Phillies Showing Some Class

[Tony-OH]

"You should now expect very few of them to be open to talking with the Phillies."

That's just silly. The vast majority of kids drafted in the first ten rounds are going to be offered around slot except for the senior signs where teams are trying to save some money for later round picks. No kid who wants to go pro after being drafted by the Phillies is going to be concerned over what they did last year. If an agent doesn't want to work with the Phillies, the kid will find an agent that will.

I don't know the whole story here, so I'm not going to assign blame based off what's in this story. At the end of the day though, it's not going to matter next year and in the future.

[Chavez Ravine]

Yes, the NCAA rule is the root problem, but the rule exists and the Phillies bargained in bad faith. Again, any adviser will surely advise any college junior chosen by the Phillies that the Phillies won't bargain fairly, so they should go back to school without talking to the Phillies. I'm having trouble understanding how you can disagree with that. The Phillies actions were pretty underhanded.

Yeah, what the Phillies did was way worse and far more directly detrimental to Ben Wetzler's current and future career than what the O's did to Kim Seong-Min by not following KBO protocol. The KBO and NCAA seem equally blase about screwing over young people's lives in order to protect their bureaucratic fiefdoms.

[CA-ORIOLE]

They were talking about this on MLBN yesterday and said that for college kids the school staff/coaches/faculty etc. often act as the gatekeeper for the ML teams to have exposure/access to these kids. They concluded that some of those schools/faculty will be looking to block the Phillies and "protect" the kids. I have no idea about this stuff, but that's what they said.

On a side note it seems fairly crazy to me that a kid can't have access to legal representation in a contract negotiation. I'm no lawyer lover, but that seams somewhat un-american to me.

[Can_of_corn]

Yes, the NCAA rule is the root problem, but the rule exists and the Phillies bargained in bad faith. Again, any adviser will surely advise any college junior chosen by the Phillies that the Phillies won't bargain fairly, so they should go back to school without talking to the Phillies. I'm having trouble understanding how you can disagree with that. The Phillies actions were pretty underhanded.

How did they not bargain fairly? They bargained in good faith, the kid turned them down on the advice of his agent. Then the Phillies decided to be jerks and rat on him.

Did the Phillies, the kid, and his agent have a verbal agreement in place not to discuss the fact that the kid retained an agent?

I certainly don't condone the behavior but I don't see where they did anything actionable.

[Can_of_corn]

Yeah, what the Phillies did was way worse and far more directly detrimental to Ben Wetzler's current and future career than what the O's did to Kim Seong-Min by not following KBO protocol. The KBO and NCAA seem equally blase about screwing over young people's lives in order to protect their bureaucratic fiefdoms.

That is very debatable. Wetzler isn't going to have to go to another country to find a job (or go to school).

[Chavez Ravine]

That is very debatable. Wetzler isn't going to have to go to another country to find a job (or go to school).

True, but Kim Seong-Min wasn't banned from being a star pitcher on a top college team during his senior year. By the way, what ever happened to Kim? Is he still banned from playing ball in Korea?

[Can_of_corn]

True, but Kim Seong-Min wasn't banned from being a star pitcher on a top college team during his senior year. By the way, what ever happened to Kim? Is he still banned from playing ball in Korea?

He is pitching, under scholarship, at a school in Japan. You are the second poster to ask about him today.

And yes he is still banned in Korea.

[Tony-OH]

How did they not bargain fairly? They bargained in good faith, the kid turned them down on the advice of his agent. Then the Phillies decided to be jerks and rat on him.

Did the Phillies, the kid, and his agent have a verbal agreement in place not to discuss the fact that the kid retained an agent?

I certainly don't condone the behavior but I don't see where they did anything actionable.

I have to imagine for the Phillies to do this that something might have happened like this. The kds may have changed their "number" once the agents got involved. I can understand the Phillies being pissed that they wasted picks on kids when their numbers suddenly changed.

[Tryptamine]

How is this not bargaining in bad faith? We don't know what Wetzler was offered. Maybe they told him 50K(which is well below slot) and he turns it down. Now the Phillies basically have the option of blackmailing him. Take way underslot money or we'll rat you out to the NCAA. What could the Phillies possibly have to gain by telling the NCAA? What the Phillies did was supremely shady and it is going to hurt them.

[Can_of_corn]

How is this not bargaining in bad faith? We don't know what Wetzler was offered. Maybe they told him 50K(which is well below slot) and he turns it down. Now the Phillies basically have the option of blackmailing him. Take way underslot money or we'll rat you out to the NCAA. What could the Phillies possibly have to gain by telling the NCAA? What the Phillies did was supremely shady and it is going to hurt them.

Where the heck did that come from?

[Tony-OH]

How is this not bargaining in bad faith? We don't know what Wetzler was offered. Maybe they told him 50K(which is well below slot) and he turns it down. Now the Phillies basically have the option of blackmailing him. Take way underslot money or we'll rat you out to the NCAA. What could the Phillies possibly have to gain by telling the NCAA? What the Phillies did was supremely shady and it is going to hurt them.

This is just not how things work. Teams spend a lot of time trying to get a players "number" or how much they want to sign, especially if they are going to use a top ten pick on them. Very few teams will select a player if they don't know their number, especially if the kid has some leverage. Scouts spend a lot of time trying to determine character and included in that is trying to determine what the kid wants to turn pro. My guess is these kids gave the Phillies a number (perhaps signing for slot) that they were comfortable with and slected them. then, the agents got to these kids and convinced them to change their numbers. The Phillies felt this was bad faith and turned them in.

Now you can argue whether this is shady or not, but it's also shady to misrepresent how much money you want to sign after you are drafted.

[Chavez Ravine]

He is pitching, under scholarship, at a school in Japan. You are the second poster to ask about him today.

And yes he is still banned in Korea.

That sucks he is still banned. That's just nutty. I am glad he has a scholarship and is playing ball, though.

[Nigel Tufnel]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Same “<a href="https://twitter.com/aaronfitt">@aaronfitt</a>: Hearing from one agent after another today about the Ben Wetzler situation. There will be repercussions for the Phillies.”</p>— keithlaw (@keithlaw) <a href="

">February 20, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Can_of_corn]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Same “<a href="https://twitter.com/aaronfitt">@aaronfitt</a>: Hearing from one agent after another today about the Ben Wetzler situation. There will be repercussions for the Phillies.”</p>— keithlaw (@keithlaw) <a href="

">February 20, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

They say that, and I think they mean it right now. When the kids they are "advising" are picked by the Phillies or when the Phillies want to sign a guy they work for, they are going to have to put their clients interest ahead of sticking it to the Phillies.

[Tony-OH]

They say that, and I think they mean it right now. When the kids they are "advising" are picked by the Phillies or when the Phillies want to sign a guy they work for, they are going to have to put their clients interest ahead of sticking it to the Phillies.

Exactly. The agents are crying and trying to flex their muscle. a young man drafted by the Phillies and who is happy to sign for slot recommendation is not going to give a crap about some agent with an ax to grind. Agents hate the slotting system because they lose a lot of leverage. This is their little temper tandrum. At the end of the day, if a kid is drafted by the Phillies and wants to play pro ball, he'll just find an agent who will negotiate with the Phillies. Most of the agents crying will be happy to collect that 5% when the time comes.