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August 13, 2010While We’re Waiting…Bernie on Belichick, Carmona loses 10th, and the Naismith Hall of Fame
August 14, 2010With roughly two days left until the deadline, the Cleveland Indians have agreed to terms with two of their first eight selections in the most recent MLB draft. Chief among the unsigned players is first-rounder Drew Pommeranz, the 6-foot-5-inch left-hander out of Ole Miss.
With Pomeranz being drafted out of high school and opting for college as the Texas Rangers could not match his compensation demands, it is understandable that fans may be a bit concerned. In fact, Pomeranz’s introductory conference call with the media featured the first-rounder stating that the desired compensation has “grown a little bit” since.
Jim Callis and John Manuel recently whipped up a 97-minute podcast over at Baseball America, discussing all 32 MLB teams – many of which have not signed their top players. The Indians, however, have been deemed a team with “the most work to do.”
“I think they have a chance to get a lot of these guys done,” said Callis. “But it’s not going to be cheap. Drew Pomeranz was the top college pitcher drafted. I don’t know he’ll get the major league contract that most top college pitchers get, but he’s not going to be a slot guy.”
The other members of the illustrious top four unsigned are center fielder LeVon Washington, shortstop Tony Wolters, and right-handed pitcher Kyle Blair. The selection of Wolters and Washington resulted in praise from many as both have solid comparables and have the potential to be playing in the bigs sooner than later given some development.
Washington was selected out of high school in the first round of the 2o09 draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, but – like Pomeranz – opted for college after not receiving his preferred contract. There are rumors that Washington, though selected in the second round this year, is searching for the money that he wanted last season as a first-rounder in the neighborhood of $1.5 million. Described as a “Carl Crawford-type,” Washington was reportedly offered $1.1 million by the Rays.
Making matters more interesting: Washington is a client of one Scott Boras.
“Scott usually tries not to take less than what he thought his guy was worth the year before,” said Callis. “He can be pricey.”
Also rumored, Tony Wolters could be looking for $2 million and Kyle Blair was anticipated to be selected between the second and third round, thus requiring a bit more than a typical fourth-round selection would require. It is estimated that this draft could cost the Indians front office approximately $7-$8 million to sign their top unsigned guys – something that may not sit well with the traditioanlly tight-walleted Tribe.
Unfortunately, being a middle-market team, the only way that the Indians can rebuild to compete down the road is to draft and develop young talent. If the team cannot sign said talent, they will subsequently miss out on the chance to develop.
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(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
5 Comments
They HAVE to sign this guys – not all, but the majority. It is the only possible way for the team to have a chance in hell to compete against the larger market teams. FA aren’t going to sign with the Tribe because they aren’t going to pay them market value; thus they aren’t going to be able to re-sign their young stars and will keep unloading for younger (i.e. inexpensive) guys.
Hopefully new GM Antonetti learned something by watching 5-head Shapiro – it is better to spend $4M in the draft than on [WFNY Edit: doo-doo]heads like Dellucci or Jason Johnson.
Man, the draft in MLB is so broken. What a terrible system. Mid-market teams can’t afford big name free agents, so they have to draft and develop young talent. Too bad it’s getting harder and harder for them to do that. The Indians basically have to rely on international signings and shrewd trades.
It’s not like tens of millions will come off the books from spring training 2010 to spring training 2011. Oh wait………
@2: that would be great if we weren’t putting big time money back on the books in order to sign guys who are going to be in the minors. It would be great to be able to spend this money on some decent free agents or getting some of our players into long-term deals.
@1: dead on the money. It’s the worst draft system possible. What is the compensation when a drafted player decides to abscond and return to college? Nothing? Or do you get something for some scab agent deciding he’s better off having his client roll the dice again?
The MLB draft should be reworked so that the drafting team owns the player’s contract signing rights for 3-4 years, or the player is ineligible to draft again for an amount of time. Or the owners should sign an agreement that no team pays over slot, thus effectively setting the static slot values prior to the draft.
To protect kids looking for a better opportunity, players should be able to withdraw at any point DURING the draft prior to being selected if they/their agent feels they have fallen too far, before they get pinched in the late rounds. Or something similar. Something logical. Anything but the system in place where the Yankees are getting to where they can bully mid markets out of draft picks and prospects.
Either way, there should be control in the hands of the drafting team, so that this kind of money game can’t go on, because it hurts the entire sport. Once the Yankees can threaten to inflate the value of the best prospects going to other teams and begin to DRAFT the best kids too, despite picking in the butt end of the draft, the MLB system will completely fall apart.
Perfect example of the draft gone wrong: Shelley Duncan falling to the New York Yankees. I rest my case.
Shelley Duncan doesn’t rest his case. Shelley Duncan’s case rests its subject.