Have you heard anything about Casey Close leaving CAA to start up his own company with David Falk?

Apparently, the rumor had been floating around for a month or so, but after doing some research, I had no way to confirm it.  Thus, I never ran the story.  Now, I come to find out that Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reported yesterday that Casey Close may, in fact, leave juggernaut Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and may be considering either starting up his own practice, or joining David Falk at FAME.

Casey Close used to be the captain of the CAA Baseball ship, but as of roughly nine months ago, five different CAA baseball agents began splitting the responsibilities of division director.  Those agents are: Nez Balelo, Brodie Van Wagenen, Jeff Berry, Joe Urbon and Greg Landry.  I find that interesting, since Casey Close is still with CAA, has not officially announced that he will be leaving, yet CAA changed the structure of the baseball division.

Here are some of the names you have heard of that are currently represented by Casey Close (some are split between Close and another agent): Ben Sheets, Jason Jennings, Aaron Hill, Derrick Lee, Josh Vitters, Connor Jackson, Buster Posey, Jeremy Sowers, Jamey Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, Justin Maxwell, John Lannan, Jeremy Guthrie, Chris Lambert, John Mayberry Jr., Jeff Clement, Jeff Niemann, Gil Meche, Alex Gordon, Josh Fields, Michael Cuddyer, and some guys named Ryan Howard and Derek Jeter.

Talk about a client list.  It will be interesting to see which players stay with CAA and which ones leave with Casey Close, and if any battle ensues between the entities prior to or after Close leaves the agency (if he leaves at the culmination of his current contract).  Time to pull out the employment contracts!

Casey Close To Leaving CAA from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

On to my notes:

• As I mentioned in the comments of the Thursday post, Gerrit Cole will go to UCLA instead of the Yankees.
• I errored in the Thursday post.  Aaron Crow was actually being advised by Randy Hendricks.  Besides Crow, the other two first round players that did not sign are Boras clients (the aforementioned Cole and Josh Fields).
• Every pick in the Supplemental 1st round, 6th round, and 8th round signed with the teams that chose them.
• Watch out for UGA.  Georgia will receive two highly touted players who did not sign: Chase Davidson (3rd round) and Zach Cone (Supplemental 3rd round).
• Robbie Ross ended up being the highest paid player in the second round – $1.575 million.  The Texas Rangers will be happy to pay the left-handed pitcher.
• The highest paid fourth round player is no longer a tie.  Tim Melville, who would have been picked much higher minus his demand for big money, ended up receiving $1.250 million from the Royals.
• Adrian Nieto’s $376k in the fifth round was impressive until the Red Sox pushed over a cool $2 million to Ryan Westmoreland.
• The Pirates spent big money in the sixth round on Robbie Grossman – $1 million.
• A bunch of unsigned tenth rounders will be going to California schools.

If you want to get an early start on tracking the guys that we will be discussing around this time next year, tune in to ESPNU tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 p.m. EST to watch the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game.

Recapping The 2008 MLB Draft Deadline from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Number-one overall pick, Tim Beckham, received a $6.15 million signing bonus.  Word is that Beckham’s bonus will be trumped by Buster Posey, who may get a whopping $7.5 million.  Posey was the fifth player taken in the draft (by the San Francisco Giants).  The aforementioned Pedro Alvarez (Boras), Eric Hosmer (Boras), and Brian Matusz were all taken earlier than Posey and remain unsigned at the moment.  After Posey, there are six players who will probably not be signed until the final minutes before the deadline (if signed at all).  They are Yonder Alonso, Aaron Crow, Justin Smoak, Josh Fields (Boras), Allan Dykstra (Boras), and Gerrit Cole (Boras).  I do not know what is more remarkable: the fact that Boras has five players in the first round or that five of the ten players still holding out in the first-round are Boras clients.

Out of all of the first-round players yet to sign, only one seems to be for a reason other than the belief that he feels he deserves higher than slot figures.  Allan Dykstra has medical issues, which has delayed progress between the Padres and Boras Corp in signing the former Wake Forest first baseman.

As of writing this post, here are the bonus babies (highest signing bonuses) in the first ten rounds:

• 1st round (pick 1) – Tim Beckham – $6.15 million (Rays)
• Supplemental 1st (pick 1) – Shooter Hunt – $1.08 million (Twins)
• 2nd round (pick 9) – Destin Hood – $1.1 million (Nationals)
• 3rd round TIE (pick 5) – Roger Kieschnick – $525k (Giants) and (pick 10) – Danny Espinosa (Nationals)
• Supplemental 3rd (pick 1) – Ross Seaton – $700k (Astros)
• 4th round TIE (pick 1) – Ty Morrison – $500k (Rays) and (pick 19) – Matt Cerda (Cubs)
• 5th round (pick 9) – Adrian Nieto – $376k (Nationals)
• 6th round (pick 28) – Brett Marshall – $800k (Yankees)
• 7th round (pick 29) – Tim Fedroff – $725k (Indians)
• 8th round (pick 4) – Bobby Bundy – $600k (Orioles)
• 9th round (pick 15) – Steven Caseres – $250k (Dodgers)
• 10th round (pick 12) – Rashun Dixon – $600k (Athletics)

For a team with a small payroll, the Nationals seem to be spending quite a bit of money on their early draft picks.  Other notes:

• Out of 16 Supplemental 1st round picks, only one remains unsigned: Jeremy Bleich (Yankees)
• Only one player in the entire 3rd round has yet to sign: Chase Davidson (Astros)
• Every single player selected in the 8th round has signed a deal with the club that drafted him.
• The 10th round sticks out, containing ten players that have not yet signed.

For a great breakdown of the reasoning behind why certain players remain unsigned, check out this article published by BaseballAmerica.  Friday shall be an interesting day, indeed.

Friday’s MLB Draft Deadline from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules