According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles have agreed to terms with 28th round pick, Jaime Esquivel, and 48th round pick Alex Schmarzo.
A RHP from South Houston HS, Esquivel is a projectable righty who had a college commitment to Rice. He sits in the high 80′s with his fastball, touching 92 mph, and has a curveball that flashes plus. He signed for an over-slot bonus of $225,000. Video >>
A closer in college, Schmarzo sits in the 89-91 mph range with his fastball and has an average changeup. According to Baseball America, he’ll have to improve his breaking ball in order to become a starter. I’d imagine Schmarzo’s deal is in the $150,000-$250,000 range. Video >>
The Orioles are still talking with 11th round pick, Alex Gonzalez, and Matt Bywater as well. Earlier today, Bywater said things were “getting there.”
Things should certainly get interesting as we approach the signing deadline.
Schmarzo looks like he’s got a decent fastball, as least as far as movement is concerned. Looks like he really gets over the top of the ball with a high arm slot, but he does really fall to the first base side. I’ll be interested to see what his bonus ends up being, but 150K-250K for Schmarzo seems a bit rich. I’m not sure that a guy with an average FB, an at-times average change up, and inconsistent breaking ball is worth that much unless Jordan was in love with his potential.
As for Esquivel, if he can command his 90-92 MPH fastball (or even add a tick or two) to go along with a potential plus curveball, I think he could be the best pitching prospect we’ve drafted in the last two years. I love his delivery, everything looks smooth and repeatable. He’ll really be one to keep an eye on in 2-3 years.
Esquivel hit a growth spurt just before his senior year in HS which 1 spiked his velocity into the low 90′s but also, 2 stretched him out a bit allowing for a solid amount of physical projection. So, yes, I would expect, as JJ said that he adds more velocity to that already solid FB for a kid coming out of HS. Personally, I love these type of picks, the projectable kid who has a solid toolset all the way around except for his FB. Except in this case his FB is pretty good, but mainly guys like Beal and Wirsch fit the formula described above…….
That’s good to hear. Do you have a link regarding Esquivel’s growth spurt? That curveball looks real nice, if he adds to that FB he’ll be a good one.
Heres what it says word for word: RHP Jaime Esquivel (6-2, 185), South Houston High. Lean, muscular high-potential prospect with a plus breaking ball and low-90s fastball. Great athlete with an exceptional pickoff move to first base. Hit a growth spurt late in high school, so his physical potential remains untapped.
http://www.riceowls.com/blog/2009/11/scouting-the-class-of-2011.html
That link isn’t to the perfectgame link, for some reason I can’t find it now, but that is word for word what perfectgame’s profile said for him…..
The video I saw of Esquivel had him sitting at about 87 with the fastball, but it was taken in March if I remember correctly, so I can believe that he’s added some velo to that. The curve was straight filthy too.
Yeah, when he was drafted, that was what I saw on him as well, topping out in the high 80′s so I wasn’t high on him at first. But after reading a bit deeper and seeing that he has added velocity this year with the growth spurt, he sounds like a VERY strong pitching prospect.
I believe that draft video was taken from July of last year, so he’s had a lot of time to grow and develop since then.