Mazzilli taken by the Twins with the 2nd pick in the 9th round. Oberg taken by the Rockies with the 10th pick in the 15th round.
“@UConnBaseball: Undrafted infielder Ryan Fuller has come to terms on a professional contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks #HuskyPride”. “@AmoreCourant: Hearing #uconnbaseball slugger ryan fuller is signing with d'backs. Going to try as catcher. He is from old lyme ct.” Hmmm...
Hate to be 'that guy', but sounds to me like an extra catcher (bullpen catcher) for all the young pitchers coming into the organization in the instructional league. Hopefully he can use this opportunity to turn some heads...but seems like something that sounds better than it is. Again, hopefully I am wrong and Fuller takes full advantage of the opportunity.
Not really being that guy per se. He's pretty obviously being signed as the backup or 3rd catcher for short season ball. But as an undrafted guy if he can impress in any way maybe he gets a few ABs and can be fortunate enough to get hot at the right time.
He did not. My best guess is that a few teams probably called him and asked if he would sign if they took him in Round X and he said no. If Andreoli was taken in the 17th last year there's no way Ferriter wasn't worth a pick within the first 25 rounds or so.
Any of these guys coming back? 9th and 15th rounds aren't very early, and LJ certainly doesn't need the money.
I'm not 100% on the new signing bonus rules but I think that after the 10th round everyone can receive $100,000 (if the team has excess from the allotment for the first 10 rounds it can be spent on other picks but $100,000 is standard. That means for it to be worth it for Oberg to come back in terms of signing bonus he needs to increase his draft position to the first 10 rounds. My guess is Mazzilli would need to believe that he could get taken in the first 5 rounds after his Senior year. It's possible and some scouts felt he might get taken that high this year so it's possible he could come back and take a shot at a better selection next year. I think his best bet at making it to the Majors as soon as possible would be to sign this summer though. Something else to consider is how much he values staying to finish his degree. We'll just have to wait and see. At least the deadline to sign picks moved up to mid-July so we won't have to wait til August to find out if either of them are coming back.
Doesn't LJ have a twin at UConn? Maybe he wants to stay and get his degree. Still, the kid has been raised to be a Big Leaguer his entire life. I doubt he's gonna come back.
Yes his twin sister goes to UConn but the second point I think is the important one. I think when your father is a former MLer and it becomes clear early on that you have the talent to make it, it becomes your main priority.
My guess as to next years starting line up @ First, the redshirt from NJ (can't remember his name) or Bob Melley from BC High. Both are big and have power (supposedly) If not these two, perhaps Connor David. At second, most likely Siena. Short, Verdi backed up by Danello. 3rd could be a battle between Testani (who drastically needs to improve his D) and O'neil, the incoming frosh from E. Longmeadow. The OF should be similiar to this year. Yavaronne in left, Ferriter in center, Moore/Paul/Aceto in right. Catching should be split between DeBellis & . McDowell, the frosh from PA. If any injuries at catcher, Melley or David could take over. David could be the DH. With Marzi, Ward (hopefully healthy) & Cross we should have our weekend starters. Butler/Tabakmann/Dettmann could be the weekday starters. In the pen, Moore, Catalino, Over, Mahoney and Ryan. Battling for closer should be Feehan & Jolin. Hard to say how the frosh pitchers will do. With the pitching depth we have it's safe to say most frosh pitchers will red shirt. All in all we might be better because of the pitching. But with no Olt , Springer or Nemeth on the horizon our batting will suffer another year. 2014 looks like it could become another great year, hopefully.
