Baseball Chatter
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Football dominates the thoughts — and the headlines — these days, but there’s also a buzz over at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Major League Baseball’s deadline for signing 2009 draft picks approaches, with signatures due by midnight Monday. And the countdown carries heavy impact for many big league clubs.
And the Cowboys.
The struggling economy is causing some organizations to cut back on signing bonuses, which could send some premium players off to school. No team in the country may stand to benefit more than OSU.
Cowboys coach Frank Anderson is watching with interest as negotiations carry to the wire. The roster he anticipated and the roster he ends up with could be drastically different, for the better.
The Big Three in last season’s rotation — Andy Oliver (2nd round, Tigers), Tyler Lyons (10th round, Yankees) and Tyler Blandford (5th round, Mariners) — all remain unsigned and there’s a thought that at least two could end up in orange and black. Getting these guys back would immediately thrust OSU to the front of the Big 12 race for 2010.
And there’s more.
In a major development this week, the Orioles withdrew their offer to 2nd round pick Mychal Givens, a shortstop and pitcher who signed with the Cowboys. And barring a change of heart, Givens could be heading to Stillwater, delivering an elite talent to the program.
Another OSU signee, Yukon power pitcher Chad James, hasn’t signed either after being taken No. 18 in the draft by the Florida Marlins. Might he find his way to OSU, or go the junior college route in order to be eligible for next year’s draft?
Anderson is cautiously optimistic about what Monday may bring. Many MLB teams are taking negotiations right to the deadline, playing the bluff that these kids ultimately want to start their professional careers. Some teams are willing to pay up, exceeding the projected money “slot” established the the commissioner’s office, but they don’t want to do so ahead of the deadline at the risk of rankling the commish or forcing the hand of other organizations.
Anderson feels there’s a chance that the 2010 roster could get an unexpected boost, but he’s wise enough to know that a few open checkbooks could change the landscape drastically.
Check out this video of Mychal Givens:
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