Rockies select Tyler Matzek with first pick of 2009 draft
by Rox Girl on Jun 9, 2009 5:09 PM MDT
in Rockies Draft
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With the eleventh overall selection, the Colorado Rockies surprised everybody and selected left handed prep starTyler Matzek out of Capistrano Valley High School in California. Matzek has as high a ceiling as any high schooler in the draft and scared several teams off by making overtures that he wanted precedent setting money. He has a four pitch selection with a high nineties fastball. Matzek will have to be signed out of his commitment to Oregon University. I'll update this post with more info as it comes along.
Baseball America's Draft blog:
Matzek was special down the stretch in the California sectional playoffs, hitting as high as 97 or 98 mph late in the season. He definitely had the highest ceiling left on the board; I'd be excited if I were a Rockies fan.
I practically begged the Rockies to take a chance with a high upside kid, ignoring potential contract demands. Not that they would ever listen to me, but the Rockies did just that, taking Tyler Matzek with the 11th pick overall.
This is a franchise type of pitcher, a talent with real #1 type of potential, the Rockies have gone out on a welcome limb here and the negotiations of whether they sign him over the next couple of months could have much impact on the direction of the franchise in coming seasons.
Photo from MaxPreps.com
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I'm still in shock.
Gotta tip your hat to the FO for having the balls to make that pick. I love it!
"What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." -Bob Dylan
by Bryan Kilpatrick on Jun 9, 2009 5:11 PM MDT reply actions
The rules
So, they have until Aug 15 to sign him? If they do not, do they get another pick in the 2010 draft to compensate?
wouldn't it be 11?
since the Nats took the 10 this year for not signing Crow.
Aug 17th, actually
The weekend has been extended we learned today. Expect it to take right up to the deadline to get this deal done, if it does get done.
thanks.
maybe at the park they should put up signs at the concession stands—“25 cents from each purchase goes towards signing our draft picks.”
+1
Although the sign would probably read like this:
- – “25% of purchase will go towards signing new Rockies draft picks. Concessions have been raised 50% to offset said strategy.” – -
Check out my Rockies comic strip at:
Rock Drive 1.4
Really interesting pick
Not what the Rockies do usually. Heard that he is looking for 7 million+
I fully expect that Atkins will be moved and that cash will be used to sign him.
I hope so,
but I am pessimistic. Teams are pretty tight nowadays. I hope his trade and signing the draftees are unrelated…
Obviously...
The Rockies are going to move Atkins and his salary for a front-line pitcher.
Check out my Rockies comic strip at:
Rock Drive 1.4
A front line pitcher
Say…Matzek?
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 10, 2009 12:21 AM MDT up reply actions
I'm smiling here
I would’ve had to break something if they went for some boring projectable college arm with the upside of a 3/4.
The Rockies need some oldschool purple/white striped high socks. The team’s problem is it’s lack of swagger. I feel strongly that these socks will provide the swagger necessary to tap the potential that are the Rockies.
Now we just have to sign him
He seemed pretty non-committal in that interview, being sure to mention he likes to hit and Oregon will give him the chance.
Then again, with the talent he has as a pitcher, it’s hard to imagine he’d have a better career as a hitter…and really, if you’re a pitcher who likes to hit, there’s nowhere better to get drafted
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 9, 2009 5:31 PM MDT reply actions
Video looks good of him
i don’t follow these drafts in depth n know who we could of got…but the kid sounds good
1 more win for back to back on the Pens and a repeat Go Wings!!!
He was regarded as the best LHP in the whole draft
with ace potential. It’s surprising he fell this far.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 9, 2009 5:33 PM MDT up reply actions
nicee
so we got a steal basically and still have another pick this round
1 more win for back to back on the Pens and a repeat Go Wings!!!
by TuLoRocks2008 on Jun 9, 2009 5:36 PM MDT up reply actions
We still need to sign him, which might not be so easy
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 9, 2009 6:13 PM MDT up reply actions
Amen to that. I hate the Wings with a fiery passion.
by Rather Dashing on Jun 9, 2009 9:05 PM MDT up reply actions
It's a money issue, right?
Ringolsby said he asked for “precedent-setting money” for a high school pick.
True
But surprising nonetheless.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jun 9, 2009 6:13 PM MDT up reply actions
Wow.
This is a really encouraging sign from the FO. I don’t know where the money will come from, but methinks they must have something up their sleeve to make this move. Hell, I’ll go stand out in front of Coors with a purple kettle and a hand bell if need be. This is a day-maker for sure!
So. When is enough enough?
Well...they did save $13.5 million this year from Holliday
Okay, with Street/CarGo/Smith’s contracts, about $9 million, but that should about do it for these prospects.
Eschew Obfuscation!
Do we have a legit shot of signing him or
is this a ploy to get an extra pick next year? I keep remembering the M&M boys saying there’s no money so I’m not sold on the reasoning of the pick.
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
Author: Jim Bouton
So they may
not be following the spirit of the law, just the letter?
"If we never try, we shall never succeed." - Abraham Lincoln
Purple Row - Covering all your Rockies needs!
I think there's a very good chance that they do sign him.
As I said elsewhere, how the ownership will feel about it if the price goes beyond what Schmidt and O’Dowd say they can pull him in for is another question. I could see a costly pick hastening O’Dowd’s departure from the job rather than him being saved by drafting the most talented player available.
Well, I really hope they open the wallets and get him signed. Or at least make a legitimate effort.
His interview with MLB didn’t give me a lot of confidence that he was real fired up about getting drafted by us.
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
Author: Jim Bouton
I think this is mainly because he was planning on going pro
And thought his bonus statements made it clear he’d get drafted by a team like the Yankees or Dodgers. I think he’s actually disappointed that the prospect of going to college. There’s a lot of pressure on the ownership to get this done, though, the question is only whether it’s at a price they can be happy with or at one that causes them to shake up the FO for guys that stick closer to budget constraints.
Well, the Monforts are going to be the ones to say YES or NO to the final offer.
Are you saying that if the FO can’t get a deal done, the owners might shake up because the FO drafted someone they couldn’t get signed? I guess I could kind of see that but DOD has been pretty good about toeing the company line. Don’t you think the Monforts probably were in on the draft decision knowing this kid might not be signable?
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
Author: Jim Bouton
I think he winds up signing for a price the Monforts can say yes to,
What I’m saying is that as business owners, they’ll be a lot happier with certain price ranges than others. If the negotiations take the Rockies over the price they have in their head, they might be inclined to find a GM who brings things closer to or under that mark.
Right now, I think the chances that the team signs him are a lot more likely than them not signing him, it’s just a matter of whether that signing has ramifications for the FO or not. At the very least, I expect we won’t see another selection like this for a couple more years, unless things go really well from a team standpoint, even with a pretty high pick likely next draft.
I really hope you're right that they can get him signed.
This is the kind of signing that we need to have to show we’re serious about winning.
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
Author: Jim Bouton
Frustrating
Nice to see that we actually took the best available. However, it’s quite frustrating knowing that we could have done a hell of a lot better in ‘06 &’07.
Maybe if DoD was working without a contract extention back then, he might have done a better job than taking a #3 and a reliever.
Oh what could/should have been.
TGFPR!!
It always is
Don’t be silly with your logical argument.
If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! HOW can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!
Scouting department
I seriously doubt that the frugality in draft spending is O’Dowd’s choice (every team that I can think of has this decision made for them by ownership) and you can see that when the scouting department has had extra money freed up (Larry Walker trade, Dominguez refusing to sign) that they have already targeted tough sign players and are more than happy to go out and spend the money to sign them (Fowler, Tyler Massey and Delta Cleary last year).
Angels
The Angels have an owner who has made it clear that he will spend money to put a winning team on the field yet the Angels have had several recent drafts decimated by either an inability to determine if a player can be signed or an unwillingness to spend what it takes to sign said players.
I am sure that every scouting director would do what Logan White does (though perhaps not as well) if given the chance.
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