Casey McGehee is a right-handed infielder who attended Fresno State University prior to being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2003 MLB First Year Player Draft.  He is still in the NL Central, but is on the Milwaukee Brewers 40-man roster.  McGehee made his Major League debut in 2008 and two years later was named Brewers Most Valuable Player after hitting .285 with 23 home runs and 104 RBI.  Not bad for a kid who just turned 28-years-old and may still have the best years ahead of him.

McGehee is still listed on Gaylord Sports Management’s website as of the publishing of this post; however, he is no longer officially a client of the company.  Instead, he is now represented by Barry Meister of Meister Sports Management, who has been plugging his new guy at the Baseball Winter Meetings.

Meister’s other baseball clients include Randy Johnson, Roy Oswalt, Brandon Lyon, Sean Marshall, Tim Wakefield, Kyle Farnsworth, Doug Brocail Todd Wellemeyer, Clint Barmes, Craig Counsell, Cory Sullivan, and Edgar Renteria.

On To The Next One: Casey McGehee from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

1. Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) – Boras Corp. – Interesting to note that Bud Selig referred to Harper as an outfielder even though he has played mostly catcher his entire life.  Get this kid on the fast track through the Minors.
2. Jameson Tallion (Pittsburgh Pirates) – Hendricks Sports Management – Big high school arm clocked as high as 99 mph.
3. Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles) – Boras Corp. - Hard to see Machado passing up signing to go play at Florida International University.  Interesting that FIU is his college commitment.
4. Christian Colon (Kansas City Royals) – Boras Corp. – Yesterday, I had reported that the Royals wanted to sign Yasmani Grandal.  Perhaps his price tag was too high.
5. Drew Pomeranz (Cleveland Indians) - Beverly Hills Sports Council – He was drafted in the 12th round out of high school.
6. Barret Loux (Arizona Diamondbacks) – SFX – Jumped up boards a lot recently.
7. Matt Harvey (New York Mets) – Boras Corp. – 4th Boras client selected in the top 7 picks.
8. Delino Deshields Jr. (Houston Astros) – Wasserman Media Group
9. Karsten Whitson (San Diego Padres) - SFX – Committed to my alma mater, the University of Florida.
10. Michael Choice (Oakland Athletics) – Franklin-Frye Sports – Went undrafted out of high school.
11. Deck McGuire (Toronto Blue Jays) – SFX – Also undrafted out of high school.
12. Yasmani Grandal (Cincinnati Reds) – Legacy Sports Group – Slipped because of signability issues.
13. Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) – Jet Sports Management – Didn’t play at a major school (Florida Gulf Coast University), but put up great numbers there and played very well in Cape Cod last summer.
14. Dylan Covey (Milwaukee Brewers) – Wasserman Media Group
15. Jake Skole (Texas Rangers) – Unknown – Won’t be compensated if they don’t sign this pick (most likely why Skole was taken here).
16. Hayden Simpson (Chicago Cubs) - Hendricks Sports Management – Great numbers this past year in Division II baseball.
17. Josh Sale (Tampa Bay Rays) – Creative Artists Agency – Don’t worry, different advisors than the people at CAA who have to worry about where LeBron will play.
18. Kaleb Cowart (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – SFX – Boras Corp. has higher drafted clients, but at this point of the draft, SFX and Boras tied in number of players picked.
19. Michael Foltynewicz (Houston Astros) – Octagon
20. Kolbrin Vitek (Boston Red Sox) – Pro Star Management - Joe Bick also represents Kevin Youkilis, one of my favorite players.
21. Alex Wimmers (Minnesota Twins) – ACES – Undrafted out of high school.
22. Kellin Deglan (Texas Rangers) – Double Diamond Sports Management – Canadian catcher committed to Florida International University with Manny Machado.
23. Christian Yelich (Florida Marlins) – Creative Artists Agency – Committed to the University of Miami, so he will be in the state of Florida no matter what.
24. Gary Brown (San Francisco Giants) – Boras Corp. – And Boras re-gains the lead in clients selected with a total of 5 at this point.
25. Zack Cox (St. Louis Cardinals) – SFX – A draft-eligible sophomore.
26. Kyle Parker (Colorado Rockies) – Career Sports Entertainment – Also the quarterback for Clemson.  Will be a tough sign.
27. Jesse Biddle (Philadelphia Phillies) – Sosnick & Cobbe – Matt Sosnick represents some big time pitchers; add this stud to the list.
28. Zach Lee (Los Angeles Dodgers) – Unknown – Committed to play football at LSU. Queue the signability discussion.
29. Cam Bedrosian (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – ACES
30. Chevez Clarke (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – ACES – 2 ACES clients drafted in a row, and a total of 3 ACES clients taken in the first round.
31. Justin O’Connor (Tampa Bay Rays) – SFX – Committed to Arkansas.
32. Cito Culver (New York Yankees) – SFX

Comp Round A

1. Mike Kvasnicka (Houston Astros) – Sterling Sports Management
2. Aaron Sanchez (Toronto Blue Jays) – West Coast Sports
3. Matthew Lipka (Atlanta Braves) – Franklin-Frye Sports
4. Bryce Brentz (Boston Red Sox) – Jet Sports Management
5. Taylor Lindsey (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – Unknown
6. Noah Syndergaard (Toronto Blue Jays) – Xclusive Sports Management
7. Anthony Ranaudo (Boston Red Sox) – Boras Corp.
8. Ryan Bolden (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – ACES
9. Asher Wojciechowski (Toronto Blue Jays) - SFX
10. Drew Vettleson (Tampa Bay Rays) – Creative Artists Agency
11. Taijuan Walker (Seattle Mariners) – Reynolds Sports Management
12. Nick Castellanos (Detroit Tigers) – SportsMeter
13. Luke Jackson (Texas Rangers) – Unknown
14. Seth Blair (St. Louis Cardinals) – Boras Corp.
15. Peter Tago (Colorado Rockies) – Wasserman Media Group
16. Chance Ruffin (Detroit Tigers) – Unknown
17. Mike Olt (Texas Rangers) – Wasserman Media Group
18. Tyrell Jenkins (St. Louis Cardinals) – Select Sports Group

The MLB Draft Day 1 Broken Down from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Football

• The St. Louis experiment is failing while the Cowboys investment in their big boys is working well [Under the Cap: Top Ten Guards and Centers].
• A look at just how competitive recruiting college football players is for agencies of various sizes [The race to sign college prospects].

Baseball

• Could they have found a worse picture of Hendry? [Unloading Milton Bradley without paying steep price won't be easy for Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry]
• NY Yankees GM taking a hard-line approach to impending contract discussions with Matsui and Damon [Yanks’ Cashman Won’t Be Swayed].
• Clocked as high as 98.75 mph, but he is 30-years-old (due to Japan’s rules regarding free agency) [Hard-throwing reliever aims to leave Japan].
• Arn Tellem gets in on the blogging action [Hideki Matsui: An Ageless Talent].
• A lot more young players about to get cut? [The Changing Landscape of Salary Arbitration-Eligible Players and Free Agents in Baseball]

Sports Agent

• Some great advice for agents who might not be as involved as they need to be [The Proverbial, I Don’t Know].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (11/13/09) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Last year, Bradley batted .321 with 22 home runs while playing for the Texas Rangers. In a nine year career with 6 different teams, Bradley has batted .280 with 103 home runs and 399 RBIs.

Cubs Sign Bradley from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

His most recent masterpiece is of the Chicago Cubs and took him over one-hundred hours to complete.  George is giving away free prints of the sketch on his website.  Is there a market out there for George?  Is this an area where a traditional sports agent may help out?  Check out the YouTube below, and let me know what you think.

Representation Of An Etch A Sketch Artist from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The Tribune owns 23 television stations and 11 newspapers in total.  Officials at the Chicago Tribune have said that they would like to sell their entire company before selling off individual pieces.   The company is looking for at least a billion dollars for the three aforementioned assets.

Sports fanatic and billionaire Marc Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is one of the many individuals that are extremely interested in purchasing this package from the Tribune.  Many MLB owners have expressed their dissent with Cuban purchasing the team.  However, the Tribune has not rejected Cuban as a possible owner.  He already has offered the tribune over a billion dollars, but has not heard any official word yet.

Although Cuban seems to be the lead candidate so far, many others have expressed their interest.  Donald Trump’s name has even been rumored as a possibility.  Another potential is a group including Hank Aaron, Former GOP VP candidate Jack Kemp, and Andrew Murstein, a NYC taxi mogul who is the engineer behind the groups collaboration.

You Gotta’ Know When To Hold Em’, Know When To Fold Em, Know When To Walk Away from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Julio Castillo, a pitcher for the Peoria Chiefs of the Class A Midwest League, was arraigned in court Friday morning on a felony assault charge after throwing a baseball into the stands and hitting a fan during an on the field brawl that took place Thursday night.  Castillo threw a ball at the opposing team’s bench, which apparently missed badly and hit a fan above the dugout in the forehead.  The 44-year-old fan was said to be incoherent, was rushed to the ER and was still hospitalized that night.  Chris McCarthy is now out of the hospital.

Three players were hit by pitches thrown from Castillo before this fight got out of hand and the benches emptied. One of the batters Castillo popped was hit in the head.  The second batter Castillo drilled, Angel Cabrerra, slid hard into second base to break up a double play, prompting Castillo to brush back the next Dragon batter.

Dayton manager Donnie Scott began complaining to the plate umpire and then argued with interim Peoria coach Carmelo Martinez. The argument escalated, Martinez pushed Scott, and the benches emptied after Castillo unleashed his throw towards the Dayton Dragons’ dugout.

Fifteen players and both managers were ejected following the 10-minute, bench-clearing brawl that happened early in the game (bottom of the first inning).  Seventeen total people were sent to the locker room early. The game did continue and Dayton went on to win the game 6-5. The two fighting teams were affiliates of the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds organizations.  Castillo’s team, Peoria, is managed by former Cubs great Ryne Sandberg.

This is a sad situation where Castillo obviously stepped over the line.  Brawls do happen and benches do clear in baseball, however throwing a baseball at the bench is really ugly.  When you miss and hit a fan that is even worse.  I believe that Castillo should be charged for his actions and prosecuted.  He could face up to 8 years in jail and I believe he deserves some jail time to learn a lesson.

He did hit three batters during the first inning of the game and was obviously out of control.  He took it to another level when he hit a fan with his “dugout fastball” during the brawl.  I hope he gets banned from baseball for a while and pays for his stupid actions. Although brawls do occur, this was not an ordinary action by Castillo.  He should keep the game on the field and not bring fans into the brawl by throwing “deadly weapons” (according to Ohio law).

This past year we have seen quite a few brawls in baseball and in other sports.  The Detroit Shock of the WNBA certainly shocked us when a brawl recently went down in Detroit.  The cat fight occurred last week and was the first big brawl in the WNBA.  Not surprisingly, it was the Detroit Men’s team who started the whole fighting dilemma in sports, when the palace at Auburn hills erupted several years ago against the Indiana Pacers.  Are more athletes getting their green belts in karate and trying to fight or is this just competitive athletes fighting to win?

Brawlin’ Pitcher Hits Fan from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The 855 players on Opening-Day rosters and the DL averaged $3.15 million, up 7.1 percent from last year’s starting average of $2.94 million.

The median salary is $1 million, exemplifying the fact that the superstars are skewing the average salary mark to the high $3 million figure. Most major league players are making much less than $1 million per year. Still, 434 players will make more than $1 million this year, which is a new record number.

Here is a quick list of the teams with the highest payrolls, bumping up those average player salaries:

1. New York Yankees (AL East) – $209.1 million
2. Detroit Tigers (AL Central) – $138.7 million
3. New York Mets (NL East) – $138.3 million
4. Boston Red Sox (AL East) – $133.4 million
5. Chicago White Sox (AL Central) – $121.2 million
6. Los Angeles Angels (AL West) – $119.2 million
7. Chicago Cubs (NL Central) – $118.6 million
8. Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West) – $118.5 million
9. Seattle Mariners (AL West) – $118 million
10. Atlanta Braves (NL East) – $102.4 million

Six out of the top ten payrolls come from the AL. Four out of the top five are AL teams. Represent a player who is bound to turn into a superstar warranting top dollar figures from his team? May want to try to get him onto one of the top five teams listed above. One team to stay away from would be the Florida Marlins, with a total payroll of $21.8 million. Then again, they beat the #3 payroll, New York Mets, last night.

On Average, Baseball Players Are Banking from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules