August 16, 2007

Only two of top 10 draft picks unsigned

By Tom Krasovic
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Leading up to the amateur draft in June, when the Padres had seven extra picks, General Manager Kevin Towers said the club had budgeted a franchise-record $10 million for draft selections, including 2006 holdovers such as pitcher Matt Latos.

The Padres signed Latos for $1.25 million and another holdover for $150,000, and the club signed all seven players chosen with compensation picks before the fifth round.

In the end, according to club figures, the Padres guaranteed about $7 million to draftees.

Two Padres draftees from the first 10 rounds went unsigned through last night's deadline: third-round pick Thomas Toledo and 10th-round selection Christian Colon.

The club reached terms last night with ninth-round pick Wynn Pelzer, a reliever from the University of South Carolina.

“We spend a great deal of time evaluating these players and where they fit in the draft and putting a dollar value on these players,” Towers said yesterday. “It's not different from with free agents.

“We have the wherewithal to do it,” he said of signing all players drafted. “We're not trying to save money. It's just that we're not going to give a guy double what he's worth. It doesn't make sense. It's a crapshoot anyway. We're very, very thorough in our evaluation.”

Grady Fuson, the Padres' vice president for scouting and development, said the club was “very aggressive” in attempts to sign Toledo, a Florida high school pitcher who has a scholarship to the University of Florida; and Colon, a Southern California high school shortstop who has a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton. “We like these players a lot,” Fuson said.

The Padres didn't rank Colon as highly as they did first-round compensation pick Drew Cumberland, a Florida high school shortstop. The Padres got Cumberland to forgo a scholarship offer from LSU by guaranteeing him $600,000.

Bush surgery
Fuson confirmed yesterday that Matt Bush, drafted first overall by the Padres in 2004, will need reconstructive surgery on his pitching elbow. Fuson said Bush should regain full pitching function in 14 months. The injury is the latest of several setbacks for Bush since the Padres signed him for $3.15 million after going against their scouts' recommendation to draft Florida State shortstop Stephen Drew, who later signed with the Diamondbacks for $5.5 million.

Bush, converted in June from shortstop to pitcher, suffered elbow and shoulder injuries that sidelined him for 23 days last month. In his Single-A debut for Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday, the 21-year-old's fastball was clocked at 97-99 mph, but he clutched his elbow after throwing a curveball and departed after retiring one batter.

Taveras on DL
Before last night's game, the Rockies put center fielder Willy Taveras (quad strain) on the disabled list and recalled reliever Ramon Ramirez from Triple-A.