Jered Weaver

Weaver was an early favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft, but he fell due to signability issues and will find himself back in this year's pool if he doesn't come to terms with the Angels, who selected him with the 12th pick. He has until midnight May 31, the start of the closed period, to sign. Weaver is represented by Scott Boras, who contends the Angels agreed to give Weaver a deal in the neighborhood of the $10.5 guaranteed major league contract Mark Prior received from the Cubs as the second pick in 2001. The Angels say otherwise, and have reportedly offered a standard minor league contract with a $4 million bonus--which would be the largest bonus for a 2004 draftee but far short of what Boras was seeking. As a junior in 2004 at Long Beach State, Weaver posted numbers--15-1, 1.62 with 213 strikeouts in 144 innings--that were roughly equivalent to Prior's spectacular 2001 season at Southern California. But Weaver's stuff is a step below Prior's. As a junior for the 49ers, Weaver was an intense competitor with an excellent feel for his craft. He could throw strikes with precision--in, out, up, down. He was so advanced in all areas of pitching that scouts said he could hold his own in the big leagues immediately. Like everyone at Long Beach, Weaver pitched off his fastball, which was clocked as high as 95 mph. He normally threw it at 91-92, but even at that speed it looked like 95 because of the deception in his delivery and his ability to locate it. His curve is just average. He throws two kinds of sliders, one with greater depth. While his brother Jeff, a 1998 first-rounder of the Tigers who now pitches for the Dodgers, is a sinker/slider pitcher and generates more armside movement with his pitches, Jered uses his whole repertoire much better. Because of the protracted holdout, Weaver hasn't pitched in almost a year. His only activity has been working out with a personal trainer and throwing bullpens at Long Beach State in April and May. He had not faced live hitters, so teams aren't sure whether he's the same guy with the same stuff and command.