Madison Bumgarner: Will he do it?
Madison Bumgarner still hasn't signed with the Giants yet. I'm not sure what's going on, but I have been following every news bit that my Google Alerts can provide on the topic. He's not gonna get the money he wants, so I guess he's holding out for the last minute. Madison turned 18 this week also. He's gonna get about $1.8 million in the deal, minus whatever his agent gets. I bet he's kicking himself right now for even having an agent in this deal. From what I have seen so far in this story, his agent hasn't gotten him anything that he couldn't have gotten on his own. There are also still various spewings about Madison threatening to go off to a junior college rather than signing. I'm sure this threat may be some sort of attempt to get more than he's gonna get, because it's certainly a poor idea. When you get a 10th overall in the first round, you can't walk away from it with hopes of improving your chances in two years. The top players in this year's draft are all getting less than in past drafts. If Madison wants to play baseball, he'll sign. I don't think he's really interested in going to college and letting some coach burn his arm up before he's eligible to re-enter the draft in two years. If he really wants to go to college, why isn't he talking about going to the University of North Carolina, where he already has a deal in place? UNC has been to the college world series for the last two years in a row. If he's in it for the love of the game rather than money, UNC would be the choice. Since he's talking about a junior college rather than a 4-year school, it's obvious that he's interested in playing major league baseball. Two years isn't as long to wait as three. August 15th is the deadline. He'll sign with the Giants before then and he'll take what they give him. I don't think he's capable of making the mistake of not signing.
All in all, it's been fun watching a local kid get this opportunity :)
August 8th, 2007 - 03:29
Good points John.
I’ll be pretty surprised if Madison doesn’t sign. From all the conversations I had with his family and people in the industry, I never thought of him as a tough sign. As you pointed out, I think the new slot bonuses are what’s slowing so many of these signings.
August 8th, 2007 - 06:24
John,
I think you are a little out of line with your anaylsis. Mike has been good for Madison. The Giants knew going into the draft what they would have to pay him and they took him anyway.
P.S.
My source is pretty good
August 8th, 2007 - 07:47
Brad, I guess we’ll see how good he has been this week. If Madison gets more than $1.8m, we’ll know the answer :)