Sure looks like the Royals are close to signing third-round draft pick Wil Myers* and fourth-round pick Chris Dwyer** in advance of Monday's midnight deadline.
* Expect a bonus in the neighborhood of $1.8 million to $2 million for the uber-athletic catcher with a potentially good bat regardless of whether he sticks at the position.
** Baseball America is reporting that the Royals and Dwyer agreed to terms on a $1.45 million bonus, which would be a record for the fourth round. The Royals are denying that anything is done.
Assuming that happens, the Royals will turn their attention to the negotiations with first-round and No. 12 overall pick Aaron Crow. And before we get started here, a quick reminder: Crow is NOT being advised by Scott Boras.
It's actually kind of impressive. A friend pointed out yesterday how many people are under the impression that Crow -- who turned down $3.5 million last year from the NatInals -- is being advised by Boras.
And it's true. Message boards are full of the thought. So is my inbox. It's like Boras has created this universe where hardline negotiations are now just "Boras-es."
It's like Band-Aid taking over for the term adhesive bandage. Bravo, Boras. Bravo.
Anyway, for the record, Crow is being advised by Hendricks Sports Management, led by brothers Randy and Alan Hendricks, whose most famous client is/was Roger Clemens (pictured above giving an award of some sort to Crow).
Actually, now that I think about it, here's what a National League scouting director told me the day after the draft: "they're not Boras, but they're trying to be. They'll try to do all the same things. Like Boras Lite."
Whatever, Randy Hendricks was in Kansas City last week for talks that he described as "very productive and professional."
The two sides don't appear to be all that close. Baseball's informal-but-monitored slot recommendation for the 12th pick is about $1.7 million. Crow figures to get significantly more than that, but now's where you enter the hazy part.
If for no other reason than ego and pride, you have to think Crow and his advisers would like to at least get the $3.5 million they turned down last year*.
* Crow has caught more than the deserved amount of flak for this from the knee-jerk reaction crowd. Yes, he turned down $3.5 million, and that's always going to be absurd on some level.
But there's another side to this that people often miss, the side about the NatInals' handling of negotiations and overall dysfunctional franchise. There are baseball people with nothing at stake here who are sympathetic to Crow and his reasons for not signing with the NatInals.
It's a stare-down at the moment.
Crow's side is waiting for the Royals to admit they can afford a little extra money to sign a guy who would immediately become the organization's best pitching prospect, and, depending on how you judge such things, best overall prospect. An AL scouting director told me before the draft that Crow is good enough that, had he signed with the NatInals last year, there's a good chance he'd be in the big leagues right now.
Meanwhile, the Royals are waiting for Crow's side to say, hey, $3 million (or $2.5 million, or $3.25 million, or...whatever) is a lifetime worth of wealth and this is an organization we're comfortable with, and who are we kidding? There's no way we want to sit out another year, delay our big league debut and potential free agency two years and risk becoming the next Matt Harrington.
It still looks and feels like something will get done because it means too much to both sides not to. But with Crow being exempt from the Monday deadline, it is getting a little more cloudy.
So Crow is justified in not taking the Nats above-market offer, since they're dysfunctional, but he should be honored to join the Royals, with their Yankee-like history? Face reality - Crow is a greedy jerk.