Chattanooga: Massey set to sign pro deal

Recent Baylor School graduate Tyler Massey hopes to get a close look at his future tonight.

The former Red Raiders first baseman/pitcher and his family flew to Denver, Colo., Monday night, and he expects to take a physical and sign a contract with the Colorado Rockies today before attending tonight’s game at Coors Field.

“There was quite a bit of negotiating, but the Rockies were really good about the whole thing,” said Massey, the team’s 14th-round pick overall and its first high school choice in June’s major league player draft. “From the very beginning they told us they wanted me, and we just continued to talk.

“They made two or three offers before we really started negotiating. When we reached a certain (dollar) level, my parents let me decide what I really wanted to do. I’m happy with the decision.”

Massey is expected to be the Rockies’ third-highest paid signee, reportedly for an amount equitable with what’s being paid to this year’s second-round picks.

If all goes according to plan, the TSSAA all-state player will fly Wednesday from Denver to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he’ll join the Casper (Wyo.) Rockies’ Class A team. He could get his first at-bat as a professional player Thursday.

Kane Simmons, another former Baylor standout, plays outfield for the Ghosts. Simmons is hitting .325 with two homers, three triples, nine doubles and 20 RBIs.

Other players from the Chattanooga area who have signed pro contracts this year include Central’s Ryan Wilkes, a former University of Kentucky middle infielder playing for the New York Yankees’ Class A club in Staten Island, N.Y., and Walker Valley’s Brandon Turner, a Mississippi State middle infielder who is playing for the Florida Marlins’ Class A team in Jamestown, N.Y.

Massey, twice named Best of Preps all-city player of the year, indicated that he had no apprehension but was looking forward to the adventure.

“I’m just excited. I feel like a burden has been lifted. I feel like a little kid,” he said. “I’m ready to go play ball. It will be an experience.”

He has been playing ball as negotiations continued between the Rockies and his parents, spending the last seven weeks in the Cal Ripken League in Baltimore. He hit .280 with a homer and two doubles and had just been named to the league’s all-star team. He did so while worrying about the negotiations and also talking with coaches at the University of Virginia, where he signed scholarship papers last fall.

“I prayed hard about it, but I knew deep down that I wanted to play professional baseball,” said Massey, who was visited three times in Baltimore by Virginia coaches.

“Virginia is a great school, but this offer presented itself and the Rockies were willing to make a commitment to me and made it worthwhile,” he said. “It was a tough situation, because you can’t please everybody and somebody is going to get the short end of the deal. I guess college coaches get used to that.

“I had built a relationship with (the Virginia staff), but I am really excited to get out there (with Casper) and start playing. It’s nice to know what I’m doing, and I’m happy with the decision.”