Aaron Crow Signed by Royals

[doomy3]

Release will be out shortly...

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/roy...y/1451900.html

The Royals have reached a three-year, major-league contract agreement with No. 12 overall draft pick Aaron Crow, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Missouri.
The contract, which begins in 2010, contains a $1.5 million signing bonus and $3 million in guaranteed money.
Crow, who won the Big 12’s pitcher of the year and was a Golden Spikes finalist as a junior, turned down $3.5 million from the Nationals as the No. 9 pick last year. He was seeking $4 million.
The Royals will introduce Crow on Friday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.


http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

DETROIT -- The Royals reached an agreement on Thursday with pitcher Aaron Crow, their first-round Draft choice in 2009, on a three-year Major League contract beginning in '10.
The club did not disclose terms of the contract, but it was believed the deal was for $3 million plus incentives. Crow will go on the Royals' 40-man Major League roster.
The Royals will introduce Crow at a news conference at 2:20 p.m. CT on Friday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
J.J. Picollo, assistant general manager in charge of scouting and player development, said Kansas City pushed to get the deal done so Crow could report to the Arizona instructional league on Sunday. The league begins on Monday.
Crow was represented by the Hendricks brothers of Houston.
Crow, from the University of Missouri and Wakarusa, Kan., was the 12th overall pick in this year's First-Year Player Draft. He was drafted in 2008 by the Washington Nationals, but he did not sign, reportedly turning down a $3.5 million offer.
The righty was not subject to the Aug. 17 signing deadline this year, because he had played independent pro ball and had no college eligibility remaining. Major League Baseball ruled that he and first-round supplemental pick Tanner Scheppers were exempt.
That relieved the Royals of deadline stress -- they had gone to the final minutes to sign 2007 first-round pick Mike Moustakas and 2008 first-round Eric Hosmer -- and negotiations with Crow continued.
In 2008 for Missouri, Crow was the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year and a Golden Spikes Award finalist after going 13-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 15 starts. He had 127 strikeouts and logged 43 consecutive scoreless innings that season.
Crow throws a mid-90s fastball and a sharp slider.

[sedated]

Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED

We have the best pitcher in the AL. The only pitcher I might take over him would be Lincecum. If Crow is as good as advertised he has the stuff to be an ace so he'd be a great #2 behind Greinke. Meche Hochevar and Bannister to close it out is a very solid rotation. We have a very good pitching staff now we just don't have the run support.

we also need a bullpen.

and meche hasn't been that great. bannister has been up and down. hoch hasn't really done much except for a few good starts here and there.

and I'd wait to give Crow the #2 spot; we've heard all kinds of hype plenty of times before about pitchers we just drafted.


...and, yes, we still need an offense.

[58kcfan89]

Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED

We have the best pitcher in the AL. The only pitcher I might take over him would be Lincecum. If Crow is as good as advertised he has the stuff to be an ace so he'd be a great #2 behind Greinke. Meche Hochevar and Bannister to close it out is a very solid rotation. We have a very good pitching staff now we just don't have the run support.

You forgot the part where we trade Zack for a major league ready Catcher, a A pitcher and a AAA 3B.

And it's about damn time the Royals sign the guy. I don't love him, but don't hate him, either. I just hope to the baseball gods that he pans out as advertised. It would have been nice to see him get some work in at the minor-league level and maybe even an inning or 2 at the ML level this month as well....

[Braincase]

Originally Posted by nychief

oh. just curious how you know... family/insider or something.

I know his dad, he told me something was going to pop soon a couple of weeks ago.

[CoMoChief]

As long as the Royals don't pay to sign upper tier players.....they will continue to go nowhere.

Their scouting dept needs to drive off a cliff.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED

We have the best pitcher in the AL. The only pitcher I might take over him would be Lincecum. If Crow is as good as advertised he has the stuff to be an ace so he'd be a great #2 behind Greinke. Meche Hochevar and Bannister to close it out is a very solid rotation. We have a very good pitching staff now we just don't have the run support.

Moore and Hillman have ****ed Meche's arm. Even if he were to return to health, but the time we have the bats, he'll be done.

Bannister, if Moore and Hillman haven't ****ed him up, too, could be a decent #4-5.

Hochevar, however, is average at best, even as a #4-5, and that's being kind. He was and is a perfect example of how the team has ruined a bunch of very high, very important picks in recent years.

[doomy3]

Originally Posted by Braincase

I know his dad, he told me something was going to pop soon a couple of weeks ago.

My source told me that everything's done on the deal, so it should be announced anytime.

[teedubya]

Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED

**** yes!!! If he can live up to the hype and Hochevar can continue to get better I think the Royals will have the best rotation in baseball here in a few years. Now if only we can get some clutch bats.

Puff puff pass man... don't be bogartin'

[big nasty kcnut]

Print em
Posted via Mobile Device

[DJ's left nut]

TINSTAAPP

He's nothing 'til he's toeing the rubber.

There are a lot more David Clydes than there are Zack Greinkes. If you get 1 legitimate #3 starting pitcher out of the entire crop of minor league arms you have right now, consider yourselves fortunate.

Greinke
--
--
Hochevar
Bannister

Congrats, you're a #2 and #3 starter away from a championship rotation. Keep in mind that 'championship rotations' generally have guys like Matt Cain, Cliff Lee, Adam Wainwright, AJ Burnett, Curt Schilling, etc... as the #2 guy and someone with an ERA in the top 1/3 of the league as a #3.

Calling Crowe a #2 based on his stuff is about like me saying "We'll have 3 CY winners in 4 years when Shelby Miller proves better than Wainwright."

Those 2/3 starters are a hell of a lot easier to project than produce...

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

There are a lot more David Clydes than there are Zack Greinkes. If you get 1 legitimate #3 starting pitcher out of the entire crop of minor league arms you have right now, consider yourselves fortunate.

I'm more pessimistic about this sack of shit franchise than just about anyone, but this is ridiculous.

Your statement is no more true about the Royals than it is about any ML team.

And, miraculously, teams all around the league produce talented arms.

At times, your Cards love causes hyperbole to run into this thread.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

I'm more pessimistic about this sack of shit franchise than just about anyone, but this is ridiculous.

Your statement is no more true about the Royals than it is about any ML team.

And, miraculously, teams all around the league produce talented arms.

At times, your Cards love causes hyperbole to run into this thread.

Okay, for instance, my Cardinals.

You know how many of our pitchers are products of our farm? Precisely 0.

Carp -- FA
WW -- Trade
Piniero -- Trade
Lohse -- FA
Smoltz -- FA
Wellemeyer -- Scrap heap.

WW is close, we traded for him as a AA prospect and developed him. Since 1990, we have really only 1 true homegrown pitching success story - Matt Morris. In the meantime we have 2 SPs that threw no-hitters as rookies for us after incredibly succesful minor league stints that went on to do nothing else for the rest of their careers (Bud Smith and Jose Jiminez).

Your recent past is filled with the Jeff Austins, Kyle Snyders and Jeremy Affeldts. Look at the draft record of the team most synonymous with developing pitching over the last 2+ decades in ATL and you'll see only 1 true success within the org.

Look at most teams and you'll find a similar trend. Look in the other baseball thread and you'll see my Orioles example. Seriously, just look around baseball and you'll see that a vast minority of teams have a homegrown ace and even fewer can point to their top 3 pitchers and say they came from within the system. The Twins, Angels and Giants are the exceptions to the rule.

I'm not saying the phenomenon is unusual to the Royals - it's everywhere. I didn't come up with the TINSTAAPP concept, Bill James did. I don't believe I said anything unreasonable or unduly critical. The Royals have 2 legitimate high-end pitching prospects in Crowe and Melville. If one of those guys end up as a #3 or higher, you'll have bucked a mathmatically undeniable trend. If any of the other pitchers in your system do it, you'll have definitely done so.

Cardinal fan or not, I absolutely stand by my assertion.

[ChiTown]

***** YEAH!
Posted via Mobile Device

[carlos3652]

So did he sign or not? Im getting reports they are still working on it...

[KevB]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Okay, for instance, my Cardinals.

You know how many of our pitchers are products of our farm? Precisely 0.

Carp -- FA
WW -- Trade
Piniero -- Trade
Lohse -- FA
Smoltz -- FA
Wellemeyer -- Scrap heap.

WW is close, we traded for him as a AA prospect and developed him. Since 1990, we have really only 1 true homegrown pitching success story - Matt Morris. In the meantime we have 2 SPs that threw no-hitters as rookies for us after incredibly succesful minor league stints that went on to do nothing else for the rest of their careers (Bud Smith and Jose Jiminez).

Your recent past is filled with the Jeff Austins, Kyle Snyders and Jeremy Affeldts. Look at the draft record of the team most synonymous with developing pitching over the last 2+ decades in ATL and you'll see only 1 true success within the org.

Look at most teams and you'll find a similar trend. Look in the other baseball thread and you'll see my Orioles example. Seriously, just look around baseball and you'll see that a vast minority of teams have a homegrown ace and even fewer can point to their top 3 pitchers and say they came from within the system. The Twins, Angels and Giants are the exceptions to the rule.

I'm not saying the phenomenon is unusual to the Royals - it's everywhere. I didn't come up with the TINSTAAPP concept, Bill James did. I don't believe I said anything unreasonable or unduly critical. The Royals have 2 legitimate high-end pitching prospects in Crowe and Melville. If one of those guys end up as a #3 or higher, you'll have bucked a mathmatically undeniable trend. If any of the other pitchers in your system do it, you'll have definitely done so.

Cardinal fan or not, I absolutely stand by my assertion.

I'd throw Montgomery in with Melville and Crowe, but otherwise I don't disagree with your premise. The related point to be made however, is that many teams trade away their home grown talent while still in the minors to obtain a more proven asset. Therefore, just because a team doesn't reap the direct benefit of their minor league pitchers, it doesn't mean they aren't valuable in procuring other arms.

[doomy3]

Originally Posted by carlos3652

So did he sign or not? Im getting reports they are still working on it...

It is done. Not sure why they aren't releasing it yet. Maybe there are some final sticking points or something, but everyone at Kauffman knows it is done.