Padres Still Have Rights to Latos

In this past June’s draft, the Padres used one of their picks on Matthew Latos. At that time I wrote the following about Latos:

In the 11th round, the Padres picked a high school pitcher with first- or second-round talent, Matthew Latos. Latos has a fastball that sits at 93-94 mph and touches 96-97. He adds a power curveball to his high-velocity fastball. Latos did not fall to the 11th round without reason. Latos had various “maturity” issues that dogged him on the field and off. At his best Latos is a premiere talent. At his worst, he can’t control his temper… The Padres may try to persuade Latos to attend a junior college while they retain his rights for a year.

On September 12th, Baseball America (requires subscription) chimed in with an update:

Latos, who had committed to Oklahoma, chose to attend Broward (Fla.) Community College near his Margate home. He was drafted in the 11th round by the Padres, and San Diego retains its right to negotiate with him up to a week before the 2007 draft.

Now, with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, the entire “draft and follow” process was scrapped.

"…Teams will no longer have until the next draft to sign their picks, but must do so by the following Aug. 15 or the player goes back into the pool."

I am awaiting word-back on whether they will “grandfather” the “draft and follow” process, or if teams like San Diego are simply “up a creek” with the players that went the junior college route.

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I just got word that the new rules do not apply to the 2006 draft. Thus the Padres (and of course, every other team) still have the rights to their "Draft and Follow" players.