Heyman: Rays Offered LeVon Washington 1.1 Million
by R.J. Anderson on Aug 19, 2009 12:58 PM EDT
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PrintBut he was very disappointed not to have reached a deal with Tampa Bay on Florida high school outfielder LeVon Washington, who was described by one scout as a "Carl Crawford-type." The Rays offered $1.1 million to Washington, less than they paid Crawford a decade earlier. Washington is likely to go to a junior college.
Baseball America has the projected 2009 slot for pick 30 at 1.08 million and last year's slot at the same pick was 1.2 million. Let's look at the surrounding picks and their signing bonuses:
| Pick | Player | SB(Mil) | Slot |
| 27 | Franklin | 1.28 | 1.161 |
| 28 | Fuentes | 1.134 | 1.134 |
| 29 | Heathcott | 2.2 | 1.107 |
| 31 | Jackson | 0.972 | 0.972 |
| 32 | Wheeler | 0.9 | 0.954 |
High school players italicized
Throw out the Heathcott deal and you have mostly slot friendly deals. Franklin took a bit extra, Fuentes and Jackson received slot, and Wheeler took less. 1.1 million versus 1.08 million isn't a ton of extra money, but looking at his peers bonuses versus slot, it's about the going rate.
I don't know how much Washington's side wanted, but the Rays seemed to be fair in their offer.
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His ceiling is Crawford, basically
though who knows what Washington’s plate discipline is
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
by Imperialism32 on Aug 19, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Joey Gathright was a Crawford-esque type player
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
I did talk to someone who said barring injury he can see LeVon going top 25 next year.
So maybe it’s not a dumb move on his part, we’ll see.
by R.J. Anderson on Aug 19, 2009 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions
He also guessed that Boras wanted ~1.5+ as a mid-first round pick, and the Rays weren't willing to go that high.
But that’s purely speculation.
by R.J. Anderson on Aug 19, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
30 is a mid-first round?
I’m going to start telling girls I’m low-20’s
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I should've made that more clear.
Boras thinks LeVon is a mid-first round talent. Hence, he wants mid-first round money.
by R.J. Anderson on Aug 19, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions
That's nice I think I should be consistently hitting 8's
With Boras’s help I could go from the 6’s I’ve grown accustomed to and move down to 2’s for a year, before eventually settling on something between a 1 and a 10
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
On the BA podcast Manuel said he likes LeVon more than Tate.
I mean, I know you don’t like him, and I don’t really see him as premiere talent, but there are some people who are in love with him.
by R.J. Anderson on Aug 19, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Time will tell
It sounds like he controls his own destiny for the most part. Make good on his plusses, minimize the weaknesses, get good coaching where you can (UF would have been a great program, honestly I hope he gets his grades up and transfers to there and gets some seasoning at a great school.)
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Rays should have at least been willing to go to last year's slot
If LeVon was holding at $1.5, a deal should have been made. If he was holding at $2.0, then not so much.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Why pay 2nd round talent mid-first round money?
"I want to live in a world where a solo homerun in the 2nd inning counts as much as a solo homerun in the 8th."
BA and KLaw didn't have him going in the 1st
"I want to live in a world where a solo homerun in the 2nd inning counts as much as a solo homerun in the 8th."
What do yo mean and?
Baseball isn’t like football or basketball where you draft based on need. The reason he was taken in the 1st was signability, not because he was best available.
"I want to live in a world where a solo homerun in the 2nd inning counts as much as a solo homerun in the 8th."
Well, no
If they wanted a signability guy they could have taken a college player who would definitely sign for slot
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
by Imperialism32 on Aug 19, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions
They thought they could get someone with a higher ceiling than a college player
They figured he would be easy to sign at slot taking into account his injury and inelligibility to UF.
"I want to live in a world where a solo homerun in the 2nd inning counts as much as a solo homerun in the 8th."
BA rated him the 29th best player...
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
by Imperialism32 on Aug 19, 2009 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions
BA rated him right where we grabbed him, as a top 30 draft prospect.
Their mock draft has more to do with who they think the teams will actually take than the talent of the players.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
And Keith Law doesn't have an extensive scouting department working for him
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
How do you come up with your figures? You can't just say give him that money when you have no idea about his worth.
I don’t have any problem with what the Rays did. The deal was fair for where he was drafted and he’s coming off of an injury.
Been on the bandwagon since '98
He said "if"
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
by Imperialism32 on Aug 19, 2009 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions
How many of us can really evaluate LeVon Washington's worth and talent?
He was offered money equal to that draft slot. Boras could have screwed this kid’s career up. I’d rather be on a pro team than at a community college or independent league. Maybe HCC LeVon?
Been on the bandwagon since '98
The Rays obviously felt he was a 1st round talent
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
by Imperialism32 on Aug 19, 2009 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions
That's fine.
Still, they seemed to realize prior to the deadline a deal wasn’t going to happen. As such, it would have been nice to take that money and go after some of the later round signability guys.
Your source for replacement level commentary
HEY BRANDEEN LOOK AT THAT POINTED HAIRED GIRL
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions
By later round guys, I'm referring to Dennis/Johnson/Floro
Your source for replacement level commentary
I wasn't arguing
Cletus just makes me want to yell things
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Most folk'll never eat a skunk and then again some folk'll, like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel!
I re-read my post, remembered I’m a horrible writer who doesn’t clearly convey thoughts and tried to clarify in case anyone was confused.
Your source for replacement level commentary
From what Friedman said...
It sounded like the Rays would have moved their offer if they thought a deal would occur. If the Rays offer was $1.1, and he wanted $1.3, this deal would clearly get done.
Washington's dad: Rays negotiated in bad faith
A tidbit from the Sun:
"I’m convinced that they didn’t want to sign him," Victor Washington said. …. "Basically, we made an agreement before the draft. The agreement was that LeVon wasn’t going to work out for anyone if he wasn’t going to be paid above slot (value.)
“The Rays agreed to this. That’s why LeVon had the workout at Tropicana Field three days before the draft. That was his only workout. He didn’t work out for any other team. He hit, ran, played center field, shortstop, they really liked him.”
But Victor Washington said after the Rays took Washington with the 30th pick, they chose not to negotiate for 70 days. Washington said when the sides finally talked last Thursday, the Rays only offered slot value, projected at $1 million.
“They chose not to budge,” Victor Washington said. “They didn’t even meet the terms of the agreement.”
WAHH
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
If someone gave me a million dollars now, I’d retire. Let alone if I got a million dollar bonus, a (poor) salary, and the chance to play baseball and make millions.
Sure – I’m Steven Strausburg, I’m not taking a million. And some of the guys that really want to play college ball and get an education…hold out. But, to argue about a few hundred thousand now when you’re talking about starting your professional baseball career – as opposed to going to play JUCO ball somewhere…that’s just a poor decision.
Learn from me…. TallMatt (Harrington)
Dump it into the housing market and hedge funds and watch the money roll in
-2008’d
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Well see, I'm gonna buy a house and then fix it up and flip it
and then I’m going to take all my PROFITS BITCH and buy 2 houses and fix them up and flip those. And keep doing this.
You don’t know how many times I’ve heard some moron give me this speech. I just want to shake the person and say you fucking dunce if it were that easy nobody would work they would just be buying houses and fixing them.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
I know some people that have done this and made a fair amount of money.
You need a skillset I don’t have, though. I’m more the buy and rent till you payoff the mortgage type. I just don’t have the capital.
and
buying houses, working on fixing them up, and selling them again….uhh, that’s still work. And work with a high degree of risk.
As well as cost and you still need to find someone to buy the thing when you're said and done
Go put 30K into a house on Bligh and see if you get your money back.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I just want to get a POS house for like 40K pay it off in like 3 years and then quit my job
with a house and a car paid for I could work some low-stress job like at Home Depot or at a car wash and just put money away. Fix the house if I feel like it but don’t worry about it if I don’t.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Could never do that.
What about vacations, retirement, kids, good food, good drink, etc? I love spending money too much to ever be able to do this.
You're still going to make like 12 bucks an hour and not have any stress
Making 2k a month with no overhead is fine by me. I don’t take vacations, I don’t have kids, I’ll be dead by 60, good food is surprisingly cheap if you can cook, and I would still have money for booze and cigarettes. At that point I would also most likely qualify for food stamps or any other number of state funded free monies. I live very frugally and pay my debts off as soon as I can because I hate usury. I’m a humble man from humble origins you don’t need to get me no pie in the sky.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I just want to win the $250 million powerball.
Half it for lump sum=$125 mill.
40% of that after taxes= $50 mill.
I’ll take that $10 mill. and invest that in real estate now, then park the rest in very safe investments and collect. I’d be ballin" bitches!
I don't like working
I have figured out that I can live on less if I didn’t have to work.
Give me a million, relatively conservatively make 5% interest, and live on $50,000 year…with a million to fall back on. And I don’t have to work – I’ll take it.
That and taxes
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
hopefully
I can work some long-term gains, some dividends, and stretch the money out a bit.
I’m also not starting totally from zero in this little game – I’ve got whatever I’ve already got…along with whatever debt comes with it.
It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s still better than working.
So how are you getting the million?
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Rays have it leftover after not signing Levon
maybe they’ll give it to me? I’ll buy season tix…though, would have to be lousy seats to fit into my budget.
maybe I’ll find it in the street. I found $5 the other day.
maybe I’ll just have to keep working.
I dont get this....
So what if he were drafted with the 50th pick, and offered $1.1 million. Would he have signed since it was above slot? I dont believe his father. He is either being misquoted, or isnt tellng the entire story. Instead of discussing slot, he sould have been naming the dollar figure he son wanted.
You know who hates MLB slotting? Scott Boras. Who’s Washinton’s advisor? Exactly. Boras will NEVER settle for slot….unless he is forced to.
This kid got Punk’d. Let’s say he gets offered $1.5 or higher next yr(I’m assuming he Rays would have gone to $1.3 if that’s what Levon wanted). He gets an extra $200,000, bt had to lose a year of developmental time. He will reach the Majors one yr later, and will hit arbitration one yr later…and FA one yr later.
Obviously this is all hypothetical. But the point remains.
If the kid wanted to goto college to get an education, and that was his reasoning for wanting more money to sway his opinion, then fine. But clearly this kid isnt the brightest…he didnt even qualify.
He wanted to sign immediately after draft day. Sounds to me this is more a Boras issue then a Washington issue. Bad Grades? Cant get into college? Might have been a good option to take $1.1.
If it's a Boras issue
Why is Washington the only Boras 1st rounder not to sign?
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
by Imperialism32 on Aug 19, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Honestly, I just think the kid overvalued himself.
Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.
Where the girls are half as smart, thus twice as likely to fellate me.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I trust Jon heyman to be non-biased on boras' matters too.
Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.
No reason to go above slot
"I want to live in a world where a solo homerun in the 2nd inning counts as much as a solo homerun in the 8th."
What, 18 of the 30 first rounders signed above slot?
Maybe MLB slotted poorly this year.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
If he made it clear he wanted more than slot before the draft
Then there was plenty reason to go above slot or they shouldn’t have drafted him.
None
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
We knew very well he was a Boras client and wasn't going to sign for slot.
So if you draft someone you know isn’t going to sign for slot and don’t offer him more than slot, that’s a team evaluation issue.
Tools Whore
What if the Rays did say that?
What if the Rays said they would go over slot, then decided not to talk to him for seventy days and low-balled him?
We easily dismiss the Rays of any wrong doing, and it’s easy to blame an 18 year old for not taking a lot of money, but what if all this happened?
I realize a whole lot of posturing goes on. I also realize that Washington may not have been in high demand. Does that make it acceptable for the Rays to handle the negotiations poorly?
Let me clarify...
I’m not saying the Rays were in the wrong. We’re just so quick to blame Levon for not signing, but maybe the Rays really had no intention to make a big push. It may not have been a big deal to them if he signed or not.
Well if what we read is true his slot was 1.08 and he was offered 1.1
That’s overslot and I’m sure Monsieur Washington took it as a slap in the face.
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 19, 2009 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions
What if the Rays really did say that?
Something stinks real bad about these negotiations. I believe the kid’s dad since the kid worked-out for the Rays, it seems plausible that the Rays told him that they would consider going over slot. I find it very suspicious that the Rays only offer slot to their first round choice but have no problem going well over slot (by 50-70%) for their 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th round selections. Not only did the Rays go over slot but they did it early so the first rounder could see it.
Also, why go public 8 hours early and state there won’t be a deal? Don’t give me crap about a physical. The Rays had 2 months to get him in for a physical. This appears to have been a bully tactic.
I believe the Rays thought they could low-ball the kid (with todays due diligence, both parties knew the kid wasn’t going to UF) and were unable to get him to sign. If the Rays would have just treated him like they treated the 9th rounder, they would have offered up to $2million and easily gotten it done. The only justification could be that the Rays shot their budget on the later round signings and therefore no longer saw LeVon as a bargain.
Finally, I don’t care so much that they didn’t sign LeVon. However, over and over the Rays claim that they can only compete in this market by building through the draft. I expect later round casualties of kids opting for college but the Rays missed on this one, either by the selection or the failure to sign him.
They went over slot for the other kids because they felt like they were all top 60 caliber players...
What are you talking about, dude? Low ball? Really? Offering slightly over slot is a low ball?
Agreed,
they went over slot because the Rays saw them as top 60 caliber players. But what about the guy they saw as a top 30 caliber player?
They offered him the money that pick warranted, and what they felt hewas worth...
What dont you understand? The guys taken in ronds 2,3,4, and 5 were all viewed by the org as top 60 talents and were offered top 60 contracts. Washington was viewed as a talent that warranted $1.1 million at the 30th spot.
The 9th round pick is a more talented player
I can't help that I make some things look easier than they really are.
by Sandy Kazmir on Aug 20, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions
The actual money difference between LeVon's slot and $2M
is as much as the difference between all three other player’s slot put together. $900k is real money. Doesn’t make sense to talk percentages there.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
So...
LeVon Washington, 2b/of, Rays (No. 30 overall). Labrum surgery left Washington unable to throw effectively as a high school senior, but Tampa Bay still loved his hitting ability, blazing speed and athleticism enough to make him a first-round pick. But the Rays did not offer him more than slot money ($1.08 million), and when Washington wouldn’t budge from $1.5 million, the club issued a press release early on deadline day to announce it didn’t expect to sign him. He’s not academically eligible to follow through on a Florida scholarship, but he should emerge as one of the top position prospects in a 2010 draft after a year of junior college.
Tools Whore
I really find it silly to draft a Boras client,
even an injured one and not be willing to go a few hundred thousand over slot. His father said they made it known that they wanted an above slot deal going into the draft. Considering the amount of money we invested in the draft (5th lowest in all of baseball), not signing Washington is really unacceptable.
Tools Whore
At $1.5M, a deal should have gotten done
Especially if the highest the Rays offered was $1.1. You don’t screw the pooch over $200k here, and there’s very little chance he wouldn’t have signed for $1.3M, all circumstances considered.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
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