Vanderbilt Current Players
Adam Ravenelle, RHP Vanderbilt - #130 (4th Rd.) Detroit Tigers
Slot Value: $392,400
Vince Conde, SS Vanderbilt - #272 (9th Rd.) New York Yankees
Slot Value: $146,500
*My Take: I fully expect Rav to sign for close to slot value (possibly below), but Vince Conde's negotiations with the Yankees will be one to watch. The NY Yankees have the 2nd lowest draft allotment, at $3,202,300 to spend on their entire draft pool. As such, they may need this money to go over slot to some of their other top 10 round draft picks. However, looking at their draftees (no 1st rounder, 8 college players and one high school player), it doesn't appear the Yankees drafted anyone who would want to break the bank. As such, they might be more inclined to offer close to slot value to all of their draft picks. Will near $150K be enough to sign "El Racha Caliente"? As I hinted at before, this will have a lot to do with how Vanderbilt finishes their current season. Win it all, and he's gone. Leave something on the field, and he might just be enticed to return for one last shot at glory.
Vanderbilt Commits
Dylan Cease: RHP, 6'2" 180, R-R, Milton GA - #169 (6th Rd.) Chicago Cubs
BA Top 500 Rank: 77
Projected Draft Slot: Rd. 2-5
Perfect Game Grade: 10 (1st Team All American)
Chances He'll Come to Campus: Medium
Slot Value: $269,500
*My Take: You can go ahead and throw that slot value right off the table. In short, this is my nightmare. The Cubs were all but lampooned for reaching for Indiana C Kyle Schwarber at #4 overall and continuing to take low ceiling college talent with their 2nd through 5th round selections. The prevailing sentiment amongst the draft-erati was something along the lines of, "Say what you want, but Kyle Schwarber must have been at the top of their board," despite immediately agreeing that he most certainly would not have been the #4 overall talent on any other team in MLB's draft board. Then... the other shoe dropped. In the 6th round, they took the last blue chip pitching prospect of Vanderbilt's incoming class, and draftniks all chimed in that the Cubs must have been drafting discount players for the opportunity to sign the best falling talent. Of course, if this was true, why wouldn't they have taken him in the 2nd or third round?
Regardless, the Cubs have the 4th highest draft spending pool of $8,353,200, and should be able to throw $2 mil+ Cease's way if they so choose. This is literally the worst possible team he could have gone to once he got out of the top 2 rounds. I'm basically despondent.
However, Cease injured his arm this year (hence the fall), and may just warrant a red enough flag for the Cubs not to meet his asking price. Of course, his asking price could be Beede-esque, in which case, he'll come to Vandy. Probably the best comp is Jordan Sheffield last year - an injured pitcher with premiere talent and a premiere asking price who makes it almost impossible for the MLB team who drafted him to sign him. Of course, Sheffield was taken by the Red Sox in the 13th round, and the post-10th round pool is a lot shallower than the 1st-10th round pool.
I'd love to be able to give you good news here, but there's none to be found. There's a pretty good chance none of our top 5 prospects will make it to campus this Fall.