Wednesday, June 24, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Harrer drafted by Padres, but chooses collegiate ball
By rongi yost
Correspondent
Sisters High School’s
baseball slugger Justin Harrer
turned down an opportunity
to be drafted in the fourth
round by the San Diego
Padres. Harrer would have
garnered a signing bonus of
$500,000, and had his school-
ing completely paid. Instead,
Justin chose to play collegiate
ball for Washington State
University (WSU) next year.
Harrer has been involved
with the Padres organization
for the past several months,
particularly the regional
scout, Justin Bachman.
Harrer had periodic workouts
after a game or practice with
Bachman here in Sisters, and
toward the end of the season,
Padres cross-checker (another
scout) also started to attend
Harrer’s workouts. At the end
of May, Harrer was informed
he would be drafted, but the
Padres weren’t sure which
round.
The Padres’ general man-
ager and the scouting director
wanted to watch Justin play,
and see how he would react
against tougher pitching.
Justin, along with four col-
lege athletes, were invited to
a private workout held at the
Padre’s stadium, Petco Park,
in San Diego, on Sunday,
June 8.
Justin left his all-night
graduation party early to go
home and get some sleep
before flying to San Diego on
Saturday. On Sunday, the five
athletes took part in a special
workout that consisted of run-
ning a 60, outfield throws to
third and home, infield prac-
tice, batting practice, and cul-
minated in five live at-bats.
Harrer hit a few out of
the park in batting practice,
and told The Nugget that the
biggest thing he noticed was
when the ball flew off the
bat, instead of seeing trees
and blue sky, he saw a mas-
sive scoreboard and a huge
stadium.
After batting practice, the
athletes were each given five
live at-bats against the Padres
pitchers, who all threw the
ball up to 96 mph.
Justin struck out one-two-
three, in his first at-bat. But,
in his next attempt, he hit
a line drive up the middle
against an 85-mph slider. He
also blasted a shot that went
all the way to the wall off a
lefty who brought the ball at
95 mph. Harrer finished the
live at-bats 2-for-4, with a
walk.
“The workout was amaz-
ing,” said Harrer. “It was a
huge honor to be invited and
an amazing opportunity to
work out in front of the entire
Padres organization. It was
pretty wild. I had an amazing
workout, but I was very ner-
vous and full of adrenaline.
One college guy from Santa
Clara told me, ‘You’re good,
man. Just relax and don’t for-
get to breathe.’ That was very
helpful and calmed me down
a little bit.”
It was a huge honor
to be invited and an
amazing opportunity
to work out in front
of the entire Padres
organization.
— Justin Harrer
Justin and his parents, who
flew down with him, talked
with the members of the
Padres organization, includ-
ing the owners, after the
workout, but no official offer
was made at the time. Harrer
flew home on Sunday eve-
ning, and the very next day
photo provided
Justin Harrer visited San diego with parents Janice and tom.
the Padres flew Bachman to
Oregon to meet with Justin.
Justin was in the middle
of his graduation party when
Bachman showed up at their
home.
“It was pretty unique to
have a Padres scout at my
grad party,” said Harrer.
“It’s something I will never
forget.”
Bachman again told
Harrer that the Padres wanted
to invest in him, that he
would be drafted, but they
still weren’t sure what round.
He added that when an offer
was made he would need to
be ready with his decision.
Justin told The Nugget that
the MLB draft wasn’t some-
thing he really understood
until he got involved in the
process, and explained one
piece of the process.
“An organization has to
sign their picks in the first 10
rounds of the draft because
each round has slot money
attached to it. If they don’t
sign those rounds they lose,”
said Harrer.
“On Tuesday, rounds three
to 10 were drafted, and the
general manager, the director
of scouting, and the owners
See Harrer on page 11
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