The former Serra Padre seems poised to become a San Diego Padre farm hand on Thursday as outfielder Jordan Paroubeck prepares to sign with the Pads.
Paroubeck, the No. 69 pick in the June draft, has come to a basic agreement with the Padres and his signing could be imminent, said the player's father, Tom Paroubeck. Baseball America has reported the agreement to be for $750,000 -- slightly below the assigned value of $807,500 -- though Tom Paroubeck said negotiations are ongoing and that his son still has a scholarship to Fresno on the table.
By Wednesday night Jordan Paroubeck was just trying to cure his boredom as he sat at the airport in San Diego after having already flown from San Francisco to SoCal in the morning.
Tweeted the 6-foot-2, 185-pound switch-hitter: "App game suggestions? Airport is a boring place."
After arriving in San Diego, Paroubeck took a physical and toured PETCO Park with San Diego Padres officials. Then came a flight delay in San Diego as he waited to travel to Arizona. His eventual destination is the Peoria Sports Complex which is the development home for the Padres.
In Arizona, Jordan and Tom Paroubeck, Paroubeck advisor Matt Brown and Padre officials will meet Thursday to possibly close the deal.
Paroubeck had some expert advice along the way. Wednesday night Barry Bonds -- Tom Paroubeck's baseball and basketball teammate at Serra -- called his old friend, looking for the Padre draftee.
"Barry called wanting to know the latest," Tom Paroubeck said. "He wanted to call him because he's been so involved in Jordan's life."
Asked if Bonds had any advice for Jordan, the senior Paroubeck said: "He had a lot of advice. He told him to get on a stretching program and to think about good nutrition and getting the proper rest. He said it's important that he keep his hamstrings and calves as loose as possible."
Bonds has given the younger Paroubeck hitting lessons and last summer watched him play in the prestigious Area Code Games in Long Beach.
But it seems the teen is gaining more than just baseball knowledge these days.
"I’ve just been trying to get him to where he can figure out a boarding pass and get on a Southwest Airlines plane," Tom Paroubeck said with a laugh.
If Paroubeck turns down the scholarship he signed with Fresno State, he will join a long list of Serra grads who have signed with big-league teams. That list is headed by first-rounders Gregg Jefferies and Dan Serafini and Bonds, who was a second-rounder.
Given the challenges of Paroubeck's senior year and the frenzied activity of the past few days, it was probably wise the Paroubecks took a post-graduation Caribbean cruise that the duo just returned from a few days ago.
“I didn’t know when we’d have an opportunity like that to have father-and-son time again,” the father said. “It was a reward for a job well done for graduating from Serra. It was just a time for us to enjoy being together with no outside interference.”
Beginning with Thursday's anticipated signing, things could get serious in a hurry for Paroubeck who hit .402 this season for Serra with seven home runs in earning the West Catholic Athletic League Most Valuable Player award.
“At the end of the day he’ll be on his own to start his career and acclimate,” Tom Paroubeck said. “He’ll have to learn how to act like a big leaguer. He won’t be at Serra anymore. Everyone (in pro ball) will look like him and will be big and strong. Nobody will be throwing 72 mph.”
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Reach John Murphy at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat.com.
