It came down to the last five minutes, but a deal could not be reached and 2014 New Haven Register All-State selection Will Rios will play college baseball at the University of Maryland and not pro ball for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It’s all a business,” Rios said. “That’s what it is.”
Rios was drafted in the 26th round and said he was offered slot money. He said his asking price was $750,000. The D-Backs could not pay him that due to the salary cap, so he dropped his asking price to $500,000, which sparked talks back up.
“Today was the deadline and they were trying to get me the money, but they couldn’t get it and the deadline came and went,” Rios said.
He said the D-Backs informed him that if they paid him, they still risked going over the salary cap. He said they called him about five minutes prior to the deadline, but a deal could not get done. Rios said he has no regrets about how things turned out.
Rios now goes from potentially being a Diamondback to playing for the Terrapins and he said he looks forward to the challenge of college baseball. Last season for St. Bernard, Rios was 6-0 with a 1.06 earned run average and 100 strikeouts in 49 innings. At the plate, he batted .460 with five home runs.
“I think my chances are really good at getting drafted higher and it’s a great program,” he said. “We’re going to win a lot of games.”
