Your 2014 GIants: Beede Signed

Tyler Beede was reported to have come to terms with the Giants, agreeing to a bonus of slot for $2,613,200.   That's slightly more than what he turned down three years agoNo official signing reported yet, but it should be a done deal, wrangling out the details, such as getting an additional $36,800 to cover his final year of college tuition, which does not count against the Giants pool.

ogc thoughts

Got some more Beede info.  There was a statement by Joey Amalfitano, right after the pick, where he was speaking for the Giants.  Says the usual things:  quality starter, kid, works hard, like his arm speed and delivery, Giants known for developing pitchers with Tidrow and coaches.  There were a few more interesting points made.  One is that he could move quickly.  Not up there with their call that Bumgarner would make the majors in two years, but still interesting.  Also, they noted that his control had improved, and in any case, can't teach his arm, and he noted that as he matures, his control should get better.

This info is basically repeated in this MLB.com article about the coming to terms.  Lucky to get him.  Could move quickly.  Can't teach his arm.  His stuff and athleticism is something different.  Also mentions that he could add more muscle to his frame, which would lead to more velocity, of which he's already at 92-94 MPH regularly and up to 97 at times.  They also note his curve and changeup, which is considered excellent.  But basically, it's like they are reading from a script.

This is a nice rundown by MLB Trade Rumors.  Here are some key info:

Beede was drafted in the first round by the Blue Jays back in the 2011 draft but turned down a $2.4MM bonus to attend Vanderbilt ... Mayo and MLB.com colleague Jim Callis ranked Beede 12th among draft prospects, while he ranked 15th on Baseball America’s Top 500 list and 15th on the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law as well. 

Mayo and Callis note that Beede has three above-average pitches, with a fastball that sits 92-94 mph and touches 97 mph. However, Beede also has had some well-documented command issues in the past and doesn’t always repeat his delivery. BA notes that his changeup is his best secondary pitch, but calls his 80-81 mph curveball a plus pitch as well, noting that Beede throws it harder than most other curveballs in this year’s draft class. Law offers a similar take — excellent stuff with command issues and enough problems with his delivery that some have wondered if he has some structural damage in his shoulder.

That is something to watch for, whether he has structural damage in his shoulder.   The inability to repeat his delivery sounds remarkably similar to Bumgarner's issues.  Madison was not noted for this when he was drafted, probably because he was not walking many while striking out a lot, but in later seasons, he acknowledged that he didn't know how he was successful throwing and sometimes his mechanics would get out of whack, leading to his horrible starts in his first couple of pro seasons.  He learned to do that with the Giants.  Hopefully Tyler can do the same.   And with three good pitches, he should move quickly up the system, though I would note that the same was noted for Stratton and he started out low and has moved slower than expected so far.

For fun, here are a couple of videos from Vanderbilt, first an interview with him from May 25, 2013 and second is a fun video titled "Who is Tyler Beede?"

2014 Draft Pick Signings, or Lack Thereof

He's the first of the top four picks to come to terms on their bonus (This is an incomplete listing of signings, for I would note that any name with a link is already playing, so pay attention to that as well).  It's understandable why he was delayed, he was busy pitching in the College World Series (and unfortunately not doing so well there).  The only reason I could think of for the others was that the Giants are trying to get the others to sign for less than slot, in order to free up money for some of their HS picks in the 30's.

That makes some sense, they currently have $472K free to spend on latter picks (so far most signings are for slot except for the 7th round pick, which freed up $75K).  Logan Webb would be an obvious choice for that, he was ranked to be selected 2-3 rounds later.  Dylan Davis might be another possibility, as he was ranked about 1 round later.  Getting them to sign for ranked area bonus would give the Giants another $200-300K, that could enable the Giants to sign 1-3 latter HS picks who otherwise might have gone to college instead.  Then again, I thought that Mac Williamson might sign for less and he waited them out and signed for slot just before the deadline, if memory serves.  But the deadline is in a couple of weeks, I think, so it should be happening pretty soon, the Giants usually sign all of their top 10 round picks, and most up to the 20th round.