When the Pirates selected Barrett Barnes in the supplemental-first round, he was eager to sign with Pittsburgh. He said that he wouldn’t need to wait until Mark Appel signed to sign with Pittsburgh, that he already had a number in mind. Thankfully for Barnes and the Pirates, they both had the same number in mind.
“A million dollars was my number,” Barnes said. “We agreed on the that number to be honest on June 5, but they didn’t call me right away. It all worked out because both sides got what they wanted and I was able to sign under slot with it.”
For the first round supplemental pick, the Pirates were slotted to spend $1.36 million on Barnes, but were able to agree to Barnes requested million instead. If the two sides were unable to agree to terms, Barnes would have returned to Texas Tech University for his senior season. When Texas Tech manager Tim Tadlock found out about Barnes signing, he could’t be more excited.
“While we will miss Barrett here at Texas Tech, there is noway that I would ever tell anyone to turn down a million dollars,” Tadlock said. “I’m very happy and excited for him.”
Barnes made the trip up from Lubbock, Texas to join the State College Spikes, the Class-A short season affiliate of the Pirates. Barnes said that so far, the layoff from baseball has been the biggest setback.
“I’m playing against guys that I’ve played against in college before, so on that end, there aren’t many adjustments,” Barnes said. “I’m just trying to get back in the swing of things and get my timing down since I haven’t played for a month or so.”
Going into the game last night, Barnes had yet to record a hit in his brief three-game professional career. In his final three at bats of the game however, Barnes recorded three singles, two going for RBIs.
“Barrett getting those three hits was huge,” Spikes manager Dave Turgeon said. “You could see him relax as the game went on and I think he’s going to have some fun. He’s a lot more relaxed right now after tonight.”
And that was the key thing that Barnes told me the coaches were working on with him, just staying relaxed.
“They (the coaches) are telling me to relax and are helping me get my timing back,” Barnes said.
Being an established college player, Barnes is eager to make the jump to the next level.
“I’m trying to move as fast as I can,” Barnes said. “That’s why we’re all here to make it to the big leagues and I’m not trying to waste any time at that. I’m trying to grind and get out of here as soon as possible and keep moving up the ranks to achieve my dream.”
Barnes said if he could, he’d move up to West Virginia now.
“I’d go to West Virginia tonight if they called me,” Barnes said with a smile. “I have a friend in West Virginia Robbie Kilcrease that I played with at Texas Tech and we stay in contact often. Hopefully I’m up there with him in the next few weeks or so.”
Before he goes too far up, Tadlock said he does have room for improvement.
“He’s got unbelievable makeup and is a 3 or 4 tool guy,” Tadlock said. “His want to be there and his desire to get better everyday is there. That’s the biggest thing. He’s not a guy to say yeah I made it just because he got drafted. With every young player though, he has room for improvement. I figure it’s pretty well known he has to get better routes and angles. I keep telling him the deeper the angle, the easier it is to recover. He takes too sharp of angles and gets burned.”
Barnes said while he’s eager to leave State College, he’s going to work his hardest everyday that he’s there.
“I try not to think about moving up or the mechanics or anything,” Barnes said. “When the lights come on, you have to put that all to the side.”
Photo Credits: Texas Tech
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