By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Dane Sardinha got the call yesterday from
the Kansas City Royals
Sardinha, Wayne drafted
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinWhether or not Dane Sardinha decides to sign with the Kansas City Royals, his baseball future looks pretty good. That's how Scott Boras, the notoriously high-powered sports agent Sardinha has hired for his legal advisor, sees the matter.
Boras said last night he believes the Royals will seriously consider giving the Kamehameha Schools catcher what he thinks he's worth -- which is well over $1 million. But if they don't, there's always that full scholarship to Pepperdine and possibly an even better position in the 2000 amateur draft.
Sardinha, a 6-foot, 200-pounder who just turned 18 last month, was selected 59th overall yesterday morning by the Royals in the second round of baseball's annual amateur draft. He received the call from Royals' West Coast scout Gary Johnson at his Kahuku home at about 8 a.m.
Later yesterday, Punahou pitcher Justin Wayne was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the ninth round. Wayne has been offered a scholarship at Stanford.
The draft continued today with players like Punahou infielder Scooter Martines (Texas Tech) and Iolani's Keoni DeRenne (Arizona) still available. But chances are they won't be offered enough incentive to bypass their scholarships.
DeRenne, the quick-handed shortstop who was the glue to two straight Iolani state championship baseball teams, was considered too short at 5-6 to be a high-round prospect.
Sardinha was the second catcher taken and became only the second Hawaii-born player since 1979 to go so high. Derek Tatsuno, the NCAA's first 20-game-winning pitcher, was drafted by the San Diego Padres that year but opted to play in Japan.
Mark Johnson, who played for the University of Hawaii but hails from the Midwest, was a first-round pick of Houston last year.
Sardinha admitted disappointment at not being drafted in the first round. The Florida Marlins, who had the 12th pick in the first round, told the Sardinha family that the catcher was their man.
But when the first round ended, Sardinha's name was still available.
"These clubs wanted to price-fix their picks," said Boras. He said Sardinha would not commit to a figure that was obviously below his worth.
Boras is advising the Sardinhas by telephone but will not go nose-to-nose on the player's behalf until he has signed a deal. By acting as Sardinha's "legal" and not his "agent," Boras protects the player's college eligibility -- a key bargaining chip.
"If he has to go to college, that's fine, too, because players drafted out of college have more longevity in the majors," said Boras.
But does Boras believe that he can advise Sardinha through a negotiation that will result in a bigger signing bonus than the unspecified seven-figure deal he turned down with the Cleveland Indians (they felt him out as a possible 41st pick)?
The answer is yes. In fact, Boras pointed out that the Royals saved money in drafting the University of the Pacific's right-hander Dan Reichert (seventh overall) because Reichert apparently made a pre-draft agreement to sign for a fixed range.
Asked if he Sardinha could command even more money than Reichert, Boras said he didn't see why not. In fact, he said that he once helped an 11th-round pick in the 1980s corral the biggest signing bonus of the entire draft that year.
"Dane will not accept less than he's worth," said Boras, refusing to say exactly what kind of offer would put Sardinha in the Royals' system. Herk Robinson, Royals executive vice president/general manager in charge of baseball operations, called the Sardinhas last night and said he'd do whatever it took to satisfy them. He offered to visit the family.
Robinson said Kansas City needs a strong catching prospect and he told Darneen Sardinha, Dane's mother, that the majors could be only two years away.
He said that Sardinha would play winter ball here and would be invited to attend spring training with the big league club next year.
"That's nice but we'll see what Scott has to say later," said Darneen who expressed her continued faith in the agent whose clients include Gregg Maddux, Andy Benes, Charles Johnson and Steve Avery.
Boras' reputation for tough demands apparently caused come clubs to shy away from his clients yesterday.
Boras client J.D. Drew, the Florida State outfielder considered the best talent in the draft, did not go to the Detroit Tigers, the team with the No. 1 pick, because the Tigers preferred not to meet Boras' demands for $10 million-plus. They instead took Rice University pitcher Matt Anderson who will reportedly sign for about $2 million.
Another first-round projection represented by Boras, Florida high school pitcher Rick Ankiel, was the 72nd pick.
"They were just downdrafting the high school players," said Boras. "Dane could have gone first round if he'd allowed himself to be locked in for a certain amount, and that would've been a mistake."
Sardinha, who was graduated on April 25 from Kamehameha with a 3.1 cumulative grade point average, said he wondered if the fact that his batting average in the ILH had slipped from .500 in 1996 to .443 this year and his home run output was down from eight to six (not to mention that the Warriors did not make the state tournament) had something to do with his not being taken in the first round after so many projections from scouts, agents and media people that he would.
Sardinha said he also wondered if earlier threats by clubs who said they would pass him by if he hired Boras had been carried out. But K.C. was one of those clubs, so Boras could not have been the whole reason why Sardinha dropped to the second round.
K.C. has five Boras clients on its major league roster.
