By John Manuel
November 13, 2002

The curious case of Mark Schramek took another turn Wednesday, moreso than anyone had thought.

The Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League announced that Schramek, whom the Reds drafted with the 40th overall pick in June, had signed a 2003 contract with them. They trumpeted the announcement with a press release, complete with a quote from Schramek.

One problem: Schramek says he's not officially a Duck. Not yet, anyway.

"I haven't officially signed with them. I pretty much will sign with them soon, as soon as I receive the contract," Schramek said. "Then hopefully (negotiations) will pick back up with the Reds."

Schramek, the Southland Conference player of the year in 2002 after hitting .416-11-49 in 202 at-bats for Texas-San Antonio, said he expects to sign once the contract arrives. Long Island pitching coach Dave LaPoint, the former big leaguer who works year-round in the Ducks front office, said Schramek was a special case for the club.

"Everything has been agreed upon in principle, so this is just a kid being very honest that he has not officially signed," LaPoint said. "With the kind of player he is, he probably won't be here very long anyway."

Schramek, clearly frustrated, was working out in San Antonio while he waited to sign some kind of contract. He never could have imagined how difficult the process of becoming a professional player could be.

Nothing has been in his control. Not the club that drafted him--the penny-pinching Reds, constantly figuring out new and cheaper ways of signing draft picks. Not the scouts to communicate with--the Reds had between 15 and 17 scouts seeing their top draft prospects, have changed scouting directors and have had up to seven scouts and front-office personnel (up to and including general manager Jim Bowden) in contact with Schramek and his agent, Bobby Barad.

And not the negotiations, which have been conducted almost exclusively between the Reds and Barad. Schramek said he has not spoken to Bowden and has talked to assistant GM Leland Maddox, who is now handling the negotiations, a couple of times on the phone.

"I went to high school with (fellow Reds draftee) Kyle Edens, and at first I thought it was so cool we both got picked by the same team," said Schramek, whose holdout barely eclipsed that of Edens, a former Baylor righthander who signed as the Reds third-round pick last month.

"At first, I thought this would be a fun experience. It has been a little less than that."

Barad and Schramek said the most recent talks with the Reds came to a halt in the last week, and Barad turned to old acquaintance Joe Klein, the former big league general manager who runs the Atlantic League. Barad said the plan was for Schramek to play a month in the Atlantic League (whose season begins in early May) to showcase himself for the 2003 draft.

Over the summer, Schramek had negotiated with the Orix Blue Wave in Japan but didn't sign despite what Barad termed a lucrative, multiyear offer. Prior to his trip to Japan, Schramek and the Reds came as close as they have come to an agreement. According to Barad, the Reds came up from their original $150,000 offer, dangling a $375,000 signing bonus.

The only supplemental pick who signed for a bonus close to that low was Athletics catcher Jeremy Brown, who got $350,000 as the 35th overall pick. The next lowest bonus in the round was A's pick Mark Teahen at No. 39, a college junior who signed for $725,000. Schramek, who originally had sought a bonus of at least $500,000, countered with a $400,000 offer, but the sides couldn't get a deal done, and the Reds pulled the offer from the table.

"I really thought at that point, $25,000 apart, I didn't see why nothing could get done," Schramek said. "But it didn't."

Barad, a New York-based agent who works for the San Antonio-based firm Momentum Sports Group, said communication with the Reds has been difficult because of the turmoil in the scouting department. Negotiations now are being handled by Maddox, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

"I've talked to seven people over there, and that's one of the problems," Barad said.

Several highly drafted players previously have taken the indy route, such as Taggert Bozied, J.D. Drew, Matt Harrington, Bobby Hill and Hank Thoms. Hill was the only one to play in the Atlantic League; the rest played in the independent Northern League. Bozied is the only one of those players to eventually sign with the team that had drafted him.

"Mark can really make himself attractive to a lot of teams because he will be more of a finished product and less of a gamble," Barad said. "He's very ready, and will be ready to sign. He really should be a bargain."

The Reds thought the same thing would be true this year, which helped contribute to the protracted negotiations. Schramek returned to school after batting .319-10-39 as a junior, when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the conference tournament. The Reds had drafted him in the 45th round in 2001. Roadrunners coach Sherman Corbett, who spent parts of three seasons in the major leagues with the Angels, said Schramek's injury actually contributed to his 2002 improvement.

"He really got a lot stronger because he was in the weight room a lot after the injury," Corbett said. "It made a big difference in his ability to hit with power to all fields from the left side. We knew last spring he'd be able to carry us, and he did a lot of the time."

Corbett said Schramek's best tools were his bat and a plus throwing arm at third, and credited Schramek with showing the work ethic to improve his lateral movement and range at third base.