SCORECARD: Against the backdrop of the baseball strike, Jason Varitek from
( Sports Illustrated ) EDITED BY E.M. SWIFT AND RICHARD O'BRIEN; 08-22-1994
Against the backdrop of the baseball strike, Jason Varitek from
Georgia Tech, college baseball's best player this spring, continues
his own work stoppage. Varitek, a catcher, is attempting to reach
an
agreement with the Seattle Mariners, the team that made him the 14th
pick in June's amateur draft. Should the two sides fail to reach an
agreement by Sept. 21, Varitek, who did not sign with Minnesota last
summer after having been chosen 21st by the Twins, says he will
reenter the draft next spring. If he does he will almost certainly
become the first three-time first-round pick in baseball history.
At issue is the Mariners' unwillingness to budge from the $400,
000
signing bonus they offered Varitek on July 7. Varitek is asking for
$850,000, a tidy sum but in line with the bonuses paid other
first-rounders. The K.C. Royals paid the 16th player selected in the
draft, first baseman Matt Smith, a cool million, and the average
signing bonus of the 10th through 18th picks was $835,000.
Seattle's defense of its lowball offer is, frankly, indefensible.
Based on a highly suspect sampling of previous drafts, the Mariners
determined that college seniors sign for 35% less than similarly
ranked non-seniors. Because Varitek had no college eligibility
remaining and because the Mariners owned his rights until the next
draft, they figured he would have to accept their $400,000 offer.
Taking such unfair advantage of a senior plays into the hands of
those who would argue that baseball's draft, indeed all sports
drafts, should be abolished.
Baseball people believe that Varitek will eventually sign. ''Once
one side finds a face-saving mechanism, they'll get it done,'' says
one American League general manager. Varitek, however, says he will
not sign after classes begin on Sept. 21 at Tech, where he is 27
credits short of his undergraduate degree in management. ''I feel
like I'm on strike,'' says Varitek. ''I'm willing to go through this
all over again if it means being treated fairly.''
EDITED BY E.M. SWIFT AND RICHARD O'BRIEN, SCORECARD: Against the backdrop of the baseball strike, Jason Varitek from. , Sports Illustrated, 08-22-1994, pp 10.