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You already know that Pete Parise went undrafted, that he played at the University of Pittsburgh, and that he was not truly a pitcher until he hit the Frontier League.  But did you know that his fastball is currently hitting mid-90s and that he is developing a mean sinker and changeup?  The two new pitches go great with his already powerful fastball and slider.  Marlon W. Morgan of the Memphis Commercial Appeal recently talked to Pete and his pitching coach and put together a nice write-up on the young reliever.  Here is an excerpt:

In many’s eyes, Albert Pujols is the best baseball player around and quite frankly, his numbers support that claim.  Pujols’ career statistics are superior  than many of the other players that hold down spots on the highest-paid list in the MLB; names such as Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, Derek Jeter and Carlos Beltran.

Here is a list of these players and their current contracts:

Myopic – [mahy-op-ik, -oh-pik] –adjective

The MLB Draft occurred just last week, but already, three first-round picks have signed with the teams who picked them.  The disadvantage of signing early is that you forfeit seeing what other players are signing for.  There is a possibility that you sign for less than you could make if you hold out until the deadline.  The positive is that you show goodwill to your signing team and get started within the organization as soon as possible.  Many teams will start you on a higher level, and you will be well on your way up the system while your colleagues are holding out for more money.

Scott Boras has started to put on a show in an effort to pull some leverage out of his hat for Stephen Strasburg’s contract.

Boras is wisely positioning the righty from San Diego State as the next best thing since sliced bread—or Mark Prior, for whom the super-agent negotiated the current record deal for a draft pick of $10.5 million in 2001.

But for the Nationals, is the exceptional numbers that Boras will most certainly ask for really worth it? There is so much uncertainty with players who have yet to step onto a major league field. Injuries were the downfall of Prior and other “can’t miss” prospects like Kris Benson and Brien Taylor. $50 million is a lot of money for a lot of question marks.

Previously, I wrote a piece on attendance clauses in contracts of professional sports players. Recently, a story broke which touched upon my analysis.

Drew Rosenhaus, agent of Eagles Tight End Cornelius Ingram, said via his Twitter account, “…we have just agreed to terms on a 4 year deal for rookie TE Cornelius Ingram.” This is great news for Eagles fans and can be seen as great news for other rookie tight ends who are currently awaiting contracts.

I have been waiting for today for a very long time.  The beginning of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft is just hours away (it kicks off at 6 p.m. EST on MLB Network and MLB.com) and will last well into Thursday, until the final pick of the 50th round.

One of Dynasty’s newest baseball clients, has been on a tear since signing with the sports and talent agency.  Kyle McPherson, a 14th round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2007 amateur entry Draft got the start for the Low A West Virginia Power last night and went 5 innings with 6 strike outs and only walked 2 batters, gave up 2 hits, and just 1 earned run.  You might be wondering why McPherson was taken out of the game after the 5th if he was doing so well.  The Pirates restrict their farm arms to a 70 pitch count.  I happen to think this is a very intelligent idea.

Minor League players and Independent ball players barely make enough money to survive.  For those players who have wives and even kids, the very low salary makes it extremely difficult for any type of extended stay in the Minors.  Some have hung-up their cleats for this reason alone.

What took them so long?  As sports agents, we have a fiduciary duty to act in our clients’ best interests at all times.  That includes informing them of the ramifications of abusing an illegal substance.  It also means that we can’t be pushing or selling performance enhancing drugs to our clients.  All of us would be nieve to think that there is not a single sports agent out there who at least had knowledge that his clients were/are taking performance enhancing drugs.  Perhaps, some are even actively involved in the distribution of those drugs, as well. 

I run across new agency web sites all the time, and when I do, I make sure to add them to our always growing database of Agency web site links.  The latest edition is Jet Sports Management, which is located in my own state of Florida and is strictly a baseball agency.  Its founder is B.B.

When you throw 23 pitches, 17 of them for strikes, and don’t allow any runs, something good is happening on the mound.  Pete Parise continues to show that he is more than capable to pitch in Double A and hopes to soon be showing his stuff at a higher level.  Last night, Parise went 2 innings, struck out one batter, gave up no runs, and lowered his ERA to 4.22 on the season.  He also picked up the win and is now 2-1 with the Springfield Cardinals.

This weekend, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has a shot at having 11 of its clients selected in the first-round of the NFL Draft.  There are only 32 picks in the first-round.  CAA’s dominance in football is downright scary, but the company also has a very strong presence in other major American sports.  Their basketball division is run by Leon Rose, Andre Buck, and Steven Heumann who collectively represent over 50 basketball players including Lebron James, Rip Hamilton, O.J.