Thursday, July 03, 2003

Laffey signs with Indians

Allegany High School graduate Aaron Laffey is shown signing a contract with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday at his home in LaVale. Watching the signing, from the left, are: Indians regional scouting director Bob Mayer, Aaron’s parent’s Steve and Jeanie Laffey, and sports agent David Pasti of Rockville. Laffey signed for $363.000 and has been assigned to the Burlington, N.C. team in the Appalachian Rookie League.

Steve Luse
Sports Writer

CUMBERLAND —Allegany High School graduate Aaron Laffey took advantage of the opportunity given him last month to show the Cleveland Indians’ scouting director John Mirabelli that he is much better than the average 16th round pick in the recent Major League Baseball draft.

Drafted by Cleveland with the 468th selection in June, the hard-throwing left-hander was told to go to the Clark Griffith semi-pro league in Virginia so that Mirabelli could see him pitch in person for the first time.

Pitching for the Hearndon Braves against the national champion Arlington Senators the night Mirabelli was on hand, Laffey didn’t allow an earned run and yielded only two hits while striking out five in seven innings.

In three appearances in the Griffith League that is comprised mostly on NCAA Division I players, the Allegany graduate didn’t allow an earned run while posting a 1-1 record and had 17 strikeouts in 18 innings.

Based on what he saw and the fact that 20 scouts from other Major League teams had watched Laffey during his senior season at Allegany, the Indians’ scouting director told the team to make an offer more fitting for a higher drafted player.

Because the offer was much higher than usually given a 16th round pick, Cleveland had to get approval from the Major League Commissioner’s office, which came on Tuesday.

Laffey was signed by Cleveland’s regional scout Bob Mayer on Tuesday night with a signing bonus of $363,000. If he ever decides to go to college, he will also get another $15,000 for each semester. If he had not signed he had the option of going to Virginia Tech on a full baseball scholarship.

The newest Indians’ prospect has been assigned to Burlington, N.C. in the Appalachian Class A Rookie League and has already been scheduled to make his first appearance Wednesday. He is also one of only 20 players who have been invited to go to the Indians’ instructional camp in September in Winter Haven, Fla.

“I feel I definitely proved myself in the Griffith League in front of the Indian scouts and got everything done,” said Laffey. “I know they drafted me with the intent of signing me. I knew I had to go out and pitch to the best of my ability and I did that.

“After they made an offer the negotiations went fast and I knew they wanted me,” he said. “I have to thank my agent David Pasti (of Rockville) for doing a great job in getting it done.”

In signing with the Indians, Laffey is realizing a dream carried by every young boy who ever put on a little league uniform.

“This is what I wanted to do all my life and I have been working extra hard to get to this point,” said the 18-year-old pitcher. “I’m getting a whole lot of money to do something I love to do. Now it’s good to be beginning again and working to get to where to I want to be in the major leagues. I’m hoping to do well right away in the Appalachian League, and move up to Class A ball next year.”

Mayer was excited about signing Laffey and sees a bright future for the young left-hander in an Indians’ uniform.

“We got lucky and we are very happy we have him,” said Mayer, who had seen Laffey pitch for Allegany. “His tools warranted that he definitely should have been a higher pick and it certainly was no gamble for us to take him in the 16th round.”

The regional scout said the final contract is fourth-round money.

“We saw Aaron multiple times and we liked what we saw,” said Mayer. “Each time we saw him he looked better. He is a left-handed pitcher with two good pitches and has the maturity, poise and physical strength to go with that.“

Laffey was predicted by Baseball America Magazine analysts to be taken between rounds two and five in the draft. He also attended closed pre-draft workouts by the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies.

A major factor that led him to not being drafted high was that the Laffeys and their advisor put out the word that if Aaron wasn’t taken in the first 75 picks he would go to Virginia Tech.

“When it got past 75 picks and I wasn’t drafted, it became a signability issue,” said Laffey about the draft. “After that, the teams didn’t want to use a draft pick on me until Cleveland in the 16th round. Maybe this is what was supposed to happen.”

Laffey set a record this season at Allegany that can only be tied as he didn’t allow an earned run in 44 1/3 innings. The 6-foot-1, 178-pound left-hander had a 6-1 record and his only loss was to area champion Southern in a 1-0 game where he didn’t allow a hit.

In eight games, Laffey had 116 strikeouts out of 134 possible outs with an average of 2.61 an inning. He also issued only nine walks.

The senior left-hander opened the season with a five-inning perfect game against Westmar. In an area baseball classic in the West Region Class 1A playoffs, Laffey fired a two-hitter and had 19 strikeouts as Allegany defeated Williamsport, 1-0, in his final game on the mound for the Campers.

Laffey was a first-team Cumberland Times-News All-Area selection as a junior after posting a 6-2 record with a 1.91 earned run average. He had 97 strikeouts and only 23 walks in 51 1/3 innings. He pitched a five-inning no-hitter against Bishop Walsh.

In his four-year career, Laffey pitched in 29 games with a 19-3 record and a 1.27 earned run average. All three losses were to Southern. Pitching a total of 148 1/3 innings he had 315 strikeouts and only 58 walks.