The Valencia front office are entering the Rookie Draft with $6.7M available for negotiations.
Sources close to the Stars’ brass are saying 12 of the 20 drafted have already been added to the organization. The other 8 draftees, however, have demands that are totaling $8.6M.
“At some point, we are going to have to make up $1.9M or leave some of the draftees on the table,” chief financial analyst Abbi Cuss stated at the weekly press conference.
At the top of the list to sign is first round pick, Bill Nesbitt. The 20 year-old left fielder grades out as slightly above average defensively. Bill also is fully developed with a current and potential overall rating both at 50 where he can likely start at A or AA ball and be ready for the bigs by 2062. His demand is pretty reasonable at $2.15M.
The supplemental first round pick, Bradley Russell, is next on the list to sign. He has a current/potential overall rating of 40/55 which means he should work his way through the farm system relatively quickly as well. Bradley can play both catcher and first base and has a demand of $2.85M.
The next three draftees Ed Bush, Tomas Rodriguez and Miguel Gonzalez (all outfielders) have demands between $550K and $1M and hopefully can be signed within the budget.
The other three draftees picked in the 5th, 8th and 9th rounds are at risk of not being signed unless the Stars make some more money prior to the deadline or if the front office tries to get some money via selling prospects. Two of those three draftees are rated at 35 so there is a high chance that those two may be let back into the pool.