Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Sunday, August 13, 2006
Central graduate Seidel signs with Brewers
It was all set. R.J. Seidel was leaving for the University of Arkansas this morning, ready to start his collegiate baseball career as an NCAA Division I pitcher.
But Saturday night, Seidel and his family were celebrating in a local restaurant. The Central High School graduate had signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, the team that had selected him in the 16th round of the Major League Baseball draft on June 6.
Seidel, who will report to the Brewers’ six-week fall instructional league on Sept. 15 in Phoenix, declined to reveal the terms of the deal. He did say the Brewers will pay for his schooling should he decide to attend college in the future.
The Brewers initially offered to sign him in the sixth round for $100,000, but Seidel passed. He also turned down offers to sign with the Chicago White Sox in the third round for $300,000, and the Minnesota Twins in the sixth round for $100,000.
So what happened over the last two months? What made Seidel, a 6-foot-6 right-hander with a 90-mph fastball, decide to forego a four-year scholarship at Arkansas and take a shot at professional baseball?
Seidel said he never had an epiphany about what to do. He simply weighed the pros and cons of both situations until he ultimately decided signing with the Brewers was his best option.
“I always said (the chances of signing with the Brewers) was 50-50. I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Seidel, who signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Arkansas on Nov. 9, 2005.
“I kept an open mind. ... I was never leaning one way or the other. I was always right in the middle.”
Over the course of last week, Seidel — the Tribune’s 2006 Baseball Player of the Year — started to drift toward giving professional baseball a shot.
Seidel said Brewers scout Harvey Kuenn Jr. came to La Crosse last week to meet with him and his father, Dick. Dick Seidel said the Brewers had been evaluating R.J. this summer while he played for the La Crosse American Legion baseball team.
As much as the Brewers liked what Seidel did for Central this past season — he was 8-2 with an earned run average of 0.99 and 90 strikeouts — Dick Seidel said Kuenn was impressed by what he saw from R.J. this summer.
“The Brewers rated R.J. as an upper-round kid. They wanted to watch him through the summer, and they thought he got better,” said Dick Seidel, who pitched in the New York Yankees’ farm system in the early 1980s.
“He’s well ahead of where I was when I was his age. There’s certainly room for growth, but this is something he felt like he was ready to do, and the Brewers felt the same way.”
Hearing that made R.J. Seidel feel good about changing direction at the last minute.
“I knew I ultimately wanted to play professional baseball,” he said. “I can’t wait to play.”
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