Down On The Farm: Baseball America Prospect Chat

Here are a few excerpts from the signing day deadline chat over at Baseball America:

Jim (Pittsburgh): Are the Pirates the biggest winner this year?

Jim Callis: Getting the Jameson Taillon/Stetson Allie combo does stand out the most for me at the top of the draft. The Red Sox also stick out for spreading the wealth around among Vitek, Brentz, Ranaudo, Workman, Coyle, Cecchini, etc. The Dodgers pulled off a Zach Lee when few thought they could, and I like their final-day signings of Joc Pederson and Scott Schebler. If Bryce Harper, Sammy Solis and A.J. Cole are as good as the Nationals think they are, that's a nice haul, too.

 As a Dodgers fan, I can only hope this is a sign the Dodgers are investing in their farm system again. Signing Lee shocked everyone in the industry.

Drew (NY): What players got big league deals?

Jim Callis: Bryce Harper ($6.25 million bonus/$9.9 million guaranteed) from the Nationals, Yasmani Grandal from the Reds, Zack Cox from the Cardinals. Don't have the exact details on the last two, but they were both worth around $3.2 million with bonuses close to $3 million.

 All three will probably be fast tracked and should be on fantasy owners' radars, especially in keeper leagues.

Here is Callis' response to a question as to how quick some of the Nationals draft picks will make it to the majors:

Harper has as much power as any draft prospect ever, but he's just 17 and isn't going to rush to the majors anywhere near as quick as Stephen Strasburg. I could see Harper in the bigs at some point in 2013, but that's a best-case scenario.

Some think he will be up sooner. He may hit his way to the majors before 2013.

Bryan (Los Angeles): What are your thoughts on Zach Lee? How does he rate against Billingsley and Kershaw when they were drafted? How does he ultimately project?

Jim Callis: Behind Kershaw and ahead of Billingsley. Lee is a potential frontline starter. Projectable, athletic righthander with sharp stuff.

Dodgers director of scouting Logan White said Lee is much more advanced coming out of high school than Kershaw and Billz were when they were drafted, fwiw.