Amir Garrett - SF - Findlay Prep - Las Vegas, NV - ST. JOHN'S

The Reds got him right where they should have in the 22nd round.  Teams at that point (and much earlier in the draft) will take high school talent with signability questions. They have in Garrett a power left arm who's done very little pitching. It depends how much they want to go above the gentleman's agreement slot to get him under contract.  One thing is certain Amir will not and should not play baseball for St. John's. If he wants to be a pitcher he should allow pro coaches to teach him.
One question is..if he does play basketball next year and not baseball does the three year rule apply to him, meaning he can't be drafted for baseball till his junior year or is he eligible for the 2012 draft??

according to zags amir is playing both.

http://www.zagsblog.com/2011/06/08/st-johns-garrett-will-play-two-sports/

A left handed pitcher who throws in the mid 90's? This is a no brainer to me

He wants to make this work because he wants to make sure he does not close the door on a potential baseball career but he is in love with playing at SJU for Lavin.  Kid is hyped about the fall and all the incoming recruits he will be playing with.

A few questions to ask:

Can Amir play for Coach Blankmeyer at SJU once the basketball season ends? I know Terry Bross played both sports back in the 80's.

Could he still play for SJU and minor league baseball over the summer in the Reds organization?

I am not sure what the rules are on this, but didn't Ryan Minor(who played hoops for Oklahoma and for the Orioles ) didn't he play minor league baseball in the summer while still attending Oklahoma?

Reds aren't going to hand over a ton of money for a 22nd round selection...unless he realllly wants to play baseball, he's coming here.  If a possible NBA career doesn't pan out, he can always try baseball again.

Yes, Amir, if he signs with the Reds, can play in the minors and play for Coach Lavin, but why would he?  As I, and a few other posters, have said a few times,  the pro money is just not there now.  Amir would get as much, if not more, baseball exposure at the college level than at the lower minor league level.

I do not think Amir, right now, has the pitching skill level necessary for the pros.  He should give himself some time to work on these skills at St. John's.  Who knows, by 2014 he may be a #1 pick and go right into the pros.

Mods- these 3 threads really should be combined.

We know that he's not getting BIG money if Signing w Cinn,
but I put this question on other thread-

If he does sign w Reds & plays hoops here-
Is he still on scholarship ?

If he signs with Reds  (w signing bonus) & plays summer
minor league baseball & comes to SJU to play hoops,

Is he still on Basketball Scholarship? (seems like the best of both worlds)
If no schol, does he become a "walk-on" & release a scholarship ?

He would still be on scholarship.  I think the Garrett's played this completely wrong and should have been more forthcoming.  If teams knew he was signable, which he appears to be, he probably would have gone much higher.

I don't know exactly, but i do know that this same situation happened with Jake Locker after he was drafted by the Angels and he signed. The Angels actually paid his tuition for his Senior year of school. So I know it doesn't effect eligibility but I'm not sure about how the scholarship works out. Based on the Locker situation I would assume you can no longer receive a scholarship if you are being paid to play another sport.

I still feel Amir will play two sports at St. John's. 

I read that someone believes that having a pro pitching coach is better than someone at the college level.  I do not necessarily  go along with that.  Just check out  how many pitchers from the college ranks went in the early rounds.  Kids, particularly pitchers, now days, are going to college to prepare for the pros.  I believe #1 pick Cole turned down the Yanks, without even negotiating a bonus amount, just to go to college at UCLA.  He knew in three years, if all went well, he would turn pro.

We seem to feel that Amir hitting 96 is a sure sign that he will make it in the pros.  Not necessarily so!

He is a work in progress, or a project.  He clearly has a good deal of natural talent in baseball.

He and his family have to decide to either take the $300K ($180K after taxes) now or the potential of $2 million in 2014.

The Reds got him right where they should have in the 22nd round.  Teams at that point (and much earlier in the draft) will take high school talent with signability questions. They have in Garrett a power left arm who's done very little pitching. It depends how much they want to go above the gentleman's agreement slot to get him under contract.  One thing is certain Amir will not and should not play baseball for St. John's. If he wants to be a pitcher he should allow pro coaches to teach him.
One question is..if he does play basketball next year and not baseball does the three year rule apply to him, meaning he can't be drafted for baseball till his junior year or is he eligible for the 2012 draft??

JPM, the SJU coaching staff just got a kid who was not drafted out of HS taken in the first round in his junior year. Coaching staff did not hurt that guy, why would they hurt Amir? Those guys in the pros send plenty of kids to surgery.

I don't know exactly, but i do know that this same situation happened with Jake Locker after he was drafted by the Angels and he signed. The Angels actually paid his tuition for his Senior year of school. So I know it doesn't effect eligibility but I'm not sure about how the scholarship works out. Based on the Locker situation I would assume you can no longer receive a scholarship if you are being paid to play another sport.

You can still play another sport and get paid by MLB team.

I just merged most of the Amir baseball stuff into his recruiting thread for all those who were asking for it to be done. Sorry about the delay I have been busy at work and just got a minute free to figure out how to do it on my phone

First of all I did not mean to single out St. John's staff for their handling of pitching prospects.  Fact is that they have developed a reputation thankfully for NOT overworking young arms.  That said, I'd advise a kid like Amir to play pro baseball because 1) Once pro teams invest money they're more careful with young arms and 2) I think any young pitching prospect should begin facing hitters with wooden bats as soon as possible. For pitchers, facing hitters armed with aluminum or graphite bats provides no incentive to learn how to throw a fastball to the inner half of the plate because you don't get the reward of say..a pop up off the trademark or a broken bat grounder. Most young pitchers do not throw a "riding fastball" anymore (righty pitchers do not command the plate inside to righty batters for example) and I think the reason for that is the way aluminum effects the amateur game. In Amir's situation refining him begins with refining his mechanics so that he can control his fastball. At a pro extended spring training camp or with a short season team, there are more eyes and more ideas.

First of all I did not mean to single out St. John's staff for their handling of pitching prospects.  Fact is that they have developed a reputation thankfully for NOT overworking young arms.  That said, I'd advise a kid like Amir to play pro baseball because 1) Once pro teams invest money they're more careful with young arms and 2) I think any young pitching prospect should begin facing hitters with wooden bats as soon as possible. For pitchers, facing hitters armed with aluminum or graphite bats provides no incentive to learn how to throw a fastball to the inner half of the plate because you don't get the reward of say..a pop up off the trademark or a broken bat grounder. Most young pitchers do not throw a "riding fastball" anymore (righty pitchers do not command the plate inside to righty batters for example) and I think the reason for that is the way aluminum effects the amateur game. In Amir's situation refining him begins with refining his mechanics so that he can control his fastball. At a pro extended spring training camp or with a short season team, there are more eyes and more ideas.

John, I don't think your draft question a few posts above was answered.
Garrett can be drafted again the year he turns 21, if he doesn't sign this summer.
For most college players, this is after their junior season.
 If you remember pitcher Anthony Sullivan a few years back, he was drafted after his sophomore season as he was a class behind.
I believe Garrett will turn 19 this calendar year.

Amir has already said he won't play for STJ baseball. 

I believe Amir and his family will rethink the best path for not only his baseball future, but the money aspect as well.  After all, they thought he would go in the first few rounds and mentioned $1.5 million.  $300K, minus taxes, is a far cry from $1.5 million.

The family should seek out some advise from some talented baseball people before making any decisions.

baseball america is reporting the reds are working hard at having amir give up his st john's scholarship to sign with them.

i hate the offseason.