According to Redsof72, 7th rounder Josh Fellhauer has signed and will report to Dayton.
Article with a brief mention on Valaika. Also saw in a previous article at the same site that Valaika rejected the Reds' first offer, mainly because it did not include a provision for college tuition.
http://presidiosports.com/2009/07/va...-to-mlb-deals/
Outside of the top 2 picks, Barnhardt, Perez and Marerro, who are the remaining picks that the Reds should be aggressively pursuing?
Tuttle (5th), Chase Fowler (16th), Matt Valaika (20th), Michael Monster (25th), Darion Hamilton (49th) are some of the ones I want to see signed with those 1st 2 guys as guys we need to be aggressive with. Beyond that I am not sure. Maybe Reed and Stewart (21,22) as well.
Last edited by Mario-Rijo; 07-03-2009 at 03:43 PM.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
Seventh-round draft choice Josh Fellhauer, an outfielder on Cal State-Fullerton’s College World Series team, joined the Dragons after signing his first contract earlier in the day and undergoing a physical.
Benzinger wanted to give Fellhauer a chance to get acclimated and will probably start him for the first time tonight at West Michigan. Benzinger said he would have used him as a pinch runner in the ninth if the Dragons put anyone on base.
Fellhauer took the place of outfielder Dave Sappelt, who was promoted to Sarasota, while two other Dragons also were unavailable. Outfielder Byron Wiley missed a second straight game with a broken nose, while third baseman Carlos Mendez sat out with a sore left wrist. Both are day-to-day.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayto...se-189551.html
I figured Tuttle would probably make that list. I'm sure Hamilton is a longshot. Fowler should get a good look and I like Monster too. You'd think Valaika would sign. But from what I've heard about Matt Valaika, I heard he's not supposed to be as good as his brother? Maybe that's incorrect.
Infielder Thomas Nurre was added to the Mustangs' roster on Saturday. Nurre was a 38th-round draft choice from Miami (Ohio) in the June draft.
http://billingsgazette.com/sports/ba...cc4c002e0.html
Yeah, just the fact that Chris Valaika was taken 17 rounds ahead of his younger brother (and has put up good overall stats in his minor league career) makes it pretty obvious who the better player is/will be. I'm surprised Matt Valaika is trying to play hardball here with the negotiations. 20th-round picks don't have much leverage (at least not in this case).
He has leverage in that he's a junior.
How much is Valaika's scholarship worth? Including books, room & board, meal money, and other tangible assests of that scholarship, not to mention the equipment, training time, recognition on campus, chicks, etc..that come w/ being a college athlete? Lets just throw a number out there and say all that is worth approx 30k. Sure he's a 20th rounder, but if he comes back for his senior season, whats the worst he falls to? 40th round w/ no leverage? What is the average difference b/w a 20th round signing bonus and a 40th round signing bonus? Is it worth more than a scholarship to college? If he's smart, he realizes he odds of making the majors as a 20th rounder are pretty small. If he goes to the minors right now, he ties himself up for the next 5-6 seasons of his life before he figures out he'll never make the big time, and much of that time will be spent making less than he could make w/ a college degree. 5-6 years later and its much more difficult to get back into "school" mode.
I have no idea what kind of student he is, nor what value he places on an education. Some kids simply don't care, nor worry about it. If it was me, and my son was a college Junior drafted in the 20th round, I'd want to make darn sure that college education was going to be completed on somebody else's nickel, otherwise come back for a senior year and potentially get drafted a few rounds higher.
I suspect that most players don't appreciate the odds against making the majors. Matt Valaika probably has some pretty good input from his brother. Further, with Chris having been moved to 2B recently, it seems to make any dream of playing together in the same ML infield even more remote.
I think the Valor signing crushes hope of a Marrero or Perez signing. Oh well...
Go BLUE!!!
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