On day 3 of the 2013 MLB Amateur draft, 7 Sports Group had another guy drafted.  This prospect was the one that the Astros kept making an offer and then retracting it verbally.  This prospect was supposed to get drafted between the 12th and 15th round, but slipped to the 31st round.  In terms of the MLB draft, this is a huge gap for the player in terms to money.  According to Ryan, the Astros still were offering a six figure bonus even though he was drafted in the 31st round.  Apparently the offer on the table at first was $350,000 and then was lowered to $150,000 in which Ryan terminated the deal.  This prospect already has a full scholarship to UCLA and was on his way to play in the West Coast Collegiate Wood Bat league for the summer.  There was no reason for him to sign way below his asking price of $350,000.  His talent will be more valued in two years when he is draft eligible again.  Determining when a player is draft eligible again is another deciding factor that plays into their asking price.  There is no reason for a prospect like this one sign for such a low value.  He has a scholarship and the talent pool in two years will not be as strong.  Another factor that played into his final asking price is the value of his scholarship to UCLA.  The value of a 4-year education is included when determining a prospect’s worth in the draft.  The MLB team takes this into consideration when they are deciding on how much money it would take to pry the prospect from attending school. 

The office has been on the phone several times since 6am PST with the Astros and Twins.  According to Ryan, the Astros have lowered their offer and want a verbal commitment from the player before they move into their office and start the draft where we are only left with communication via text message.  Ryan has said he contacted the player and got him to agree to the lower amount since he feels that the amount offered is more than what the players said value is right now in the draft. 

            Day three of the draft is underway and we have completed rounds 10 and 11 and our prospects have not been chosen yet.  Several text messages have gone back and forth but nothing has been agreed to yet.  The Astros apparently did not choose our prospect in the 12th round and the previous statement of not believing a scouts word holds true.  I would like to digress a little right now.

            This situation where the scout says one thing and the club does something different justifies why having an agent is so important during this process.  If our prospect did not have us working for him, the player would have either agreed to a lower amount or become extremely frustrated because he would have been told a few times that he would be drafted and then wasn’t.  Players in the draft have a hard time separating that baseball is a fun sport to play versus it being a business to these teams.  In general, baseball is a business, a tough business to be successful at to say the least, and these teams will squeeze every penny they can out of the player in order to keep money in their pockets.  The owners are not worried about one particular player.  They are more concerned at how they can turn a profit from their business of owning an MLB organization.  An agent understands this and wants to squeeze every penny out of the organization in order to give the player a higher stock value once they are in the organization.  If a team needs to make room on a roster, they are not going to release a player they have already invested millions of dollars in.  They are going to release a player they have invested in the least.  So if you think accepting a bus ticket to play professional baseball is sufficient, guess what, your career will be short lived.  The less money you accept in the draft, the easier it is for the team to release you and the least chances you will have to prove your keep.  Now, back to the draft.

The Twins have kept their word and drafted one of our prospects in the 15th round for $75,000!  Knowing that you have helped a player achieve their dream of playing professional baseball is an amazing feeling.  Now, only if the Astros can keep their word and draft our other prospect.  According to Ryan, the Astros have lowered their offer yet again and I think Ryan has taken the offer as an insult and terminated the deal altogether.  Our other prospects are expected to get drafted in the later rounds.  These last few prospects are seniors in college and have no leverage in the draft since their only choice is to either sign or have their career ended because they are out of eligibility at their school.  

As expected, none of our prospects were drafted on day 2.  We now have been in communication with several teams for four of our prospects.  Rounds 10 through 40 are on day three and rounds 10 through 15 are the most critical based on monetary value.  There is not much wiggle room for teams and the amount of money that they can offer to players from the 10th round through the 20th round due to the limitations the new CBA has put on the draft.  Teams cannot exceed $100,000 signing bonus offering unless they plan on paying a luxury tax on any amount over $100,000.  Although, if the team has extra cash leftover from previous round draft picks, then they can exceed the $100,000 bonus amount.  This is where the early rounds play a factor in how we approach negotiating for our players in these later rounds. 

            We are now reaching 11pm PST and we are still talking with two teams to reach an agreed offer for our players.  The Astros and Twins have been back and forth with bonus offers and to make sure the players will sign if they draft them based on the agreed amount.  According to Ryan, the Astros have confirmed a bonus offer and 12th round draft pick for one of our prospects with a signing bonus of $350,000.  Now we must wait and see how the first part of day three goes to see if the Astros and Twins keep their word.  Throughout all these three days of the draft, the prospects have been told to turn off their cell phone or not to pick up the phone if a scout is calling.  I guess this has posed as a bad thing because the scouts will contact the player and get them to agree to a lower amount without involving the agent.  The less contact the player has with the scout during the draft, the less the player is willing to make a decision based on emotion.  I can understand this reasoning since the players life-long dreams is within arms-reach.  For now, we must go home and wait until the third day of the draft begins to see how it plays out.

The first day of the draft has come and gone.  The draft has taken a few odd turns, but for the most part 7 Sports Group’s prospects are looking like they get drafted higher than expected.  One prospect we have has been the topic of several conversations between the Houston Astros and 7 Sports Group.  He is projected to be chosen in the 8th through 12th round and the Astros have been consistent with maintaining communication with us every couple of hours after the first round concluded.  I know that money was talked about and whether or not our prospect would sign for the offered amount.  Ryan mentioned that our asking price was about $100,000 over what they were offering.  But Ryan also stated that we must start high to come down to the figure in which we think our prospect will comfortable with agreeing to.  The toughest part of this process is that everything is hear-say.  Nothing can be put in writing yet and we must take the scouts word for what it is worth, and apparently the scouts word is not worth much from what I take.  Apparently the Astros have offered $350,000 and our prospects asking price is $450,000.  If we can come to an agreement, then the Astros can draft our prospect in a later round knowing that there has been an agreement on the signing bonus offered.  This allows the Astros the room to draft another player who they have not come to an agreement with and that they think will not be around to draft in later rounds.  Let’s see how the second day goes with the 2nd, supplemental round, and 3rd round to happen.    

It is the day before the 2013 MLB Amateur draft and I guess you can say that all is quiet before the storm.  All MLB teams draft boards are set and so are the boards for the agencies.  Final calls are being conducted to our prospects to make sure that they understand what to expect over the next three days.  7 Sports Group does not have any prospects projected to go the first day of the draft.  The first day of the MLB Amateur draft only includes the first round.  The first day of the draft is televised on the MLB Network and possible first round draft picks have been invited to New York to be a part of the televised portion of draft.  Players invited to the first day of the draft were notified a month prior to ensure that the players chosen in the first round are present for interview.  The importance of the first day of the draft for agencies is to see each teams first pick, which will determine how the rest of the draft will play out.  If a team picks a player who is thought to sign for less than the slotted amount, then agencies can plan on negotiating more for their players who are chosen later in the draft.  This means that teams will have extra cash to offer other players in the draft. Based on how the first day of the draft goes will help determine where 7 Sports Group’s prospects may be chosen.  This helps by allowing the agency to be prepared and help manipulate one of our prospects into a higher round.  

We are now within a few days of the 2013 MLB draft and are having to finalize details on where players stand that 7 Sports Group represents in the draft.  Final meetings with prospective draftees are being set to make sure the player and the agent are on the same page.  The most important parts of the draft is the final numbers in which the player will sign if they get drafted.  The other side of this is making sure the scouts and teams know which players 7 Sports Group represents are signable or not.  MLB teams do not want to take a risk on drafting a player that is determined to go to college.  Players that are willing to sign must establish a money figure in which they are asking that is within reason and making sure the teams know this number.  I have spent several hours on the phone speaking with prospects and explaining where they stand with teams and discussing their asking price.  Prior to me joining the 7 Sports Group team, they had already compiled previous signing bonus’s that were accepted by players who most compare to the player they are representing.  This information provides validation of their prospects asking price and also provides how they will approach negotiating with the teams. 

            Other agents in the 7 Sports Group have worked on obtaining the most up-to-date information for each prospect in order to determine their position in the draft.  I have been told that the two days before the start of the MLB draft is when most teams have their draft lists set.  From this point it just becomes a waiting game to see how the draft evolves.