PITTSBURGH (AP) -The Pittsburgh Pirates may wait until close to the Aug. 15 deadline for signing drafted players before deciding whether to sign and how much to offer injured second-round choice Tanner Scheppers.
The hard-throwing right-hander, whose fastball is in the range of 95 mph, was projected to be drafted by the midpoint of the first round. Teams backed off him because of an injury that was initially diagnosed as a stress fracture, and he fell to the No. 48 pick.
Because Scheppers fell so far, the Pirates essentially wound up with a pair of first round-caliber players, including No. 2 overall pick Pedro Alvarez – but they now have only two months to sign two big-ticket picks.
Alvarez, a power-hitting Vanderbilt third baseman, may ask for $8 million-plus and a major league contract.
Scheppers’ injury was recently diagnosed by Angels team doctor Lewis Yocum as a slight tear in his right rotator cuff and a frayed labrum, two relatively common injuries for pitchers. The Pirates now plan to have their doctors examine Scheppers, who was 8-2 with a 2.93 ERA this season at Fresno State.
“He’ll come in and we’ll make sure we get a full look at him, to make sure he’s healthy and we’re comfortable with his rehabilitation program,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said Sunday. “We’ll be involved every step of the way, but we can’t direct it, we can only guide it, because he’s not a Pirate. … We’re going to have to take time to see if he can get his shoulder stretched back out again.”
If the Pirates aren’t confident that Scheppers can pitch without needing extensive surgery, they may decide to pass and not offer him a contract.
“If we get him, we get a very talented pitcher,” Huntington said. “If we don’t come to terms or just don’t feel like he’s going to be healthy enough, or if he has a setback in rehabilitation and we don’t think he’s worth the gamble, we get the third pick in next year’s second round.”
The Pirates haven’t had a reliable starting pitcher with Scheppers’ velocity since Jason Schmidt pitched for them from 1996-2001.
Alvarez will be, by far, the most expensive draft pick in the Pirates’ history – he may seek more than twice the $4 million they paid right-hander Bryan Bullington in 2002 – and they are not certain of signing him.
Scheppers is also believed to want first-round money.
“Obviously, he had expectations going into the draft, but our expectations are he fell to the 48th pick in the country,” Huntington said. “But I’m confident we’ll find a common ground in the middle, if we feel he has progressed medically enough to make him a good offer.”
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