Last Monday’s midnight deadline for MLB teams to sign draft picks came and went, and when the dust settled, one draft pick decided on a college career before a professional one.
Karsten Whitson, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, went unsigned, as he was unable to agree to contract terms with the San Diego Padres.
Instead, Whitson, a highly touted right-handed pitcher out of Chipley High, will enroll at Florida to play for coach Kevin O’Sullivan and the Gators.
As a senior at Chipley, the 6-foot-4 hurler struck out 123 batters in 55 innings of work.
His decision to go unsigned and enroll at UF adds even more depth to an already strong pitching staff assembled by O’Sullivan, who spent nine seasons as the pitching coach at Clemson before taking the head coaching job at Florida in 2007.
When contacted Friday, Whitson declined to comment on the failed negotiations with the Padres.
However, Whitson told the Jackson County Floridan last week he had remained hopeful of striking a deal with San Diego until Monday’s midnight signing deadline.
“It was tough,” Whitson told the Floridan. “I was going into the day very optimistic in hoping both sides would agree on a deal in the middle. I wasn’t trying to blow the Padres out of the water by any means. But it just didn’t work out. I’m very happy with the decision.”
According to Johnny Barbato, a UF commit and Padres signee, Whitson wasn’t satisfied with the signing bonus the Padres offered for the No. 9 pick — $2.1 million.
Whitson put a higher value on his talent than what the Padres were offering and decided to move on when the team wouldn’t budge.
“He was basically able to hold his ground,” Kent Whitson, Whitson’s father, told the Floridan. “The two sides just couldn’t get together to get it done. The reality was that, whatever Karsten’s number was, it didn’t matter. Their number was just over ($2 million), and that was not enough to take him away from fulfilling his dream to go to UF and try to help lead them to a national title.”
While Whitson decided to join the Gators’ roster, Barbato, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Padres, signed a contract with the team prior to the deadline.
“(Playing professional baseball) has just been a dream,” Barbato said. “I can’t wait to start.”
Barbato, who was a right-handed pitcher at Miami Varela, agreed to a contract with a $1.4 million signing bonus. He said he signed the deal because it was close enough to the number he was asking — $1.5 million — and because he wasn’t looking forward to the class aspect of college.
As a senior at Varela, Barbato was named to the Under Armour All-America Team, which is named by Baseball America.
“It was hard to turn down Florida,” Barbato said. “But at the end of the day, with all that money being thrown at me, it wasn’t that hard.”
