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Forget barbeques or cookouts, nobody had a better July 4th than Jose Cuas.

The former Grand Street Campus star shortstop was in Toronto schmoozing with the Blue Jays while his friends were back in Brooklyn eating hot dogs and hamburgers.

“I worked out with the team, I hit with [Jose] Bautista and [Edwin] Encarnacion, I did a team stretch, I had my own locker,” said the 18-year old All-City second team selection by The Post. “I felt like a big leaguer. They made me feel welcome.”

Toronto flew Cuas up north of the border hoping to entice him. The Blue Jays drafted Cuas in the 40th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft and have been following him closely the entire spring. Cuas’ asking price, reportedly at $500,000, and his scholarship to Maryland, Toronto area scout Michael Pesce said, likely contributed to him going so late in the draft.

The money Toronto is discussing, Cuas said, isn’t quite at his asking price, but it is much closer than he expected it would be. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, there are penalties for teams who pay draft picks taken after the 10th round over $100,000 unless the team is under the money allotted to them in the first 10 rounds.

Toronto’s offer, Owens said, is closer to what seventh-round pick Andrew Velazquez of Fordham Prep received from the Arizona Diamondbacks, upwards of $200,000 plus money for his education, which was slated for Virginia Tech.

“They made it real tough on me now,” Cuas said. “It’s a huge surprise. I didn’t think we could get to this point, where I would consider signing.”

Cuas has until Sunday, the day he would start orientation at Maryland, before deciding which route he will take.

“If I feel the money is fair, I’m going to go ahead and take it,” he said. “It’s a win-win situation. I can go to college, play college baseball, go pro three years from now or sign and hopefully get to the big leagues in a few years.”

YounG GunneR wrote:I dont know much about Baseball. Does a team lose the draft rights of a player if they decide to go to college?

Negotiating rights

Prior to 2007, a team retained the rights to sign a selected player until one week prior to the next draft, or until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college on a full-time basis. Starting in 2007, the deadline for signing a drafted player is August 15. A selected player who enters a junior college cannot be signed until the conclusion of the school's baseball season. A player who is drafted and does not sign with the club that selected him may be drafted again at a future year's draft, so long as the player is eligible for that year's draft. A club may not select a player again in a subsequent year, unless the player has consented to the re-selection.

Eligibility

To be drafted a player must fit the following criteria:
Be a resident of the United States, Canada, or a U.S. territory such as Puerto Rico. Players from other countries are not subject to the draft, and can be signed by any team (unless they are current members of college teams in the aforementioned countries).
Have never signed a major or minor league contract.
High school players are eligible only after graduation, and if they have not attended college.
Players at four-year colleges are eligible after completing their junior years, or after their 21st birthdays.
Junior and community college players are eligible to be drafted at any time.

SharoneWright wrote:^
Nice find.

So if we had to up an offer, would we put it towards Cuas or Kellogg, assuming we could only get 1?

(Cuas, right?)

baulderdash77 wrote:I think its a matter of only having enough over slot allocation money to sign one of these guys. Kellogg isn't biting so we switched to this guy.

baulderdash77 wrote:I know the strategy was to have college seniors 4th to 10th round to hoard allocation money and get back into high upside HS guys after that.

Shortstop Jose Cuas, Grand Street Campus (Maryland)

"It's his defense. He's a smooth fielder, projectable body. His arm is just enough, it's not average-plus, just average. He might end up as more of a second baseman unless he gets more strength. Fluid actions. All the ingredients. The bat is a little bit light and a little bit below average. It's not a guy that you're interested in because of hitting ability at this point."