Brackman Signs With the Yankees

Andrew Brackman is finally a Yankee…officially. The former Pack pitching stud signed a contract today with the most famous franchise in sports, marking the end of one long road and the beginning of another.

The particulars are as follows: Brackman will get $4.5 million guaranteed including a $3.3 million signing bonus. The contract could be worth as much as $13.8 million when all is said and done, with incentives and escalators dealing with performance, tenure with the team and an agreement to permanently give up basketball making up most of the rest.

Needless to say, his checking account is in a little better shape now than it was five hours ago.

Brackman has been through a lot this season, from making the tough choice to give up basketball, to struggling with his once dominant heater. When Coach Elliott Avent shut him down for the season with elbow troubles, many were wondering just how far his once-guaranteed top-10 stock would fall. By no means is he out of the woods yet, but it’s good to see the business part of the drafting process finally in the rear-view mirror.

Now for the playing part.

I spoke with the newest Yankee on the phone today – he was just about to sit down to dinner in Birmingham, Alabama, which wouldn’t normally be significant except that it’s the city where Dr. James Andrews has his office.

For anyone that follows sports, Andrews’ name brings about a sinking feeling in your chest. Dr. Andrews is one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world…which pretty much makes him one of the most accomplished people on the planet you’d never want to meet.

Andrews and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will pow-wow in the next few days to decide if their newest pitcher needs Tommy John surgery, a procedure that doesn’t have the same career-threatening implications it once did, but still requires about 18 months of rehab. If that’s the case, then Brackman will be waiting a whole lot longer for his professional debut.

However, if it wasn’t for coach Avent, who knows where his former pitcher would be?

I spoke with the baseball coach today, ironically on the football field when I waiting to talk to coach O’Brien. I told him that I had all the respect in the world for him and the decision he made to sit his star pitcher when there was clearly something wrong with his arm. In fact, allow me to digress for a moment here to give some dap to Pack Baseball’s head man.

A lot of managers would have put their lights-out starter on the hill because he gave them the best opportunity to put a championship ring on their finger, but Avent did what was right for the kid, and honestly…that’s what it’s all about. Sure it may have helped the Pack to the Final Four if Brackman pitched through the pain, but it could have cost the young man his dream, and Avent is not the kind of man to put himself ahead of anyone. He told me he had just hung up with Brackman’s father when I walked up to him on the field today, and he was genuinely giddy to hear the news that the younger Brackman had signed. Avent is one of those guys you have to like – he gets along with everyone, puts himself ahead of no one and doesn’t take life too seriously…I’d sign my son up to play ball for him any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Ok, back to the tall guy who throws baseballs fast.

When I talked with the former two-sport star he seemed exhausted - probably what you would expect from a kid that’s been in and out of an MRI tube for most of the day. But, he also sounded excited to get back to work. He told me he hasn’t thrown a baseball in quite some time, but that he’s been working out regularly throughout the summer to stay in shape.

He was gracious enough to give me a few minutes of his time today and I hope he’s healthy enough to give the Yankees many years on the mound throughout his career.