Phillies Showing Some Class

[Number5]

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.

Of course they will put their clients' interests first... that is exactly why they will not negotiate with the Phillies for their clients that are still in college. The Phillies have proven, in no uncertain terms, that if you are a college junior that they draft, you must take their offer or they will report you to the NCAA. That is not a good-faith negotiation. It just isn't. The Phillies reported both their 5th round pick and their 6th round pick to the NCAA. It certainly seems clear which side negotiated in bad faith to me.

[CharmCityHokie]

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.

Yes, this.

[scOtt]

Yes, this.

I wouldn't negotiate a tens of thousands of dollars contract without consulting some legal help, much less hundreds of thousands or millions! Phillies and NCAA are a-holes here! Screwing two teenagers out of money AND/OR an education for no good reason whatsoever other than greed or hubris.

[Gurgi]

Weird story. I am just glad it wasnt the Orioles this time.

[weams]

The real problem here is the NCAA.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[Nigel Tufnel]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Current MLB players pointing out that pre-draft, players have power to restrict any particular team from viewing medical info. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Wetzler&src=hash">#Wetzler</a></p>— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="

">February 21, 2014</a></blockquote>

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

[Can_of_corn]

Of course they will put their clients' interests first... that is exactly why they will not negotiate with the Phillies for their clients that are still in college. The Phillies have proven, in no uncertain terms, that if you are a college junior that they draft, you must take their offer or they will report you to the NCAA. That is not a good-faith negotiation. It just isn't. The Phillies reported both their 5th round pick and their 6th round pick to the NCAA. It certainly seems clear which side negotiated in bad faith to me.

Heh? How did they "prove in no uncertain terms"? Just because they did it this time, under unknown to us circumstances, doesn't mean that it will happen again going forward.

So you are a kid that wants to play pro ball, the Phillies draft you in the second round, you have one of these guys as your agent, I mean adviser. What are you going to do when they tell you they don't think you should even talk to them? Are you just going to agree and go back for your senior year, in which you might get hurt and will have less leverage come next draft? Or will you find an agent, I mean adviser, that will talk to them?

[Austin]

Weird story. I am just glad it wasnt the Orioles this time.

Yeah, this does seem like the totally out-of-left-field dumb BS that the Orioles might pull.

[raveoned]

While I think Amaro is ruining the Phillies with his incompetence (and this move has his arrogant attitude written all over it), the NCAA has to wake up and get with the times. Virtually every athlete who looks to go pro already has an agent working for them. If the NCAA thinks otherwise, they're beyond naive.

[Migrant Redbird]

... So you are a kid that wants to play pro ball, the Phillies draft you in the second round, you have one of these guys as your agent, I mean adviser. What are you going to do when they tell you they don't think you should even talk to them? Are you just going to agree and go back for your senior year, in which you might get hurt and will have less leverage come next draft? Or will you find an agent, I mean adviser, that will talk to them?

I think it means that agents will tell the kids that they can't negotiate on their behalf with the Phillies if the kid wants to retain his NCAA eligibility. The kid, or his parents, will have to talk with the Phillies directly, then put the negotiation on hold while they consult with their adviser/agent.

[Can_of_corn]

I think it means that agents will tell the kids that they can't negotiate on their behalf with the Phillies if the kid wants to retain his NCAA eligibility. The kid, or his parents, will have to talk with the Phillies directly, then put the negotiation on hold while they consult with their adviser/agent.

Which is probably what they should be doing anyway, at least as long as the NCAA keeps these rules in place.

[Migrant Redbird]

Which is probably what they should be doing anyway, at least as long as the NCAA keeps these rules in place.

True, but it means the kid and agent will have to keep their relationship under the table, which is a poor lesson for the NCAA to be teaching young athletes.

The real problem here is unrealistic and unreasonable NCAA regulations, but it's still dirty pool for the Phillies to be reporting them.

MLB needs to get with the NCAA real soon and work out a reasonable accommodation. It's completely unfair to force kids to enter into life changing contracts like this without informed advice/representation.

Maybe the NCAA is afraid that college athletes will get agents and force the NCAA colleges to pay fair value to their student athletes?

[Can_of_corn]

True, but it means the kid and agent will have to keep their relationship under the table, which is a poor lesson for the NCAA to be teaching young athletes.

The real problem here is unrealistic and unreasonable NCAA regulations, but it's still dirty pool for the Phillies to be reporting them.

MLB needs to get with the NCAA real soon and work out a reasonable accommodation. It's completely unfair to force kids to enter into life changing contracts like this without informed advice/representation.

Maybe the NCAA is afraid that college athletes will get agents and force the NCAA colleges to pay fair value to their student athletes?

Nothing to argue about here.

[weams]

"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.

Was this a Joe Jordan thing?

[Stotle]

The Phillies, Ben Wetzler, and the NCAA:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22876