Rangers lose top draft pick Matt Purke to TCU
By JEFF WILSON
jwilson@star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON -- Tarrant County was going to be home to Matt Purke at some point in his future.
But he had to decide Monday whether he would settle immediately in Fort Worth as a freshman at TCU or in a few years in Arlington as a member of the Texas Rangers’ rotation.
The native Texan took his time, almost all of it in fact, but he ultimately decided to don purple and white for at least the next two seasons.
The Rangers failed to agree to terms with their first-round pick on the final day for major-league teams to finalize contracts with their selections from the First-Year Amateur draft in June.
They can no longer negotiate with the left-hander from Klein, who a source said turned down $4 million and instead will enroll at TCU and pitch for the Horned Frogs next year.
“I’m not going to sugar coat it: We wanted to sign the guy,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “But it wasn’t meant to be.”
Purke, the 14th overall pick, was selected with the Rangers knowing that he wanted a contract similar to the one signed by Detroit right-hander Rick Porcello in 2007. He received a four-year, $7.28 million deal with two option years and a $3.58 million signing bonus.
The recommended money at Purke’s draft slot was $1.6 million.
Detroit signed the No. 9 overall pick, prep pitcher Jacob Turner, to contract reportedly worth $5.5 million that included a $4.7 million bonus and a spot on the 40-man roster.
The Rangers never got to that point, according to a source, and were one of only two teams who failed to sign their first-round pick. Tampa Bay failed to reach a deal with No. 30 pick LaVon Washington.
The Rangers will get the 15th overall pick next year as compensation for failing to sign Purke. Barring a total collapse, it will be the first of the Rangers’ two first-rounders.
Daniels said the negotiations were amicable and that he holds no ill-will toward Purke, his parents or agent Peter Vescovo.
“I don’t have any issues with how they handled things,” Daniels said. “The communication was good. Both sides were clear in what we wanted to do. It just didn’t match up.”
Purke routinely hits 90 to 94 mph with a two-seam fastball that he complements that with a curveball and circle changeup.
With a projectable frame — Purke is 6-foot-3 but at only 180 pounds — the Rangers believed Purke could have come quickly through the minor leagues.
Purke went 4-2 with a 1.18 ERA for Klein High School as a senior with 91 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings. As a junior, though, he was 12-1 with a 0.37 ERA.
He spent the time between the draft working out at the Tomball Sports Medical Center and alternating between bullpen sessions and long-toss to keep his arm fresh.
The Rangers had Purke take a physical over the weekend to get it out of the way in anticipation of negotiations going down to the wire. He attended the Rangers’ game Saturday and met with, among others, owner Tom Hicks.
Purke, who turned 19 on July 17, has the option of spending only two seasons at TCU before re-entering the draft in 2011 as an eligible sophomore at age 21.
He had committed to TCU in November and was on-campus Monday for freshman orientation. The Horned Frogs had given him a locker last week and jersey No. 47, which was worn by his favorite player, two-time Cy Young winner Tom Glavine.
“When I didn’t hear from him, I figured he was scrambling to get his paperwork in,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “He called me about 10 minutes after 11 and told me he was coming to TCU.
“This doesn’t happen very often, and this doesn’t guarantee anything. To hold a player of that level says a lot about our university and our program.”
The Rangers continue to negotiate with Tanner Scheppers, who was taken with the 44th overall pick as compensation for losing Type B free agent Milton Bradley.
Scheppers, though, has no more amateur eligibility after playing in an independent league, and the Monday deadline did not apply to the right-hander.
Daniels said he spoke to agent Greg Genske and would like to have the right-hander signed for the start of the instructional league next month. But the Rangers have until a week before the draft next year to sign him and say there is no added urgency to add him to the fold.
“We wanted both guys. Unfortunately, we only have the ability to sign one of them at this point,” Daniels said. “We’d still like to sign Tanner, but no more or no less than an hour ago.”
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