TORONTO - Doug Melvin was in his second year as general manager of the Texas Rangers in 1996.
He brought in his No. 1 pick, R.A. Dickey, and agent Mark Rogers into his office at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, to gave them the news.
Dickey had not passed his physical.
Melvin was withdrawing the $810,000 (US) signing bonus the sides had agreed upon.
“I didn’t know whether to be mad at our scouts for not knowing or to be sorry for the kid,” said Melvin, now the Milwaukee Brewers’ GM, about the newest Blue Jay in this off-season to remember.
“Watching his face, I felt sorry for the kid. He was one of the top college pitchers in draft and didn’t want to go back to school. The news I was giving him was like slapping him in the head.”
Dickey had been a stud at the University of Tennessee, pitched for 1996’s Team USA along with Jays’ No. 1 pick Billy Koch at the Atlanta Olympics and was a Baseball America cover boy.
