a year off and not progress, but maybe it's not so bad that a pitcher takes a year off and let their arms rejuvenate. If so, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let these negotiations drag out.
Any studies or knowledge about the health benefits from time off at his age?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Harrington
_________________
Old school Hollywood baseball,
Joe Girardi is ten feet tall,
Old school Hollywood baseball,
Me and Frenchy walk a ton.
Yeah, I read about that guy. You have to imagine every team lets their draft picks know about that guy. But I'm talking about performance rather than salary. If he had signed, he still could've experienced the same drop-off in production.
_________________
The pen is mightier than the sword, if that pen is shot out of a gun
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 3015
Location: In front of my computer
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:42 am Post subject:
Well...clearly it was mistake on the D backs part not to get something done on this sooner. The next time they speak about it, Boras is going to say...
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