Right-handed pitcher Nick McCully, the St. Louis Cardinals’ ninth-round selection in the 2009 draft, has agreed to terms with the organization, reports Scout.com’s Dustin Mattison. The 20-year-old junior from Coastal Carolina is scheduled to report to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Midwest League after signing on Saturday.
This spring, McCully posted an 8-1 record with a 2.10 ERA in 28 appearances. He collected eight saves and struck out 64 in 73 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit just .197 against him.
Taken with the 279th pick overall this June, McCully was listed on the tentative season-opening roster of the short-season Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League, but apparently took a bit longer to come to terms.
McCully will be the 40th of the Cardinals’ 50 draftees to sign and the second member of the class to be assigned to the full-season league, following eighth-rounder Jason Stidham, who joined the River Bandits on Thursday.
McCully is rated 5’10″, as was last year’s 4th rounder, Scott Gorgen. Gorgen has pitched well for Palm Beach. Even more successful has been 5’11″ Jess Todd, 2nd rounder in 07. Some teams are averse to sub-6′ RHPs, not the Cards.
Still to be signed include Miller (1), Bittle (4), Conley (7), Bibona (16), and Rosenberg (21). The Birds are aggressively signing amateurs and have plenty of time get deals done. If LHP Bibona signs, he would be another candidate for Quad Cities this summer. Another successful pitcher from Cal Irvine, towering over Gorgen at 5’11″.
What is Bittle waiting for, I wonder. He’s a senior, no?
Bittle got shut down before the draft, because of sore arm or shoulder. Nothing new, as he might have signed the previous year with the Yankees, without such woes. This year, his signing could be slowed by medical review or there could be no rush to sign, since he may not be pitching this summer, for all we know. For perspective, however, the Cards have to be ahead of most teams in terms of signing rate, so they are getting them in uniform as soon as possible.
Bibona fell to round 16 because his fastball is 86 mph. One reason to sign is he had a great season and is not going to improve by playing more college ball. He is not going to get a larger bonus next draft, because his leverage would be gone. So there are incentives to sign now.
Brian, since McCully is only 20 years old, starting at QC seems kind of high. Initially the Cards had him on the roster of Batavia to start, as if his signing was in the bag. That, of course, didn’t transpire. Is it possible that McCully held off signing until he got a guarantee he would start in QC and not rookie ball?
Very interesting question, Axcion. I have to admit that the same thought crossed my mind, but I have no way of accurately verifying this. Personally, I would hope any player and his agent would leave that decision to the organization and he does his speaking via his results on the field of play. Then again, this isn’t an ideal world, is it?
I think the Cards are more likely to start a pitcher at QC who is a reliever. If he starts there then I will be surprised.
Maybe McCully’s agent is a Boras wannabe!
In 06, Ottavino made 8 starts at QC. IIRC, Norrick, a senior whose contract got completed quickly, did the same. In 08, LHP Kulik, a senior from a Division 3 college made 12 starts at QC. Bradford went to QC because he pitched for Louisiana State and may have played 4 years of collegiate ball.
The Cards will juggle several factors in making team assignments, including amateur background (juco, junior, senior; strength of amateur competition), the needs of different minor league teams at the moment of signing, and how many innings an amateur pitched this spring. McCully pitched well this spring. Given his amateur background, he is qualified to begin at QC and to be a starting pitcher. However, I doubt the Cards care whether a man begins his pro career at Quad Cities or at Batavia or Johnson City. Nobody is going to rocket up to the majors, so any of these teams are reasonable places of entry.
Baseball America has an open access article listing many of the agents representing newly drafted players. OF Conley (7) is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council (Jose Cruz Jr., who collected some significant dollars during his playing days). IIRC, this firm represents Albert Pujols, Ryan Ludwick, and unsigned closer Brian Fuentes. I would not say the Cards cannot do successful business with them, because we do. Yet this could also help explain why Conley may take a little while to sign. There are plenty of tough agents, its not all Boras or buttercups.
BA did not report agents for Hill (6), Stidham (8), and McCully (9). They may have had agents. Or the young men and their families may have decided to eliminate a percentage cut for an agent, by doing without one. In general, high priced celebrity agents will be used for high round draftees, because bonuses are no great shakes at lower rounds.
Boras represented 15th rounder Anthony Reyes because Reyes was an elite prospect before injuries at USC. If Reyes had been a 15th rounder by talent alone, Boras never would have offered to represent him in the first place. Boras limits amateurs he will represent to those who he thinks will command the highest signing bonsuses.
Jumbo, were Ottavino, Kulik, Bradford and Norrick all 20 years old at the time of their assignments to QC?
Kulik was a senior at a Division III NCAA school in New Jersey, Rowan. Norrick was a senior reliever at S. Illinois U; he signed quickly (which helped assignment to QC before others who could just as easily pitched there instead). Bradford was a starter for Louisiana State U; IIRC, he may have been a senior. Ottavino likely had the fewest years of college ball among this quartet, a junior from Northeastern U (near Boston).
McCully pitched well at a SunBelt college as a junior, plus he has signed. Both factors qualify him for duty at QC this summer, as it did supplemental first round draftee Lynn or Ottavino or Chris Lambert in 04. 16th rounder Bibona could get assigned to QC, if he were to sign; Bittle might be assigned to Palm Beach after he signs. Some guys who pitch well at Batavia could get promoted. Initial team assignment does not signify much, save match of a qualified guy with a roster slot. Minor league development is a long marathon, hence the rung where a guy once entered pro ball will become forgotten.
We drafted Ferraro last year at a higher round than McCully, the 7th. He is pitching at JC, because it can easily take two or three rookie league seasons for kid out of high school to be able to step up to the Midwest League. Because McCully had benefit of three college seasons, he can be thrown into the Midwest League from the onset. One benefit to drafting collegiates is they need fewer years of training in the minors.
Conley is signed and assigned to Quad Cities. Paul Cruz and Brett Lilley have been released.
s.f., that is correct. I wrote a subscriber article about those moves and two others on Scout.com first thing this morning (“Quad Cities Roster Roulette“) and updated the current Roster Matrix here at TCN at that time with all five transactions (on top of the two earlier QC ones from yesterday). I did not make a new blog post here about them, however.
Cruz and Lilley each signed after 4 seasons of college ball. Their employment ended after about one year. For many, the opportunity to play pro ball is brief.
Cruz and Lilley may illustrate advantages to signing college seniors. Seniors have acquired educations to serve them in their future work. Lilley studied accounting at Notre Dame U, he can contribute in this field. For the Cardinals, they can make rapid decisions about an older player, while kids who sign out of high school may require many more years of training. Cruz and Lilley helped staff JC and Batavia last summer and QC during the first half of 2009. This contributes usefully, but now the Cards need to devote QC roster slots to test out others (like Stidham, Conley).