Quote:
Originally Posted by Best22
I thought he turned down money from the Diamondbacks. You’re definitely right on his request of a large signing bonus with Detroit
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I could be wrong there but I don't recall it. Technically speaking teams aren't allowed to offer hard numbers prior to the draft but then again technically speaking 'advisors' aren't supposed to act as agents but they effectively do.
They're not supposed to be exchanging contract figures if they haven't actually drafted the kid - mostly just a "hey, if we pay you slot will that get it done?" kind of thing until he's been selected.
But like I said, what I've read has said that he'd have taken the offer it was 1st round money and he never got that kind of offer. Let's be fair here - he was throwing in the low 90s. That's a live arm but he was never focusing on mechanics and he is undersized for a major league RHP, at least from a scouting perspective.
I kinda doubt he was a draft darling. For perspective, the Cardinals drafted a kid named Ronnie Williams in the same draft. Williams was an athlete turned pitcher who worked in the mid/high 90s and sat around 93 (both a couple ticks above Mahomes 94 mph peak and 91 mph cruising speed at the time). He was an undersized righty with a live arm but an arsenal that, by most accounts, was more polished than what Mahomes had. Williams was drafted as the very last pick of the 2nd round and signed for around $900K.
Virtually every write-up at the time has Williams as a better prospect than Mahomes was and most still saw him as an overdraft in the 2nd round, though not by a lot. Perfect Game had Mahomes ranked in the 400s among draft prospects as did Baseball America - Williams was universally in the 80-100 range.
The hype around Mahomes baseball status is pretty overstated really. He may well have turned into a phenomenal pitcher before all was said and done, but as a prospect in the 2014 draft, he just wouldn't have stood out much beyond the novelty of his name.
I would just be very surprised if he was truly offered any kind of meaningful signing bonus.