Jason Esposito Retires

[Tony-OH]

]A "slider speed" bat is what the industry said pretty much as soon as the pick was made and Joe Jordan was defending the pick almost as soon as it was announced. [/b]

Yep. Jordan said that his scouts felt like his bat speed was fine and it was the Vanderbuilt coaching staff that had tweaked his approach so that he would go to right field and they thought they could fix that. My thought at the time was, maybe they had him work the other way because they knew his bat speed was slow?

Sometimes I think scouts think players can be fixed by coaching, and little things like hitch or something can be worked out, but at the end of the day, if a guy has poor plate discipline numbers in college and has an opposite field approach, his bat speed is probably not very good.

[Tony-OH]

I think there were some concerns about his bat speed, but Tony was not that harsh on him when he was drafted, and no, he was not considered that much of a reach, if he was a reach at all.

Since I don't follow these guys until they are drafted, my opinion are usually based on what I've read about them and their stats. I did say, "Not loving the 17-37 BB-K ratio. Would have liked to seen the walks closer to the K's. Wonder if there is any thought of trying him at second base?"

People can say what they want about Keith Law, but he was on the mark with Esposito's bat, but even so he thought the Orioles took him at the "right spot". "It's not just fixing his swing, but he has a bat speed problem. You can clean him up to mitigate it, but there is always the risk that at some point the lack of bat speed takes over. That said, they took him in the right spot."

Stotle as usual had concerns about his wood bat results, "Issue not just the spring -- he hasn't been very impressive with wood, which raised some flags regarding bat speed and plate coverage. Most recently with wood, with Team USA (he was Rendon's replacement and played with the team for almost the entire summer):

.273/.347/.386, 1 BB, 8 SO, 44 AB" though he added "To be clear, there is big upside with Espo if he figures everything out. Don't want it to sound like I'm blasting the pick. Absolutely reasonable place to target him."

I also had concerns about the makeup after he held out his first summer, "Not sure why this is taking so long unless he looking for seriously overslot. I'm not sure why Jordan can't find guys that wants to play in that second round. These guys almost always seem to lose that first year. All Esposito is doing is hurting his chances of moving that much quicker towards the majors. He could sign and get 200 at bats at Delmarva but it appears he's another guy more worried about his top dollar bonus then getting his professional career started with. Honestly, it's annoying it gives me a bad taste about a kid right off the bat. You are a college junior who slipped to the second round, deal with it and sign your slot and start playing baseball."

After I heard from someone "close to the negotiations" I said this, "Just a little update from a bird close to the situation. Esposito knew the Orioles number before the draft and said he wanted to "go play." Apparently that has changed and now they are very far apart. The Orioles are at a point that they are looking at using his money for above slot guys later in the draft. Unfortunately it appears Esposito is not a young man of his word. Like I've said before, Jordan and company have a good record of knowing what it will take to get guys and only when guys "change their minds" do they run into issue like this. Perhaps Esposito will get some good advice and realize he's got a much better chance of hurting himself financially and developmentally by not signing then by signing."

Hell, maybe even Esposito knew he wasn't that good and was trying to get as much upfront cash as he could?

[hoosiers]

Your memory isn't the best. Or is this my interpretation being abysmal again?

I appreciate the reminder post. My memory did fail me here as it seems fairly obvious that Esposito was not a reach in the second round.

[hoosiers]

Yep. Jordan said that his scouts felt like his bat speed was fine and it was the Vanderbuilt coaching staff that had tweaked his approach so that he would go to right field and they thought they could fix that. My thought at the time was, maybe they had him work the other way because they knew his bat speed was slow?

Sometimes I think scouts think players can be fixed by coaching, and little things like hitch or something can be worked out, but at the end of the day, if a guy has poor plate discipline numbers in college and has an opposite field approach, his bat speed is probably not very good.

Tony, what was Jordan's role with Esposito? Did Jordan view tapes and/or see him in person? Is he relying on his scouts 100% here?

This was a pretty big miss on a college bat that never really put out the stats even in High A ball.

That said, JJ and our scouts popped Arrieta in the fifth round claiming that a correction to Jake's delivery would provide big results and obviously that pick around the fifth round and the well over slot $1M signing bonus looks like a great call today.

[Tony-OH]

Tony, what was Jordan's role with Esposito? Did Jordan view tapes and/or see him in person? Is he relying on his scouts 100% here?

This was a pretty big miss on a college bat that never really put out the stats even in High A ball.

That said, JJ and our scouts popped Arrieta in the fifth round claiming that a correction to Jake's delivery would provide big results and obviously that pick around the fifth round and the well over slot $1M signing bonus looks like a great call today.

I honestly don't remember whether Jordan personally saw Esposito or not. I do remember him telling me he didn't think Esposito had a slow bat and that his approach just needed to be tweaked. Saying that, it's not like the rest of the 2nd rounders taken after Esposito have turned into anything great. They took a shot and missed. It happens to all teams and at least they didn't go and overspend on a miss with Esposito.

[Otter]

When Esposito was at Vandy, I used to have to travel for work frequently to Tennessee. I probably watched at least 10-12 of his games, and I was never impressed with his bat. I'm no scout, but it really seemed like he padded his stats against mediocre pitching and had a hard time agagainst good velocity. I saw him hit a couple HRs, but they were off hanging sliders. Anyone throwing over 90 usually gave him a hard time. His glove was outstanding, but his bat looked like he would have trouble as he moved up the ladder. Usually I'm excited when the O's draft a college player I've seen, but not in this case. But his nice signing bonus and a Vandy education, he should be fine.

[eb45]

I seem to remember his family being pretty well-to-do also. He shouldn't have a ton of trouble away from the game.

[OFFNY]

o

 

 

(From August of 2016)

 

Esposito was drafted by the Royals in the 7th Round of the 2008 MLB draft, right out of high school. The amount that they offered him was $1.5 Million.

Esposito turned it down, and instead chose to accept a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University.

 

3 years later, Esposito was drafted in the 2nd Round, by the Baltimore Orioles ........ so if he was drafted in the 7th Round out of high school and offered $1.5 Million, he CERTAINLY would be getting a larger bonus if he moved all the way up to the 2nd Round 3 years later with 3 years of Division I-A College baseball under his belt, right ??? No. Now, the amount that he and the Orioles settled on was $600,000.

 

In spite of  getting a significantly smaller chunk of signing bonus, coupled with the fact that Esposito never made it to the Major Leagues, Esposito is very happy with the decision that he made ........ and he does not regret that decision for a minute.

 

 

Losing $1 Million, and Still Profiting

(By Jason Esposito)

https://medium.com/@jasonesposito/losing-1-million-dollars-and-still-profiting-3e885c7f68db

 

o