So I had the chance to talk to Richard T. Estrada of the Modesto Bee, and asked him about the chances of Astros 25th Round pick Billy Flamion signing with the Astros (who, by all accounts, slipped due to the dreaded Signability Issue, and his commitment to Oregon). Here's what he had to say (and then kindly allowed me to copy and paste):
Billy’s been high on Oregon because the program is just a few years old and he has Phil Knight/Nike throwing millions of dollars into the baseball program. Tough to compete with Phil Knight’s money, even if you’re a major-league ball team. The facilities up there are stunning, and the prospect of taking classes at Oregon, playing ball at great facilities and hanging out on a college campus has a lot of appeal for a kid coming out of high school.
He has a mentor who is one heck of a business man – not one of those guys who hangs on and is looking for a payday, the guy who Billy looks to for advice runs a huge company out here and has a great reputation as a solid financial guy – and I’m sure he’s playing a role in making sure Billy doesn’t price himself short.
Billy’s a great athlete, was our Player of the Year this spring for baseball and has been on our all-region football team the last two years as a Defensive Back/Receiver. He projects out better in baseball because of his size and he seems to live and breathe the sport … He’s been one of the local legends around here since the 6th grade, I’d say, and then he started getting involved in the national baseball program.
So it's not looking good. The Astros are going to have to stump up some cash to get him signed. Here's Estrada's article from June on Flamion and "The Case For Greatness"
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
