C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
The MLB Drafted ended last night and it was probably the best case scenario for South Carolina with just one current player (Carmen Mlodzinski) and one signee (Luke Little) getting picked.
--Like we've reported before, both are expected to sign and not be at South Carolina. Little went about right where I kind of anticipated in the middle of the third or fourth round and had a pretty low number when it came to signing a pro deal and his slot value is $492,700. Again, would expect both guys to go ahead and start their pro careers, and the coaching staff has been preparing for both to happen for a while.
--That being said, a few days ago I don't think the coaches anticipated getting two of their top five pitchers in Thomas Farr and Brannon Jordan back next season. Farr seemed like a little more of a lock than Jordan to come back with Jordan a little more open to signing a pro deal and teams tried to reach out and offer them some money Thursday during the later rounds.
Farr was offered a deal by at least one team under slot value in the fourth round and turned it down and Jordan stayed pretty steadfast with his number and turned down a few offers as well. Both should be making their way back to South Carolina as the favorites to be numbers one and two in the rotation.
--I was told before the first round started to not be surprised if a team took a run at Noah Campbell as a late-round sign but that didn't come to fruition. He got some pro looks because of his performance on the Cape but it didn't translate into a draft pick in a shortened draft. If the draft was a little bit longer, he would have become a much more viable pick.
--The biggest question now is what the four Gamecock seniors—Graham Lawson, Dallas Beaver, George Callil and Bryant Bowen—and TJ Shook, who is a redshirt junior and is either finished up or finishing up soon with his degree do. All five guys, especially the four seniors, would sign a professional deal if offered.
Lawson actually had a team semi-interested in drafting him late in the draft as a value sign they could probably get well under slot value. That obviously didn't happen, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Lawson sign a free agent deal at some point.
As for Shook, he has two years of eligibility left (his repeat redshirt junior year and senior year) but he's already done with his degree and as a pitcher the younger you are in an organization the better it is for you and the team.
--The Gamecocks also didn't have four of their five highest-regarded signees—Will Sanders, Alek Boychuk, Mag Cotto and Jackson Phipps—drafted, which means they're all coming to school. That also doesn't include Brandon Fields, who withdrew from the draft a few weeks ago and CJ Weins.
Phipps wasn't ever a viable threat to leave—he had a significantly high signing bonus number—and the other three stayed pretty steadfast in their numbers as well despite fielding some calls last night. All of them want to come to school and it would have needed a big number to make them forgo that.
Phipps and Cotto should factor in heavily to the pitching staff as lefties and Sanders has a chance to pitch a lot of innings this year as a strike thrower who already has a lot of refinement on a few of his pitches. Boychuk will compete with Colin Burgess for innings at catcher and Fields has a chance to earn some innings in the outfield as well. As for Weins, he'll be right in the thick of the starter competition as well with guys like Andy Peters, Cotto and a few others.
--Getting all this talent in is a little bit of a double-edged sword because the Gamecocks are getting all this talent to campus but so are teams like Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi State and everyone else in the SEC.
This does, though, give the Gamecocks depth for the first time in a long time to compete with the top tier schools night in and night out in the SEC. Does this mean they'll go 50-6 and roll through the postseason? Not necessarily and it's still too early to tell, but this was a big step for Mark Kingston in getting the talent back into the program.
--Like we've reported before, both are expected to sign and not be at South Carolina. Little went about right where I kind of anticipated in the middle of the third or fourth round and had a pretty low number when it came to signing a pro deal and his slot value is $492,700. Again, would expect both guys to go ahead and start their pro careers, and the coaching staff has been preparing for both to happen for a while.
--That being said, a few days ago I don't think the coaches anticipated getting two of their top five pitchers in Thomas Farr and Brannon Jordan back next season. Farr seemed like a little more of a lock than Jordan to come back with Jordan a little more open to signing a pro deal and teams tried to reach out and offer them some money Thursday during the later rounds.
Farr was offered a deal by at least one team under slot value in the fourth round and turned it down and Jordan stayed pretty steadfast with his number and turned down a few offers as well. Both should be making their way back to South Carolina as the favorites to be numbers one and two in the rotation.
--I was told before the first round started to not be surprised if a team took a run at Noah Campbell as a late-round sign but that didn't come to fruition. He got some pro looks because of his performance on the Cape but it didn't translate into a draft pick in a shortened draft. If the draft was a little bit longer, he would have become a much more viable pick.
--The biggest question now is what the four Gamecock seniors—Graham Lawson, Dallas Beaver, George Callil and Bryant Bowen—and TJ Shook, who is a redshirt junior and is either finished up or finishing up soon with his degree do. All five guys, especially the four seniors, would sign a professional deal if offered.
Lawson actually had a team semi-interested in drafting him late in the draft as a value sign they could probably get well under slot value. That obviously didn't happen, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Lawson sign a free agent deal at some point.
As for Shook, he has two years of eligibility left (his repeat redshirt junior year and senior year) but he's already done with his degree and as a pitcher the younger you are in an organization the better it is for you and the team.
--The Gamecocks also didn't have four of their five highest-regarded signees—Will Sanders, Alek Boychuk, Mag Cotto and Jackson Phipps—drafted, which means they're all coming to school. That also doesn't include Brandon Fields, who withdrew from the draft a few weeks ago and CJ Weins.
Phipps wasn't ever a viable threat to leave—he had a significantly high signing bonus number—and the other three stayed pretty steadfast in their numbers as well despite fielding some calls last night. All of them want to come to school and it would have needed a big number to make them forgo that.
Phipps and Cotto should factor in heavily to the pitching staff as lefties and Sanders has a chance to pitch a lot of innings this year as a strike thrower who already has a lot of refinement on a few of his pitches. Boychuk will compete with Colin Burgess for innings at catcher and Fields has a chance to earn some innings in the outfield as well. As for Weins, he'll be right in the thick of the starter competition as well with guys like Andy Peters, Cotto and a few others.
--Getting all this talent in is a little bit of a double-edged sword because the Gamecocks are getting all this talent to campus but so are teams like Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi State and everyone else in the SEC.
This does, though, give the Gamecocks depth for the first time in a long time to compete with the top tier schools night in and night out in the SEC. Does this mean they'll go 50-6 and roll through the postseason? Not necessarily and it's still too early to tell, but this was a big step for Mark Kingston in getting the talent back into the program.
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