This was not a surprise. Eric Hosmer, the 4th pick in the 2008 MLB Draft and former Sun Devil commit signed with the Royals on Friday night.
Agreeing to a $6 million bonus, he has secured his finances for the rest of his life without even stepping foot on a professional playing field.
As expected, outfielder Jason Kipnis is returning to ASU after opting not to sign with the San Diego Padres, who picked him in the fourth round. None of the other still-unsigned Sun Devil recruits agreed to pro deals.
Johnny Coy, a basketball commit who was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh round, did not sign and will play both sports at ASU. Coy is an infielder/outfielder.
Those developments were good news for Murphy, but — on Friday, at least — they could not soothe the disappointment of the one that got away.
Hosmer, who hit .470 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs as a high school senior in Plantation, Fla., is represented by super-agent Scott Boras.
"He had an interest in coming to school, and he kept turning down $5.5 million," Murphy said. "After 9 o’clock, he texted us and said that he was coming to school.
"But they got an extension — from what we heard, the commissioner’s office was backlogged with all the late signings — and he got $6 million. I’m happy for the kid, but that was a tough break for us."
While we will undoubtably miss Hosmer's immense talents, bringing back Kipnis for another year is a huge boost for our "decimated" team.
Last year, Jason Kipnis went .337 with six home runs and 27 runs batted in. His bat and experience will be leaned up by Pat Murphy during a season that will certainly test our patience.
Johnny Coy will be playing both baseball and basketball this coming year at ASU.
From this highlight reel, Coy shows a sweet stroke and the ability to drive past defenders to the rim. This will be helpful on a team that relies so heavily on James Harden, having someone that can drive and also shoot from long distance.
In the end, the 2009 ASU baseball team will not have the depth or winning percentage that we have become accustomed to in the past few years, but it will still be interesting to see how Murphy deals with an inexperienced ensemble.