The Baltimore Orioles signed third-round pick Dan Klein, a right-handed pitcher out of UCLA, to a deal late last week. From Jim Callis of Baseball America:
“The Orioles signed third-round pick Dan Klein for $499,900. Klein had told teams before the draft that he was seeking second-round money, and Baltimore, which didn’t have a second-round choice, gave it to him. MLB’s recommended bonus for Klein’s No. 85 draft slot was $417,600.”
This follows two other above-slot deals — one to fifth round pick Connor Narron, a shortstop-third baseman who signed for $650,000, and the other to ninth-rounder Parker Bridwell, a right-handed pitcher who signed for $625,000. I love the above-slot deals the Orioles are handing out this year, and the team has been pretty aggressive with over-slot deals in Andy MacPhail’s tenure.
In fact, the Orioles are now one of baseball’s most aggressive organzations in the draft — and not just because they’ve consistently had to cut big checks to highly touted draftees at the top of the draft board. It’s because they’re willing to go well over-slot for talented players later on in the draft that have slipped down the board for whatever reason. A perfect example of this is last year’s 22nd-rounder, Cameron Coffey, signing for $990,000.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — the only way the Orioles will be competitive in the American League East and stay competitive is if they invest heavily in the amateur draft and international scouting. Make the commissioner’s office scream and holler at you for spending so much in those areas. The Orioles still has a long way to go on the international scouting side of things, but they’re getting where they need to be with the draft. These are two areas in which the Orioles have zero excuse not to be on the same plane as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Those two teams can be more aggressive than the Orioles in free agency, but the Orioles should never be playing second fiddle to those teams in the draft or in international scouting.
Anyway, below is a scouting report on Klein from Keith Law, a talent evaluator for ESPN and Scout Inc. (link for ESPN Insiders only):
“Klein is a former star high school quarterback — it’s been a running joke at UCLA that the best quarterback on campus is on the baseball team — who is back from a injured shoulder capsule that wiped out his 2009 spring and is moving up boards as a closer who might be able to start in pro ball.
Klein’s a strike-thrower who, on his best days, will show a plus change and a plus curve with an above-average fastball, certainly enough weapons for him move to a rotation, and he’s an excellent athlete with the size and frame to start.
Of course, he’s got two years of shoulder injuries behind him, as he had a minor clean-out operation his freshman year, and zero history of working as a starter in college, so building him up to a 180-inning-a-year-workload is extremely ambitious.
I think his best shot is as a fast-moving closer who has the pitches to get left- and right-handed hitters out; he could help a major league team within a year.”
The Orioles, though, will develop Klein as a starter and have him report to the Aberdeen Ironbirds. I’m excited about Klein going to Aberdeen because I have a chance to see him pitch (my dad and I have a nine-game plan at Aberdeen — we live nearby.) Of course, if I am lucky enough to see Klein pitch, I’ll have a full report — and hopefully, photos – in this space.
I asked Callis on Twitter whether he thought the Orioles would sign their sixth and seventh round picks, Dixon Anderson and Matthew Bywater, before Monday’s night’s 11:59 p.m. deadline for signing draftees. Anderson is a right-handed pitcher out of the University of California, and Bywater is a left-handed pitcher out of Pepperdine University. Callis responded that he thought the Orioles would sign at least one of them. I hope they sign both.
Callis, by the way, believes it’s a near-lock that the Orioles sign Manny Machado, their first rounder — the No. 3 overall selection — to a deal before the deadline.
UPDATE: The Orioles reportedly will not sign Anderson and it’s unlikely that the Orioles sign Bywater, so the team will turn their attention to two later-round high schoolers – Austin Urban (27th round) and Jaime Esquivel (28th.) I wouldn’t close the book on Anderson or Bywater, though, as the status of the types of draft deals have a tendency to change very quickly at the deadline. If I’m the Orioles, though, I would aggressively push to sign these two players and the later round high schoolers and of course, Machado. Why the hell wouldn’t you?