Comments on: Pirates and Nationals lead 2007-2011 draft spending at $52 million and $51 million http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/ Baseball. Baseball. And then a bit more baseball. Sun, 19 May 2013 22:05:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: natstowngreg http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181862 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 21:15:36 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181862 One of the points Callis and his BA colleagues like to make is that the teams who stick to slot suffer. The teams (most teams these days) that are willing to draft guys who slide due to signability concerns can often get those guys signed. The slotting system is already obsolete, as most teams ignore MLB’s pressure to restrict bonuses.

For years, the “haves” who paid over slot and got 1st-round talent in lower rounds. It took a while for the “have nots” to figure out that this was a cheaper and more effective route. Callis was shocked that the Pirates signed Josh Bell. Likewise, there was at least a bit of shock in Natstown when Matt Purke signed. Bottom line is, the teams took significant risks in picking these guys, and got the deals done.

This is the way the market will continue to work unless the next CBA includes “hard slots.” From what I’ve read on BA, doesn’t look like the union will go for it (unlike the NFL players agreeing to cut draftee contracts)..

Of course, the real test is, once they’ve brought some of this young talent to the majors, will teams pay to keep that talent?

]]> By: natstowngreg http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181857 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:59:54 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181857 Agreed, though the Royals have gotten a lot of attention over the past couple of years for their rebuilding efforts, including spending on draft picks.

]]> By: randall351 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181833 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:25:18 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181833 I could make some sort of inflammatory statement about how you jump from No.1 and No.2 being the Pirates and Nationals, then completely jumping over No.3 to talk about Boston at No. 4 then the Yankees.
And who does No.3 just so happen to be? The Kansas City Royals.
But I think there’s been enough discussion about east coast biases and I don’t fill like starting another shit storm of comments from east coast fans, so I’ll just let it slide this time. :-)

Perhaps I’ll just put you on my “on notice” board.
http://www.squarefree.com/on-notice-1.jpg

]]> By: proudlycanadian http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181791 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:39:20 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181791 The AL East is well represented among the big spenders. The 4th to the 7th place teams are in the AL East with the Yankees in 11th place. Of course, the Yankees had fewer high draft picks because they signed a lot of Free Agents.

]]> By: sknut http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181753 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:53:44 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181753 You think after spending 56 million on Dunn the White Sox are re-thinking their strategy of only spending 18 million the last 5 years?

]]> By: Matt Aromando http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181716 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:01:08 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181716 Down with “slot!”

]]> By: shanemcdowell http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/19/pirates-and-nationals-lead-2007-2011-draft-spending-at-52-million-and-51-million/comment-page-1/#comment-181709 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:41:42 +0000 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=80104#comment-181709 It would be interesting to see a similar list, but with international signings factored in. Are teams that are spending through the draft also spending in the international market? Are some teams placing their bets more in one arena or the other?

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