SIGNED QB Bubba Starling

[EZ-E]

Great article. I'm going with 60% he plays MLB - 40% college after reading it. I've been 60% CFB for some time now...but he doesn't sound nearly as certain in that article. (he could be playing politics so he doesn't hurt his draft spot by solidifying his commitment to college however).

Anywhere in the first round (which is where it seems more and more he'll end up going) and he's guarenteed a million plus. top 10 and it's probably 2.5-7.5 million. I just don't think he'd turn down that kind of money, it's too big of a gamble. Suh gambled millions to come back his senior season - but he'd already proven himself, had a fat insurance policy to guard against injury, and guarenteed money waiting for him 8 months after his decision. Starling could end up a bust in college and never get another chance. Take the money, work your a$$ off and be proud of what you've accomplished. Don't look back. I'll still cheer for the kid since he was almost a Husker.

I know what you are saying. His parents are completely want him to go to school though is the thing. Nobody here can do anything but speculate. But since he has even muttered the words that he is going to college, I say he goes in rounds 5-9. An MLB team doesnt want to waste a first round pick on a kid that is anything less than a garuntee that they can sign. Just my two cents though.

 

[mdhusker2010]

I think after the Matt Purke (TCU pitcher) situation and being drafted 16th overall by the Rangers and turning them down, It has really scared a lot of organizations to only drafting "lock to sign" players. I project if he continues to have the summer he is having and stays healthy in the spring someone will take a chance on him in the 3rd to 5th round and try and throw big time money at him.

 

[bbeerma2]

I'd say it is an 80% lock we see him at NU that fall. He will get good development here in both sports from the solid coaching. No reason for him to run after a few hundred thousand when he will get an education worth nearly that and push himself into a better position to pitch/play right away in either sport.

 

[carlfense]

I'd say it is an 80% lock we see him at NU that fall. He will get good development here in both sports from the solid coaching. No reason for him to run after a few hundred thousand when he will get an education worth nearly that and push himself into a better position to pitch/play right away in either sport.

What if he is offered a million+? Also, what if he gets injured at Nebraska? If I'm Bubba and I get a guaranteed 7 figure paycheck . . . I'm gone. You can always go back to college. I hope he comes to Nebraska but it would kill me to see him turn down a huge contract and then get injured and never earn a penny playing the sports that he loves.

 

[kchusker_chris]

I'd say it is an 80% lock we see him at NU that fall. He will get good development here in both sports from the solid coaching. No reason for him to run after a few hundred thousand when he will get an education worth nearly that and push himself into a better position to pitch/play right away in either sport.

What if he is offered a million+? Also, what if he gets injured at Nebraska? If I'm Bubba and I get a guaranteed 7 figure paycheck . . . I'm gone. You can always go back to college. I hope he comes to Nebraska but it would kill me to see him turn down a huge contract and then get injured and never earn a penny playing the sports that he loves.

If it's "only" a few hundred thousand dollars, I'd be with you. But, as the summer is progressing, and the draft gets closer - all indications are he will be MUCH higher than a 5th round pick. (no offense to Khiry, but Starling is well beyond where he was coming out of HS)

IMO the reason players drafted high almost always sign is not because of a lack of desire to go the college route, or because the MLB only picks players it knows will sign...it's because with the millions of dollars they are guarenteed very, very few would ever turn down that kind of money. There isn't a lot of risk involved with picking someone in the top 20 - they are going to play baseball 99.9% of the time.

 

[huskersrule95]

I'd say it is an 80% lock we see him at NU that fall. He will get good development here in both sports from the solid coaching. No reason for him to run after a few hundred thousand when he will get an education worth nearly that and push himself into a better position to pitch/play right away in either sport.

What if he is offered a million+? Also, what if he gets injured at Nebraska? If I'm Bubba and I get a guaranteed 7 figure paycheck . . . I'm gone. You can always go back to college. I hope he comes to Nebraska but it would kill me to see him turn down a huge contract and then get injured and never earn a penny playing the sports that he loves.

I agree. I think it would be really hard to turn down that kind of money especially when it would take only one injury and you could lose everything. I hope he comes here too but if he is as good as they say he is in baseball, I think he goes to the MLB. Hope I am wrong though.

 

[Nexus]

I'd like to think our recent hiring of Erstad might help with keeping Bubba? At least Erstad's experiences will resonate with Bubba when it comes time to making a decision when the draft rolls around next year. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[EZ-E]

I know a minor league manager. He is from my hometown and he managed the futures game the other night. His name is Brian Poldberg for reference. He said in baseball if you get drafted as a pitcher you go as soon as you can to save your arm instead of throwing all of the innings that a college season would require. If you get drafted late as a position player you go to college and learn to hit better pitching and learn to play your position. Just thought I'd share his thoughts.

 

[bbeerma2]

True EZ, but you have to remember that throwing your arm out in the minors is similar to throwing it out in college. There is no guarantee you are going to get called up in the first 3-4 years. I can think of very few direct from HS athletes who have gone straight into pitching after being drafted recently. Most take at least 6-12 months, many much longer. Then you deal with the athletes who get stuck in the minors forever and see their lives waste away as they blow their signing bonuses and have to live on a teacher's salary. I'm a teacher, it's not easy folks!

The Yankees youngest active pitcher is listed with a D.o.B. Jun 24, 1986

The Red Sox are worse on the active. Even on the 40-man roster, the Sox have one from 1987.

Then look what happens when a qualified pitcher comes out of Nebraska and plays for the Yankees organization.

Go browse through MLB draft history on ESPN and check out the first-round pitchers and you won't see many with career stats up yet.

 

[RockyMountainOySker]

True EZ, but you have to remember that throwing your arm out in the minors is similar to throwing it out in college. There is no guarantee you are going to get called up in the first 3-4 years. I can think of very few direct from HS athletes who have gone straight into pitching after being drafted recently. Most take at least 6-12 months, many much longer. Then you deal with the athletes who get stuck in the minors forever and see their lives waste away as they blow their signing bonuses and have to live on a teacher's salary. I'm a teacher, it's not easy folks!

The Yankees youngest active pitcher is listed with a D.o.B. Jun 24, 1986

The Red Sox are worse on the active. Even on the 40-man roster, the Sox have one from 1987.

Then look what happens when a qualified pitcher comes out of Nebraska and plays for the Yankees organization.

Go browse through MLB draft history on ESPN and check out the first-round pitchers and you won't see many with career stats up yet.

Bubba Starling pitches in High School but he is not a pitcher prospect. He will play in the OUTFIELD.

 

[MrBumstead]

I know a minor league manager. He is from my hometown and he managed the futures game the other night. His name is Brian Poldberg for reference. He said in baseball if you get drafted as a pitcher you go as soon as you can to save your arm instead of throwing all of the innings that a college season would require. If you get drafted late as a position player you go to college and learn to hit better pitching and learn to play your position. Just thought I'd share his thoughts.

That really is a good rule for late round draft picks. The projected number 1 pick next year is SS Anthony Rendon. He was a late round (26th?) pick a couple years ago out of high school, but went to college instead and is now projected to be the #1 overall pick. 3 years in college will earn him millions of dollars. As Bubba is projected as an outfielder rather than a pitcher, that bodes well.

Like you said though, that really only works for late round players. If Bubba goes in the first 2 rounds or is offered overslot money (typical for players who fall in the draft because teams don't think they'll sign), I have a really hard time seeing him turning it down. I know I'd have a hard time turning down 1-5 million and a shot at MiLB to go to college. But if he's a late rounder, he could improve his stock alot by going to college.

 

[MinnwiscowaSker]

Who knows what teams are looking at him for. Fransisco Liriano was an outfielder prospect as well and turned into a pitcher. I'm sure GMs would give him a look in rookie ball or single-A, at least in practices, for throwing from the mound ... unless of course he were to tear it up as a fielder. :rant

We could lose Bubba four months after signing with us. Let's hope not! Thank God we have two great QBs in this class. :woo

 

[MrBumstead]

Who knows what teams are looking at him for. Fransisco Liriano was an outfielder prospect as well and turned into a pitcher. I'm sure GMs would give him a look in rookie ball or single-A, at least in practices, for throwing from the mound ... unless of course he were to tear it up as a fielder. :rant

We could lose Bubba four months after signing with us. Let's hope not! Thank God we have two great QBs in this class. :woo

You're right, he probably will get a look at both, but most scouts seem to think that his hitting is superior to his pitching at this point. It's also more common for pitchers to convert to postion players than vice versa, so he projects to outfield at this point. That could change depending on the scout you're talking to.

For reference, here's a link to some guy in some blog rating Bubba as the #18 high school prospect for next year.

Link

And another link to some other guy rating him as the 20th overall prospect.

Link

And finally this, from Baseball America:

Tournament of Stars Standouts, Day Two
Posted Jun. 24, 2010 10:12 pm by Nathan Rode

Filed under: First Person, USA Baseball

It was a sweltering 100 degrees in Cary, N.C. today for the second day of USA Baseball's Tournment of Stars. Players, scouts and parents were dripping with sweat from the first pitch at 10 a.m. until the final out of the fourth game close to 6 p.m. Despite the oppressive heat, a couple players stood out today. . .

The star of the first game was outfielder/righthander Bubba Starling. Starling is a two-way threat and one of the best athletes in this year's class. He had a great day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two triples.

Starling is proof that, if you're good, scouts will find you. The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder hails from Gardner Edgerton High in Gardner, Kan., a town of about 10,000 near the Kansas-Missouri border.

At this point, Starling said he doesn't have a preference on playing a position or pitching, but it's looking like he's better suited as a position player and is a potential five-tool guy.

"I love doing both," Starling said. "Whatever happens happens in college or wherever. I'm just excited to be out here."

Starling also took the mound for two innings, sitting 88-91 mph with his fastball and a 77-78 mph breaking ball. He didn't give up a hit, but did give up a run after he walked RBI outfielder Desmond Henry to start the seventh inning. Henry is very fast and stole second and third before scoring on a sac fly. Over the two innings, Starling issued the one walk (to Henry) and struck out one. He said he felt good on the mound, but admitted he has some kinks to iron outwhich is not uncommon for a three-sport athlete from an area that isn't a baseball hotbed.

"I've never had a pitching coach," Starling said. "So my coach today was like, 'Do you know what you're doing out there? Your mechanics suck.' And I was like, 'Well, I've never had a pitching coach, man.' He said I threw good and everything, I just have to work on my mechanics. I'm just pretty busy with both baseball and football and then I play basketball too, so it's never-ending."

Starling is also a standout quarterback that recently gave a verbal commitment to Nebraska.

Link

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Another thing he has to consider is the quality of life playing the next few years in the minors vs living on a major college campus. The number one pick in the 2008 MLB draft was Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop. Beckham is in his third season in the minors and currently still at the class A level. It takes longer to develop high school kids. Best case scenario he is like Jason Heyward and reaches the show after 3 years in the minors. Or a player in the same boat as Bubba was Carl Crawford who spent 3 and one half seasons in the minors before his call up. Just something else for him to think about.

 

[hskerholic]

Another thing he has to consider is the quality of life playing the next few years in the minors vs living on a major college campus. The number one pick in the 2008 MLB draft was Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop. Beckham is in his third season in the minors and currently still at the class A level. It takes longer to develop high school kids. Best case scenario he is like Jason Heyward and reaches the show after 3 years in the minors. Or a player in the same boat as Bubba was Carl Crawford who spent 3 and one half seasons in the minors before his call up. Just something else for him to think about.

The problem with your theory is that the players you mentioned were all position players. Bubba is a pitcher. I think pitchers can go throught the minors alot faster than position players. like Ez said earlier pitchers can put extra strain on there arms by throwing extra innings. why not go to the minors out of high school make a couple mil and work your way to the majors.