Dodgers Draft Zach Lee With First Round Pick
by Eric Stephen on Jun 7, 2010 6:45 PM PDT
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The Dodgers drafted right-handed pitcher Zach Lee with their first-round pick, the 28th pick overall. Here is what Andy Seiler of MLB Bonus Baby had to say about Lee:
Zach Lee is a powerful right-handed pitcher from McKinney High School in McKinney, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Lee is teammates with fellow Draft Notebook prospect Matt Lipka, and they form what is likely the best teammate draft combination in this draft class. Lee is the pitcher between the two, and he is also the quarterback, which is where his draft stock gets muddy. Having been one of the most successful quarterbacks in the country as a prep, LSU came calling to sign him as both a football and baseball player, and they were successful in doing so. While he didn’t choose to forego his senior spring in favor of jumping ahead to play spring football for the Tigers, he has been relatively unavailable all spring to scouts, choosing to use Lipka as his messenger, an odd choice, though one that’s understandable, as he doesn’t want the pressure overtaking him. He has the raw stuff of a potential number two starter, and that alone should make him desirable enough to be an early pick on draft day. His fastball is a potential plus offering, and he sits 91-93, touching 95, right now. He has room to add a couple ticks of velocity to that, and his mechanics are exceptionally clean, meaning scouts think he won’t get in the way of himself growing with his stuff. His breaking ball is an above-average to plus slider, and his changeup is also a potential above-average pitch, giving him three pitches to work with and projectability. Since he has a dual sport scholarship, teams can spread a potential bonus over as many as five years if they draft him, so that gives them a little safety, but he will still be an incredibly tough sign. He should go in the back third of the first round, but it may take as much as $3.5 million to get him inked in August.
Lee will be expensive if the Dodgers try to convince him to avoid football. The last time my favorite team drafted an LSU quarterback in the first round (JaMarcus Russell to the Raiders), it was a disaster. Let's hope this turns out much better.
Here is the MLB.com video report on Lee.
Dodger assistant GM of amateur and international scouting spoke with reporters at the game tonight. Per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
"People can think what they want, he was the best talent available and I want to sign him, absolutely," said Logan White, assistant general manager of scouting. "I didn't take Zach to not sign him. You'll see as the summer goes along we'll make every effort to sign him, and I want to sign him. I know it won't be easy, but hopefully we'll get it done."
Mark Dent of the Dallas Morning News is undeterred by skepticism that Frank McCourt won't spend the money to sign Lee:
The Dodgers, who have some of the deepest pockets in baseball, are just the team that could try and make a run at Lee and bring him to the Major Leagues
Here's video of Lee's delivery from last August 11, via farmsystem on YouTube (thanks to Nate Purcell for the link):
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Keith Law had this nuggert
in his June 2nd blog.
A cross-checker and another industry source independently told me that they expect right-handed pitcher and LSU quarterback recruit Zach Lee to sign this summer, with the latter source saying he thought the family had “played it perfectly” all spring.
wow did the Lee family get screwed then
Apparently they didn’t play it perfectly
Lee was strongly favored to go to one of my other favorite teams
..the Rangers, for the hometown connection in addition to his talent. hope the dodgers can get him to sign.
Director of the 2010 Free Casper Wells campaign
No Run Support
I don't know
Not Silverwidow… Not me… Not you…
2 guys votes yes…
Colony Capital sucks... Paris est magique...
Honestly
I think they must have a deal in place. To take this big a risk(unless they go Ethan Martin on us) in the 1st round, Id think they have the outlines of a deal in place… sounds like a solid pick if he signs…
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Jun 7, 2010 6:50 PM PDT reply actions
lol @ having confidence the Dodgers are spending 3-6 million on this kid
but can’t pay shit for actual players on the paroll
by Chad Moriyama on Jun 7, 2010 7:01 PM PDT up reply actions
If they wouldn’t spend less to keep Santana….
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Jun 7, 2010 7:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Keep beating that drum, bh
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Jun 7, 2010 7:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Well of course they wanted Santana. Who didn’t? But primarily they wanted to move Blake, and I’ve never seen proof that Santana was a deal-breaker. So we’ll believe what we believe.
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Jun 7, 2010 7:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Fine with O’Conner, Cole, and lots of others, Bedrosian even, and Castellanos.
by Chad Moriyama on Jun 7, 2010 7:09 PM PDT up reply actions
What did recent Dodger 1st rounders sign for?
The Dodgers arent going to go over slot…and if this kid wants 3.5 mils….why would anyone think the Dodgers are going to sign him?
Like I told LDY4L on my site, going from like 600k to 900k for Gould is different from 900k to 3.5 million.
by Chad Moriyama on Jun 7, 2010 7:16 PM PDT up reply actions
More on Lee:
“At this point I’m leaning a lot more to toward college,” Lee said. “I think the opportunity to be able to go in and possibly compete for a starting job early in football and also to be able to compete and play for the baseball team – both elite programs – is pretty hard to pass up along with getting an education on top of it.”
but the quote above is from june 2nd, just a couple of days ago
also, remember, this is pre draft… of course hed say that. He knows he is crazy good and can get serious $$$…
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Jun 7, 2010 7:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Let me dream...
3 plus pitches and good control… I’ll wait until they don’t sign him to be upset.
My twitter = @neufaustcan
I Voted Yes.
It will be too much of a PR disaster if the Dodgers punt the pick.
Lee
has one of the cleanest deliveries in this draft with projection in his stuff.
PLEASE SIGN HIM PLZZZZ.
I don’t believe in conspiracy theories.
I believe in Logan White.
The potential freshman QB couldn’t say anything else to the LSU Tigerbeat and waffled on the other quote from Mr Nieves
"At this point I’m leaning a lot more to toward college," Lee said. "I think the opportunity to be able to go in and possibly compete for a starting job early in football and also to be able to compete and play for the baseball team"
Time will tell. Expect the unexpected.
Let's try this scenario
The Dodgers (White) knows that Lee is not going to be drafted before him. He has gone down to Texas in recent years to sign Kershaw and Withrow. Kershaw played HS ball in the same general area.
He has a lot of credibility with Billingsley, Broxton and Kershaw (esp. Kershaw spending not even 2 years in the minors).
There is the quote from Keith Law.
And that Hochevar was offered $2.8 – 3.1M before the strange goings on.
A lot will be known next week....if Lee shows up for frosh summer workouts on campus...
Then its likely he’s looking to play football.
Why would you risk football injuries if you were determined to sign a MLB contract?
As a QB, he almost has to be on campus for the summer or he’ll fall behind.
I think if this kid played any other position other than QB, it’d be much easier to sign. But passing up a chance to play QB at LSU, and better his draft position on the baseball team will be tough to beat.
To him, its worth 3.5 mils
the QB isnt hit until 2 a days maybe later
even if he goes, he wont be hit. He could be covering his bases…
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Jun 7, 2010 7:18 PM PDT up reply actions
Because they don't analyze the Dodgers daily like we do
They are thinking the Dodgers are large market like Tigers and Yankees. We know better.
I voted “no” above and that was my opinion as soon as I saw who was drafted; and I’m generally one of the guys who defends Frank around these parts. I’m glad so many people here are actually voting “yes.” That makes me feel a little more optimistic.
by Michael White on Jun 8, 2010 8:22 AM PDT up reply actions
The BH theory about this being a demonstration of good faith is an interesting one. It seems like it gives Lee even more leverage, though, if signing him isn’t just a business matter, but a symbol of this or that, too.
The problem with the theory is that McCourt knows (like we all do) that most fans don’t pay attention to the draft. If he’s got that kind of money to spend for PR, won’t he get a better bang for those bucks at the trading deadline?
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Jun 7, 2010 7:20 PM PDT up reply actions
I agree. If he’s got limited funds and wants to make an impact on the fans (which would be stupid anyway since McCourt will be the villain for as long as he owns this team) the money will go into absorbing salary at the deadline.
by Michael White on Jun 8, 2010 8:24 AM PDT up reply actions
I would love to be completely wrong
Churchill:
Lee is asking for 5-plus million the last we heard and has strong football commit to LSU. If the Dodgers want Lee and his above-average change, they’ll have to pay him, which doesn’t seem likely considering the Dodgers’ ownership situation.
Good chance Lee ends up in Baton Rouge to play QB for Les Miles, but he’s projectable and has already flashed big-league pitches.
But honestly…you believe they are spending a ton of money here? After all this mess?
Well
I have talked to Jon W about this and I think that the divorce is just a convenient reason to use re the budget, McCourt wasn’t going to spend that much last off-season on free agents.
And I also tend to believe that White pretty much operates under his own set of beliefs. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say.
I agree, but they are reducing it regardless.
by Chad Moriyama on Jun 7, 2010 7:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Absolutely rediculous.
If you are the Tigers and you can spend on Porcello and Miguel Cabrera, et al, then go for it. With an actual budget, $5MM is absurd for a high school kid.
by Michael White on Jun 8, 2010 8:25 AM PDT up reply actions
I can't see 5 million.
Maztek got 3.9 million last year, and he wanted Porcello money(7 million). Unless Lee is otherwordly, he’s not getting more than Maztek.
I don’t think either of them were four star QB prospects slated to attend an elite football school though.
by Chad Moriyama on Jun 7, 2010 8:27 PM PDT up reply actions
I think he's good and well worth a couple million
3-4 million? Meh. 5-6 million? Ridiculous.
He has a lot more options than most.
by Chad Moriyama on Jun 7, 2010 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions
any thoughts on why the Braves took Lipka?
He is a SS, but with Escobar and Prado.. is there any place? I doubt Lipka is THAT much better than a pitcher they could have taken…
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Jun 7, 2010 7:30 PM PDT reply actions
One blowback from this pick is that Lee likely won't sign before the deadline, which also means he won't likely start organized ball until next year if he does sign.
Which also means he won’t see low A until 2012 unless they fast track him.
All I know is
I wouldn’t want the last word on the Dodgers draft pick to come from Peter Gammons, who pays almost zero attention to them and sleeps in a Red Sox Snuggie.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
I really think if Mccourt was instructing White to go cheap we would have just signed a safe slot pick. I’m going to be a little naive and assume we didn’t pick a “tough sign” intentionally just to punt the pick and save the money. We gotta spend some money on the draft, and slot money for our pick was what less than 1.5 mil? I’m going to live in fantasy land and assume White has draft budget and total autonomy on how to spend it.
I think this may be the way to say sorry for not offering arbitration and having 5 picks today instead of 1
So instead of paying about 5-6 million on slot picks they are going to spend it all on one big stud. I heard that Lee was the 2nd best HS pitcher in the draft, and he’s one of those big Texas HS pitchers…I’d be extremely happy to see this guy signed.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Logan White has usually had one mantra. He will pay a drafted player what he thinks he’s worth. He won’t over pay for the sake of over paying. As others have said, this pick makes no sense unless the Dodgers already had a feel for what Lee was asking and that they were willing to meet it. However we said the same thing when they drafted Hochevar and we know how that ended up so I’m not willing to concede the point that they have a plan in place.
WIthout knowing any of the details of the conversations between Lee and White, I can’t see how a guy from Texas where football is bred into your bones, skips out on the chance to be the starting quarterback for LSU, and instead embarks on a hard journey of buses for the next four years. If the Dodgers do indeed sign this kid, I think it will be the shock of the draft.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
This ^^^^^
Being from the South, myself, the intoxication of starring in big time college football to a kid of his age is unmatchable.
We don’t have a prayer.
This pick is how good teams start down the road to mediocrity.
Official proponent of the unofficial campaign to nickname Derrick Morgan "Captain Morgan."
yeah but money is money. Does he project to make the NFL and be a first round pick there? Probably impossible to know at this point, but $3.5m now is safe money. Bird in the hand… it’s worked before.
I guess that's our one shot.
But the consensus on this thread is that the Dodgers won’t pay the $3.5m. We shall see…
Official proponent of the unofficial campaign to nickname Derrick Morgan "Captain Morgan."
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