According to NorthJersey.com, Vincent Mazzaro, a 3rd round pitching draft pick out of high school ball, has not come to terms with Oakland GM Billy Beane’s offer for him to come play in the minors. According to the piece:

LYNDHURST - While former Rutherford pitching ace Vin Mazzaro hopes to sign his first professional contract in the coming weeks, Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane has other ideas. Beane said by telephone on Friday that the negotiations with Mazzaro, Oakland’s third-round pick in the June amateur draft and the 101st overall selection, are finished because Mazzaro’s asking price is too high.

"We’ve been unable to come to a financial agreement," Beane said. "We wish him luck in the future."

When told of Beane’s statement, Steve Mazzaro, Vin’s father, said, "That’s the first I’m hearing it. That is news to me. As far as I’m concerned, we’re in negotiations, and they’ll negotiate right up until the day he goes to school." Mazzaro has a baseball scholarship to St. John’s.

Methinks dad needs to get clued in. If Billy Beane isn’t going up from $950,000 to the $1m that Justin Smoak is demanding, you can be damn sure he won’t be bent over a barrel by the likes of Vince Mazzaro.

While Mike Zimmerman, who advises Mazzaro and negotiates on his behalf, wouldn’t disclose the dollar amounts being discussed, he wasn’t surprised to hear Beane’s statement. "They’re at their figure and we’re at ours," Zimmerman said. "They’re not giving any and we’re not giving any. If we don’t come to terms, then he’s going to college and it’s Oakland’s loss."

Oakland’s loss, huh? Perhaps Mr Zimmerman hasn’t seen this:



Oakland Pitching Draftees - 2005
2nd: Jared Lansford - 0-0, 0.00 (R)
2nd: Thomas Italiano - 0-0, 0.00 (R)
4th: Jimmy Shull - 2-1, 1.84 (A) (4 BB, 29K)
5th: Scott Deal - 1-2, 7.84 (R)
7th: Kevin Bunch - 0-0, 3.00 (R)
8th: Jason Ray - 0-0, 2.70 (A)
9th: Trey Shields - 2-1, 3.00 (A)
10th: John Herrera - 0-0, 8.25 (A)
11th: Steve Kleen - 0-0, 0.00 (A) (and .263 with the bat)
14th: Bradley Davis - 3-1, 0.00 (A) (5 BB, 25 K)
20th: Stephen Bryant - 1-0, 0.64 (A)
21st: Michael Madsen - 2-0, 1.36 (A)
26th: Ron Madej - 0-0, 1.42 (A)
29th: Brad Kilby - 1-0, 1.15, 8 saves (A) (5 BB, 20 K)
30th: TJ Franco - 2-3, 3.78 (R)
31st: Joshua Kay - 0-0, 3.00, 3 saves (R)

Our loss? Come talk to us in three years when the freaking Devil Rays are offering your client a contract, Zimmerman, and we’ll see who is taking the loss. The article ends with this:



"Right now there’s a price tag on him giving up a chance to enjoy college life," Steve Mazzaro said. "He’d also be giving up the innocence of the game, because it’s a business now."

Oh okay. Oakland’s supposed to pay for this kid’s ‘lost innocence’ when he’s saying stuff like this:



"If I had a choice I’d go pro, but right now I don’t have a choice […] It’s either they come up with the money, or I go to St. John’s for three years."

Clearly, any innocence this kid might have once had was lost the day daddy invited an agent around for Sunday brunch. The road to glory is littered with the carcasses of kids like this, with oodles of talent and an agent looking for a monster payday, who tells the kid to stay in school for three years and earn no money because he’ll make bulk cash next time he enters the draft, only for loss of form, or growing pains, or injury to see the lad fall off scouting charts in the following three years.

If one thing can be said to Vincent Mazzaro right now, it’s a common and simple statement… I sure hope you don’t get injured over the next three seasons.

UPDATE: It took all season to happen, but Mazzaro signed his offer after all… after the season was over, and for barely more money than he was originally offered.

(Props to Sharon from AthleticsNation for the scoop, and to NorthJerseySports.com, who owns the picture)