Pirates sign top pick Moskos
When Daniel Moskos was a grade-schooler, he told anyone who would listen he was going to play major-league baseball.
Later, as an undersized 15-year-old in California, he vowed to earn a living playing baseball, while his classmates spoke of more traditional careers.
"My mom told me it was embarrassing," Moskos said. "She said, 'You're a smart kid. Find something else to do.'"
Sorry, mom. It's official. Dan is a baseball player.
Moskos, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2007 draft, signed Tuesday with the Pirates. A 6-foot-1, 200-pound left-handed pitcher from Clemson University, Moskos, represented by Los Angeles-based agent Mark Pieper, received a signing bonus of $2,475,000.
"He's extremely competitive, and he has great determination and a will on that mound to get it done," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said. "That aggressiveness is going to play well."
Moskos is scheduled to report today to Bradenton, Fla., home of the Gulf Coast Pirates. Armed with a mid-90s fastball and a slider, Moskos projects to be a closer in the pros.
"I'm going to work hard and try to get back to PNC Park as fast as possible," said Moskos, the seventh pitcher taken by the Pirates in the first round in the past nine drafts.
Moskos went 3-6 with six saves and a 3.29 ERA as a junior last season at Clemson. He also was the closer for Team USA in the summer of 2006, earning six saves with a 0.86 ERA and 35 strikeouts against four walks in a performance that caught the attention of Pirates scouts.
Moskos was rated as the No. 5 pitcher available, and the No. 8 overall prospect, in the draft by Baseball America.
As Moskos slipped on his Pirates jersey yesterday, Paul and Bonnie Moskos discussed their stubborn, baseball-crazy son.
"From the time he was about 5 years of age, he always said 'I'm going to be a baseball player,' " Bonnie said. "He was scrawny and little and had a glove as big as he was."
Moskos played soccer and basketball until high school, but baseball was his true passion. The evidence -- and sometimes wreckage -- was everywhere.
There was the shattered wardrobe mirror when the ball slipped, as Moskos watched the reflection of his delivery. Or broken car windshields. Or holes in the walls and doors that his father, a civil engineer, had to patch.
"We've had them all," Paul Moskos said.
Moskos was only an average baseball player as a youngster. As a freshman, he was about 5-foot-6. But he hit a huge growth spurt as a 10th-grader at Damien High School - the school that produced Mark McGwire - and developed into the highest-drafted Clemson player since Kris Benson went No. 1 overall to the Pirates in 1996.
"I work hard," Moskos said. "My work ethic is pretty good, and it's gotten me through the adversities of size. Even when I was a little kid, I didn't have the best arm or the best tools, but my work ethic has paid off.
"Baseball is a game that I love, and it's something that I've always wanted to do. From the moment I stepped on the baseball field, I fell in love with the game. I couldn't imagine doing anything other than being a baseball player. On draft day, I let mom know that the time has finally come."
Moskos hopes his hard work - and some luck - prevent him from being another one of the Pirates' first-round pitchers to develop arm trouble. Five of the past six top pitching draft picks have required some form of season-ending surgery.
Littlefield said the Pirates are always looking to enhance or modify their minor-league approach with high-priced first-round arms.
"We are being exhaustive in doing more research, and making sure what we are doing is being recommended by the best baseball minds out there," Littlefield said. "Having said all that, every organization has problems."
Additional Information:
A look at No. 1
Daniel Moskos
Age: 21
School: Clemson University
Position: Pitcher
Pick: No. 4 overall
Notable: Signed Monday with the Pirates with a $2.4 million-$2.5 million signing bonus.
