Mark Appel spurns Pittsburgh Pirates and will stay at Stanford - ESPN
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Pretty risky for him as a pitcher, and a player at Stanford to pass up almost $4 million guaranteed.
NEW YORK -- Highly touted pitcher Mark Appel spurned the Pittsburgh Pirates and decided to remain at Stanford for his senior season, the first big casualty of baseball's new restrictions on amateur signing bonuses.
Appel was the only unsigned player among 31 first-round picks, turning down an offer of $3.8 million from the Pirates.
Projected by some to be the No. 1 selection, some teams shied away from the right-hander because of the expected demands of his adviser, Scott Boras. Appel was selected eighth by the Pirates.
That slot was assigned $2.9 million from the drafting team's bonus pool in baseball's new labor contract, which imposes penalties on clubs that exceed the threshold -- the totals of the slots for a team's selections in the first 10 rounds.
Pittsburgh was prepared to go as much as 5 percent above its threshold and incur the first level of penalty, a 75 percent tax on the overage. But the Pirates didn't want to fall into higher levels, which include the loss of future draft picks.
Appel was the only unsigned player among 31 first-round picks, turning down an offer of $3.8 million from the Pirates.
Projected by some to be the No. 1 selection, some teams shied away from the right-hander because of the expected demands of his adviser, Scott Boras. Appel was selected eighth by the Pirates.
That slot was assigned $2.9 million from the drafting team's bonus pool in baseball's new labor contract, which imposes penalties on clubs that exceed the threshold -- the totals of the slots for a team's selections in the first 10 rounds.
Pittsburgh was prepared to go as much as 5 percent above its threshold and incur the first level of penalty, a 75 percent tax on the overage. But the Pirates didn't want to fall into higher levels, which include the loss of future draft picks.
Pretty risky for him as a pitcher, and a player at Stanford to pass up almost $4 million guaranteed.
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