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One First Rounder Left To (Maybe) Sign

Only three players in the first round did not sign with the teams that selected them in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft.  The previous statement may not hold true if it is found that Pedro Alvarez and Eric Hosmer were signed after the deadline.  That being said, of the three players who went unsigned, Aaron Crow (picked by the Nationals) and Gerrit Cole (picked by the Yankees) will be going to school.  For Crow, he can be selected again next year.  Cole will be at UCLA for three years before being picked again.  The remaining unsigned player is Joshua Fields, who was selected by the Mariners with the 20th pick overall.

Joshua had a very impressive 2008 season with the University of Georgia Bulldogs.  He was named the 2008 Stopper of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and 1st Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger.  He received those awards in his Senior season, which is somewhat of an oddity in a world where the best players almost always leave by their Junior year.  The fact that Joshua has completed his Senior year is significant, because it means that the Mariners, unlike the Nationals and Yankees, still have the ability to sign their first round pick after the August 15th deadline.  Fields does not have a school to go back to.

An interesting question was posed on BaseballAmerica’s Ask BA segment.  It basically asked what kind of the Mariners would have to pay over slot value for Fields.  This was Jim Callis’ answer:

The Fields negotiations are currently at a stalemate. The Mariners are holding firm on a slot offer of $1.5 million, while the Scott Boras Corporation maintains that teams were told all along that it would take $2 million to sign the reliever.

What’s interesting is that both sides have leverage. From Seattle’s standpoint, as Phil suggests, it can get a player of similar value with a compensation choice next year. While Fields is close to big league ready, he’s not an elite talent who plummeted to No. 20 overall because of signability.

Fields, however, could help his case by pitching well in an independent league next spring and then playing the Mariners against the possibility of losing him when he re-enters the draft. Scherzer did that, and the Diamondbacks gave him $4.3 million in guaranteed money and another $1.5 million in easily reachable incentives when Boras took the club right up to the deadline to sign him before the 2007 draft.

The $500,000 difference between the two sides is paltry in the grand scheme of things, but neither seems willing to compromise.

I am not surprised.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

2 replies on “One First Rounder Left To (Maybe) Sign”

Actually, Aaron Crow will not be returning to school and instead will be playing in an Independent League like Luke Hocheaver did a few years ago.

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