June 09, 2016
The Phillies did end up drafting a high school player at 1-1, but it wasn’t local product Jason Groome from Barnegat, New Jersey. And despite being ranked in the Top-3 of almost every site’s (Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, to name two) draft rankings, Groome fell all the way to No. 12 and the Boston Red Sox.
Unreal right now this feeling is priceless
— jay groome (@jaygroome55) June 10, 2016
So, what gives? If this were basketball, the Sixers wouldn’t be passing on the draft’s most talented player. As our very own Ryan Lawrence wrote about recently, baseball is all about the money.
A few days ago, Groome de-committed from Vanderbilt and then switched his pledge to Chipola Community College in Florida. It clearly wasn’t an academic move, so what was the rationale? As we were reminded in Joe Santoloquito’s excellent feature on Groome, JUCO players can be drafted next year as opposed to the three-year wait Groome would have if he landed at Vandy.
Here’s what the Chipola coach had to say:
“Jason’s adviser, Jeff Randazzo, first spoke to me Monday night and asked me if we would be interested in taking Jason, if they were faced with a situation (where) the draft didn’t work, they didn’t want to wait three years before he was drafted again,” Chipola coach Jeff Johnson said. “They wanted to make sure if Jason went to school, that he would be able to be drafted next year. That was the major reason for the call. Jason and Jeff have a figure in mind and a set place in the draft that they’d like to go if he signs or if he is not going to sign.”
A major part of the reason that California outfielder Mickey Moniak went first overall is reportedly that the Phillies will be able to sign him for under slot value. That means the Phils had a wider swath of options with the No. 42 pick. We’ll see if the opposite is true with Groome:
groome negotiations are going to be interesting. he's been seeking $5M plus. red sox have $7M in pool $
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 10, 2016
If Groome signs with Boston, arguably the best farm system in baseball gets arguably the best talent in the draft. Lefty, up to 98, ++ CB.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 10, 2016
Groome grew up a Red Sox fan (editor’s note: booooo), so we’ll see if Boston can get him signed. There were reports that teams are concerned about his maturity as well, but that didn’t deter Boston from pulling the trigger.
If Groome signs, he can begin the long journey of trying to unseat Mike Trout as the best professional baseball player from New Jersey.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
