2012 MLB Draft, Day Two (Cubs Take Duane Underwood)

In Minor Leagues, News And Rumors by dmick89171 Comments

The second day of the draft kicks off at 11 am ct and is available on mlb.com. I'll update this thread with scouting reports and other links as the Cubs pick.

61. Houston Astros: Nolan Fontana
62. Oakland A's: Bruce Maxwell
63. Minnesota Twins: Mason Melotakis
64. Seattle Mariners: Joe DeCarlo
65. Baltimore Orioles: Branden Kline
66. Kansas City Royals: Sam Selman
67. Chicago Cubs: Duane Underwood

Underwood was ranked 104 by Baseball America and is out of Pope HS, Marietta, Ga.:

A Georgia signee, Underwood has plenty going for him. He has a quick arm and athletic frame at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, and if he winds up in Athens, he has a chance to contribute as both a hitter (he's a solid-average runner) and on the mound. He's young for the draft class as well, as he turns 18 in July. Pro scouts see him as a pitcher and a potential first-rounder on the right day, but that had not happened often enough in his senior season. Underwood at his best has a fastball that sits in the 91-94 mph range and touches 97-98. He has shown the ability to spin a breaking ball, though his curve often is soft in the 73-75 mph range and he tends to overthrow it. He has a firm but effective changeup, and this spring it has been his best pitch, in part because it's the pitch he controls the best. Underwood's fastball command has been erratic this spring, and his velocity often drops off quickly into the 87-92 mph range, and he hasn't shown much feel for pitching this spring. His mechanics are sound, though at times he loses his tempo and rushes his delivery. Scouts also want to see him handle adversity better. Scouts like Underwood and he had some supplemental-round buzz, but his inconsistent spring could knock him back a bit.

I'll only update Cubs picks from this point forward and add additional info on picks as I find it.

1.  Albert Almora
1s. Pierce Johnson
1s. Paul Blackburn
2. Duane Underwood
3. Ryan McNeil

The athletic McNeil started slowly this spring after playing basketball into mid-February, but his stock has been on the rebound. Early in the spring, his mechanics, command and fastball velocity were off and his slider was flat. His velocity picked back up down the stretch, sitting at 90-91 mph and touching 93 at times, and he has a chance to pitch with a solid-average fastball as he adds strength to his 6-foot-3 frame. He has done a better job staying on top of the ball lately, lending his fastball more life and improving his command. His slider shows flashes of being a solid-average pitch with good shape, but other times it gets slurvy or flat. He also has improved his feel for a changeup, though it's still a work in progress like the rest of his repertoire. Some clubs soured on McNeil early in the spring, but a team that likes his frame, athleticism and arm strength could take him around the fifth round and try to buy him out of a commitment to Long Beach State.

4. Josh Conway, RHP, Coastal Carolina (BA rk. 208)

Conway was on his way to being an early-round pick before leaving a start against Liberty and needing Tommy John surgery. Against the Flames, scouts were buzzing as Conway was sitting 94-96 early with a nasty slider, but he left in the fourth inning and his fastball was down into the high 80s. Signs point to him being a reliever because of his slight, 6-foot, 175-pound frame and inverted elbow, but when he's healthy he has the makings of two plus pitches. He was 4-1, 2.14 with 50 strikeouts and 18 walks in 55 innings.

5. Anthony Prieto, LHP, Americas HS, El Paso (BA rk. 492)

Prieto barely pitched in high school until his junior season and joined his first travel team last summer, when he reportedly reached the mid-90s at a tournament in Phoenix. Scouts haven't seen that kind of velocity out of the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder this season, when he missed the first six weeks with a forearm strain. Since returning, Prieto mostly has dealt fastballs at 88-90 mph. Though he's not physical, he generates his heat with an effortless delivery that allows him to throw strikes with three pitches. Both his changeup and curveball show promise. He has signed with Howard (Texas) JC.

This seems like quite a reach at pick 164.

6. Trey Lang, RHP, Gateway (Ariz.) CC (BA rk. 186)

Lang played both ways at Skyline High in Mesa, Ariz., and at Northern Illinois before transferring closer to home at Gateway CC. Head coach Rob Shabansky saw Lang as an outfielder with power potential, but when he ran short on pitchers during fall ball asked if Lang wanted to take the mound. His first pitch was clocked at 93 mph, and Shabansky knew that's where Lang belonged. Lang has a sturdy, muscular build at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, after trimming down from 260 pounds at Northern Illinois. Lang has continued to play both ways for the Geckos and served as their closer this year, so he was sometimes tough for scouts to see. His fastball was in the 92-94 mph range and topped out at 96 at its best, and his slider was a wipeout pitch, but his stuff faded down the stretch. His fastball was in the 87-90 mph range and his slider wasn't as firm. That's understandable given his inexperience on the mound and the fact that he was also spending time in the outfield and at DH. A team that is patient with Lang could wind up with a quality bullpen arm. He is committed to New Mexico but most scouts think he'll sign.

7.

Share this Post

Comments

  1. mb21

    @ WaLi22:
    I don’t know. You’ve got a draft board and if someone takes your guy you go to the next one. Not that hard. I think it’s funny and I hope the Cubs are the first to call a timeout.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  2. Mucker

    @ mb21:
    I understand NFL needing more time if your guy gets picked because of trade options. But you can’t trade MLB picks so it seems like an unnecessary waste of time. So I’m sure the Cubs will use a timeout. Hell, they’ve been wasting my time all year.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  3. Mercurial Outfielder

    If the Cubs call a timeout, Joe Ricketts will buy 20 TV spots blaming it on Obama.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  4. josh

    @ mb21:
    I don’t think they should be allowed to do that. Ruins the purity of the game. Removes the human element. How much more special when they accidentally blurt out the wrong name? Plus, that gives them a chance to handle the situation in a feel-good moment and that’s nice for everyone. I’m totally against expanded draft timeouts in any form.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  5. Nate

    Underwood is everything you’d want from a high school pitcher: athletic with arm strength, a chance to have three at least Major League-average pitches and outstanding mound presence.The Georgia product will sit in the low 90s with his fastball typically, but he can reach back for 95-96 mph occasionally. His secondary offerings aren’t as good as the fastball, but both his curve and changeup have a chance. When he throws them right, his curve can have a very good 12-to-6 late break and his changeup can be very deceptive.He doesn’t throw either consistently right now and he does have some issues with command at times. His poise, knowledge of the game and athleticsm say he’ll continue to evolve as a pitcher, meaning he could start moving up charts this spring.

    Duane Underwear. Fine with me I guess.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  6. Nate

    Dale (KY)

    Do you see Underwood as a starter, and what is the upside?
    Klaw
    (12:26 PM)

    Yes, 17 year old with a lot of development ahead of him – still fairly raw and inexperienced, and needs to build up some stamina but should as his body matures.

    .

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  7. Mobile Rice

    Maybe they plan to throw the bank at the first rounders and are looking for cheaper projects from here on out?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  8. WaLi

    @ Mucker:
    Also in the NFL your picks hit the league a lot sooner so you might pick to a need and not the best player. In the MLB it takes years for the picks to mature into someone that plays in the big league and there is a high failure rate, so you just pick the best on the board and move on.

    Regarding Underwood, I like the pick. Young HS player with good stuff. His problem seems to be consistency which I think would come as he gets older. I also read he does poor after an error or with men on bases, which is something I think would improve with age.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  9. Nate

    Some clubs soured on McNeil early in the spring, but a team that likes his frame, athleticism and arm strength could take him around the fifth round and try to buy him out of a commitment to Long Beach State.

    sounds awfully fucking familiar. Wilken strikes again?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  10. Nate

    Klaw
    (1:15 PM)

    I’ll try to summarize well – up to 93, average CB 77-80, very big kid 6’3″ 210, cuts off delivery slightly, looks like a kid who won’t get bigger but might need to let his coordination/body control catch up with his size.

    on McNeil

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  11. josh

    @ Nate:
    There’s always a crapshoot, but it seems like the top few picks are usually standouts at the level they are on. Not a gaurantee, but possibly less of a risk?

    Someone should do an analysis of how these rankings play out over time. My guess would be tha the top ranked have a higher percentage of MLB contributors, and at some point it just flattens out, but maybe it’s flat all over, or the bump isn’t very high. I dunno.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  12. Rice Cube

    @ josh:
    They’ve done these studies for sure. I think you get the most average WAR out of first and second round picks (sandwich round picks included) and then it looks like it falls off a cliff except for that random blip around the 13th and 20th rounds where you find Pujols and Ryne Sandberg.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  13. dylanj

    Josh if you want to see how the draft turns out KG has been tweeting out the best results ever from each draft spot. Its pretty depressing .Even in the top 10 its pretty bleak. This thing is the final frontier for front offices to figure out. The failure rate is so high.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  14. WaLi

    @ dylanj:

    “I hope they see a guy that likes to win,” he said. “I feel like that’s one of my best qualities: I like to win.”

    I wonder how many of the people drafted so far do not like to win..

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  15. mb21

    @ Nate:
    I’m not a big fan of that pick. There’s just no reason to reach down that low (and pay him more) when you could grab someone else. Pretty bad pick. Especially when you factor in that he’s likely a reliever and would still have to improve his stamina to do that. And his control. Not a 3rd pick by any means.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  16. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:
    Meh. I think THoyer are just stockpiling power arms. The Cubs’ system is pretty pitching depleted.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  17. mb21

    dylanj wrote:

    Nate- keep in mind the guys who rank for BA aren’t in a front office. Once you get to these rounds is about how your own evaluations not what BA or Mayo think.

    True, but they base their rankings on what scouts for MLB teams tell them. If you have two reputable sources that list him as a 5th rounder then he’s probably a 5th rounder. Is it a big deal they took him in the 3rd? No, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t point out it’s quite a reach to take a guy two rounds earlier than he’s expected to go.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  18. dylanj

    mb21 wrote:

    bad pick based on what? BA saying he’s a 5th and not a 3rd round pick? If the guys are BA were that great they would work for the Cubs or some other team. At this point nobody knows how these fuckers will turn out so its hard to say bad pick vs good pick unless they draft Hayden Simpson. Then you know.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  19. dylanj

    the kid pitched in the area code games and I think only like 50 people nationwide get an invite to that. So its not like he is a major reach.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  20. josh

    @ dylanj:
    I figured it was probably more depressing than you’d want to admit. I’m sure someone is already on this idea too, but it would probably be worth going back, trying to categorize the skills that scouts look for and see which, if any, correlates to success in the big leagues. If there aren’t any, then someone needs to figure out a new approach to scouting. Maybe there’s just no way to be sure without sending them through the gauntlet (i.e., minor leagues). That’s probably the reality.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  21. mb21

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    Yeah, but among the 80 or so players better than him at least 5 or 6 of them are power arms. This is a guy the Cubs could have taken in the 4th and probably even the 5th. It’s like fantasy baseball. Say you know that Joey Votto is the best position player (I don’t know if he is or not, but you know what I mean). You’re in a league that values him in the 5th or 6th round. Do you take him in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd? No, you wait until the 4th round to grab him. It’s the same thing that was wrong with the Tyler Colvin and Hayden Simpson picks. They could have either of them in a later round and they could also have had a better player in their system had they waited.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  22. mb21

    @ dylanj:
    But you have no problem claiming this pick or that pick is a good one. Based on what we know, it’s not a good pick. They could have had him a round or two later. I never cared how the Simpson pick turned out because it didn’t matter. They could have drafted him later. And drafted a better prospect than Simpson.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  23. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    I really don’t give enough of a shit about players who have a 90% rate of failure to get upset about this pick. (dying laughing)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  24. Rice Cube

    They probably figured that they could slot or underslot him to free up money to pay for the guys who actually deserve it. That’s my conspiracy theory anyway.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  25. Rice Cube

    @ Rice Cube:
    Especially if the compensation still exists (I think it’s a comp round like the one that just happened rather than spot+1) but I’m also not sure if they forfeit the money so that they can’t actually spend it on Almora or Johnson or some other guy later on.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  26. dylanj

    my final two cents is this- if Theo Epstein can’t put a list together better than one I can access online for free then we are fucked.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  27. mb21

    BA and Mayo aren’t scouts. They’re a hell of a lot better at it than you or I, but they get their information from scouts. It’s not like they’re sitting there throwing darts and putting players on their lists. They talk to dozens and dozens of scouts for actual MLB teams. Is it perfect? Far from it. Hayden Simpson may have been the best player in the 2010 draft. It was entirely possible. Was he even one of the top 50 players at the time of the draft? No. That’s why it was a bad pick.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  28. mb21

    scouting report and video added for Conway. I like this guy a lot. 4th round pick, but a guy who could have been a 1st rounder were it not for TJS. If he recovers this is a great pick.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  29. Rice Cube

    New guy:

    In the smaller Big South Conference, Coastal Carolina has built a pretty good program that saw four players get drafted and sign in 2011. This year, it could have been Conway’s turn before an elbow injury ended his season and required Tommy John surgery. Once a two-way player, Conway gave up hitting completely to focus on the mound in 2012 and it was paying off. Coastal Carolina’s Friday starter, he’s a bit of an undersized right-hander, but one with a pretty good three-pitch mix. A good athlete on the mound, he throws a fastball, slider and changeup, all of which have the chance to be solid average offerings. Without truly overpowering stuff, he’ll have to continue to improve his command and keep hitters off-balance. Pre-injury, he had the chance to join teammate (and 2011 second-round pick) Anthony Meo as a fairly early Draft pick. Now a team will have to be willing to draft him and let him rehab under its watchful eye.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  30. mb21

    josh wrote:

    This draft isn’t getting the Seal of Approval, is it?

    I don’t dislike it. I’m not excited, but that’s mostly because it’s a weak draft. I’d have taken Appel with the 1st pick, but I don’t really think he’s that much better than Albert Almora. I really like their 2nd pick last night and the 4th rounder they just took.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  31. mb21

    @ josh:
    When I was reading that the Astros were likely taking Appel I started to wonder who the worst number 1 pick at the time of the draft was. He just wasn’t a number 1 pick IMO. I don’t know that Carlos Correa was either, but I liked him a lot better than Appel.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  32. dylanj

    its an interesting scenario MD- if your a kid with that injury and you get offered 100k + and a chance at a pro career do you roll the dice? Since he is at a JC its not like he has a prestigious degree to fall back on. But he can make a lot more money to re-establishing himself. With the injury happening in late April he probably wont pitch a full season.

    If it were me I would take the $

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  33. dylanj

    I agree with the link MD posted and we talked about here last night- There is no way around this CBA. Boras can do what he wants but he has nothing to fight with anymore. If Houston really couldnt get a deal with Appel due to $ then Boras failed his client in a big big way.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  34. josh

    @ dylanj:
    That seems to make it a bad idea for the players to just take what the teams offer, in other words, it seems to hurt the player more than the team, unless the talent pools dissolve because the top guys choose football/basketball/careers in Sports Management over baseball.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  35. mb21

    I don’t think the Astros went with Correa because they couldn’t afford Appel. It was clear he wasn’t a consensus number one and possibly even a bad choice to be picked first overall. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the Astros to understand that and the fact they need offense more than anything tells me they never had much interest in him.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  36. mb21

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see teams sponsor indy league teams in some way and help send some of the players who want more money there for a year and then they could sign as free agents.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  37. dylanj

    this will drive athletes away IMHO. Puerto Rico baseball went downhill fast once they were forced into the draft and I think we will see the same in the DR and the rest of Latin America with the world draft. All this fucking thing does is take money away from poor teenagers in the developing world and give it back to Joe Fucking Ricketts. To spend on his PAC attacking socialism.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  38. mb21

    I don’t think the overall talent in baseball is going to be affected by the CBA. If you think about the two sport guys, most of the top picks signed in baseball not because they could get whatever contract they wanted, but because they could get several million now rather than going to college for 3 years and risking injury playing a physical game. I don’t think that changes. Bubba Starling got a ton of money a year ago because he could, but does anyone really think he’d have turned down a slightly higher than slot offer of $3 million or more to risk getting injured playing college football? If football was his true love he might, but otherwise you’d have to be a complete idiot to turn that money down.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  39. mb21

    @ dylanj:
    There should be no draft at all. Not in any sport. It’s an agreement between the veterans and the league and not between the players drafted and the league.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  40. dylanj

    the very little info I have would say I dont like this pick but again i dont know a fucking thing Im talking about.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  41. mb21

    dylanj wrote:

    Puerto Rico baseball went downhill fast once they were forced into the draft

    This doesn’t mean the draft there caused the talent to go downhill. I don’t know if it did and I’d actually be surprised if that was the only factor involved, but correlation doesn’t equal causation. Baseball has had a draft since the 60s and blacks peaked in the mid 80s in baseball and have gone downhill since.

    That said, the draft shouldn’t exist. It shouldn’t exist for PR and it shouldn’t exist for people in the US. The fact that Canadians have to enter the draft is laughable.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  42. mb21

    @ dylanj:
    He’s certainly the least exciting player the Cubs have taken. We’ll forget about him in a year or two. He’s another one I think they could have gotten later, but I don’t know for sure.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  43. josh

    @ mb21:
    I wonder if it creates more interest in independent leagues or something, where guys can sign as free agents and avoid the draft. Of course, that only works if you can get people out to see these independent teams. I’m thinking you start a new sport, Arena Baseball, it uses the same skills but is fast paced and showcases athletic ability. You get fans to come out, and the athletes get to showcase their skills for big league clubs. The MLB indirectly sponsors it with a similar system as what Japan has, where the team gets paid to release a player from his contract or something.

    Now, all I need is $1Billion and I can get this idea off the ground.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  44. josh

    @ mb21:
    Isn’t it basically a concession to shitty/poor teams? Otherwise, the yankees would just buy all the guys every year that we consider top 10 picks and basically be a baseball dictatorship.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  45. mikeakaleroy

    @ josh:

    That’s kind of what I was thinking…without the draft, no one is lining up outside of Kauffman Stadium to play for the Royals. What would the alternative be to the draft?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  46. Mercurial Outfielder

    The stories coming out of Sandusky jury selection are stultifying. Pennsylvanians must love child rape. I don’t see a Pennsylvania jury convicting him…but he looks to be facing federal charges now, so he’s going to prison one way or another.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  47. mb21

    @ josh:
    Yes, but it’s also a concession to the fans who think sports should be fair. They want their salary caps and all that other shit in sports, but don’t you dare put a salary cap on what they can earn.

    Random fan: there should be a salary cap so it’s more fair.
    me: I think your occupation should have a salary cap.
    Random fan: that’s not fair. I don’t make millions.
    me: Neither do most baseball player.
    Random fan: but some do and they shouldn’t make that much.

    You can’t win the fucking argument because it’s all based on how much they think the players should make and what they view as fair.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  48. Mucker

    Maybe it’s just me but baseball contracts for these young guys seem to really suck. They get paid peanuts compared to #1 picks in football and their contracts are usually a lot longer too.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  49. Mercurial Outfielder

    Boers and Bernstein are good on many things, but they are two tone-deaf motherfuckers when it come to baseball. Listening to them talk about baseball is like reading BCB.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  50. mikeakaleroy

    @ mb21:

    But there are only so many large markets out there. You’re gonna end up cutting the teams in the majors in half, and I’d imagine it would only get worse. In a few years you’d probably lose half/most of your small market teams, and gain an extra team in somewhere like New York or Chicago.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  51. dylanj

    NFL draft guys are on the big league team right away. These kids are going to Boise idaho for a few years (dying laughing).

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  52. josh

    @ mb21:
    I think what would happen would be the sport would just die. Honestly, I believe that. At some point the amount of revenue coming in to a team like the Yankees (as we’ve said before, they’re virtually the only team anyone outside the US even knows about) would be insurmountable. No team could ever catch up. No team could compete. They become a baseball monopoly. Fans quit watching, we kill off all small market teams because they can’t afford players, and soccer picks up momentum as the new sport.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  53. josh

    @ Mucker:
    Longer career life is part of that. You make a decent wage (more than I make with my fancy-pants college degree) for a few years, hoping to break through, and if you do, you make a shit ton of money. Not as much as A-rod, but a lot of money, and over a much longer time period than a football player, without as much risk of a career-ending injury.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  54. mb21

    @ josh:
    If what you and Mike say are true, and it might be, what other options does baseball have? It seems to me if there’s reason to think the sport will die then the draft is a good idea to save baseball. I love baseball and want it to exist long past my death, but I still don’t believe that we can force international players into a draft. I also don’t believe we can force 17 and 18 year olds in the US into a draft agreed upon not by them, but by MLB players.

    It seems to me we all have a decision to reach if what you say is true: support the draft or don’t and see what happens. I’d hate to see baseball not exist, but I don’t love it so much that I think we should force 17 and 18 year olds into contracts without them having the same opportunity to find the best job that the rest of us have.

    If you have a draft and Canada is already included, it’s only a matter of time before the international draft comes. I expect it comes before the end of this CBA. I don’t like it and won’t when it happens, but if the draft is necessary to save baseball then I expect many will support it.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  55. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ josh:

    FWIW, no professional soccer league has a draft, except the MLS. There’s definitely economic gaps in the tables, but it certainly hasn’t killed the sport to have all amateur talent be free agents.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  56. mb21

    All I really know with regards to the draft is that I don’t believe for a moment it ruined baseball in Puerto Rico. It may be some small contributing factor, but that’s about it. I don’t believe a draft would ruin baseball in the DR or Venezuela either, but I still don’t want one.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  57. dylanj

    there have been a lot of really smart people who disagree MD. Just google it and you will find article after article about it

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  58. josh

    @ mb21:
    You could make a similar argument for why the Mets just don’t arrange their own schedule and play teams they want to play. Shouldn’t they be allowed to make their own schedule and refuse to play interleague games? They can work it out with three or four other teams to just play them or something.

    As far as I can tell, that’s how it used to work. Basically, as money became more of an issue, the teams all got together and decided on a gentleman’s agreement for how to organize the game. The thought being that this would make the sport more cohesive and interesting to fans, which bolsters everyone. Even if you’re the Royals, you fill the stadium when the Yankees come to town, or something.

    It’s the same gentleman’s agreement that all teams agree they would rather sign young talent this way. The Yankees agree to it as much as the Royals, because the Yankees know that having other teams to play means they have constant revenue. They aren’t hurt enough by it to abandon it. It’s not just the players driving this, the teams want it too.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  59. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    contra your point, MB, a nice comment from that HBT article:

    Draft vs Free Agency means that teams are less inclined to invest in a country and develop talent themselves. Many of the South American countries which operate outside of the draft have camps and academies set up by major league franchises, since they know they can develop and then sign talent. No team wants to invest in developing talent in Puerto Rico if it means the players that come out of their academies just go straight into the draft.

    So it’s not just the money that players can earn from free agency vs the draft, it’s the level of investment from teams interested in developing that free agent talent as well.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  60. Rice Cube

    @ mb21:
    You’d consolidate all the best talent into a smaller number of teams.

    While I agree that everyone should have the right to find the best job that they can get at a fair wage, the fact that baseball contracts are so exorbitant (even 40th round picks get like a $100K bonus if I’m not mistaken) probably makes for a unique situation where normal market rules shouldn’t apply for the sake of competitive balance.

    I’m actually kind of curious about the way international soccer (or football as it should be called) works. Could the same principles be applied easily to baseball? I imagine the best footballers in the world get paid at least as much as, say, Dan Uggla. (I don’t actually know because I don’t follow the sport though)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  61. josh

    I’m not saying that you couldn’t conceive of a whole new system that was equitable for everyone, do a complete tear-down, but since the contracts are already there, it would basically take a third party to go in and just dictate the terms, which seems unlikely. So whatever is the right solution, I don’t see how it’s possible to change. If baseball starts really hurting, they might invite Congress in to help.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  62. mb21

    @ dylanj:
    I’ve read them and they’re all based on the draft starting at the time the sport decline, but that doesn’t mean it was responsible. Canadians were added to the draft at the same time and there are many more Canadians in MLB now than before. There are twice as many people in MLB (in 2011) from PR than there are from Oregon and they’re the same size.

    This is like those arguing that there should be more blacks in MLB because there used to be more. The current percentage is far more representative of the US population now than before. it regressed to what we see today and will likely increase over the coming years. It’s the same thing we’ve seen in Puerto Rico.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  63. Mercurial Outfielder

    Also, the best American players never make themselves available for the MLS draft…because they are already getting paid as members of an overseas club’s academy. The only notable exception is Landon Donovan.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  64. mb21

    In 2010 the US was 4th in the number of MLB players per 1000 people. Curacao was at the top followed by the DR and Puerto Rico.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  65. mb21

    Just to make another point, interest in baseball in the US has declined since the beginning of the MLB Draft. Does anyone really think the draft is the cause?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  66. josh

    I honestly don’t know whether the draft is good or bad. I would say International Free Agents aren’t comparable, because of the levels of competition. I can’t see why the Yankees wouldn’t have signed Strasburg, Harper, Starling, and whoever has been #1 in the last few years, but I can see why they’d pass on Cespedes, one of the top Cuban free agents in the last few years. I’m not diametrically opposed to fewer baseball teams. Did anyone ever even want a Marlins team? They seem to have been undersupported from Day 1, and winning the WS didn’t even help.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  67. GW

    I think it’s safe to say that the cubs are targeting pitchers.

    Also, the sole purpose of the draft is to keep costs down. Competitive balance is just an excuse easily accepted by the fans.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  68. mb21

    GW wrote:

    Also, the sole purpose of the draft is to keep costs down. Competitive balance is just an excuse easily accepted by the fans.

    Agreed. It serves two purposes: the owners spend less on amateur talent and the veterans who agreed to the crap get more money because cost of amateur talent is down. Win-win-lose.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  69. Rice Cube

    @ Rice Cube:
    “Your team moves around the bases while you’re moving around the bases with the manager’s wife in the clubhouse. You’ve scored, and so has your team.”

    (dying laughing)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  70. mikeakaleroy

    @ Rice Cube:

    Some damn funny lines in that game…I won 11-0 and struck out 17! Only killed 1 guy.

    “The batsman hits the ball as hard as he can. If he hadn’t gotten syphilis from his wife, who of course got it from you, he might have been able to hit it out of the infield. Instead, you get an easy out.”

    (dying laughing)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  71. mb21

    @ dylanj:
    Appel doesn’t get to demand a price anymore. Who cares what he wants? That’s the whole point of the new CBA. It’s no longer up to the player to decide how much he wants. The team has all the leverage. If it’s true that Houston wanted him they messed up by not drafting him. They could have had him for slot.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  72. Rice Cube

    @ mikeakaleroy:
    I just won and got this:

    “You won! You must have a little of Old Hoss in you. Actually it’s quite likely that one, if not both, of your parents are among the many bastards he’s spread across this country.”

    (dying laughing) x 2 or 288

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  73. dylanj

    only if Boras wasn’t trying to fight it by demanding more which has been talked about. my point is if thats the case Boras failed big time.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  74. mb21

    I really hope that story about Appel is true because it’s an example of 3 idiots trying to do business with one another (Boras, Appel, Astros)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  75. mb21

    @ dylanj:
    What’s he going to fight though? The system in place IS a hard slotting system without it being called that. Teams have ALL the leverage now. I don’t see Appel having any other alternative than to sign for what the Astros would have offered. I don’t see him having any other option than taking what the Pirates offer. Unless he wants to turn down several million and go back to college he has none. Scott Boras is too smart to be this dumb, but I hope it’s true.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  76. josh

    @ mb21:
    What was Strasburg going to do if the Nationals didn’t agree to his insane demands? I don’t see how the situation has changed that much. The team can go overslot and take the punishments. If the Astros weren’t in the running for a top 5 draft pick next season, they might have gone for it.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  77. josh

    @ dylanj:
    I’m just saying Strasburg would have to be able to say he’s going to walk away and do X for him to have any leverage in that situation. The new situation is definitely biased against the draftee, but in terms of being able to walk away, it’s the same as it was last year. The Astros obviously didn’t want to risk that occurrence and waste their first round pick. Whatever X was two years ago (work out? independent league? College? I honestly have no idea) that still exists.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  78. josh

    There will be players eventually a team will go overslot for. Boras probably figured he’d test the waters right off the bat and see what teams are willing to do. Yeah, it may have cost this kid a couple million, but Boras has it to burn. I would guess that’s not how he spun the situation to Appel, though.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  79. mb21

    @ josh:
    What’s changed is that there is a significant penalty for going over slot. The only argument teams had for not doing so prior to this year was that they didn’t want to spend the money. Now they can’t. Not even Strasburg is worth losing a 1st round pick. Neither is Harper. I don’t think we’ll see a team give up their 1st round pick and I’d be surprised if we see teams go over by 5% very often.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  80. mb21

    @ Rice Cube:
    Partly that, but also he’s not signed yet so his focus has to be on what he knows he’s going to be doing, which is college. When a contract gets signed that will change. He has little incentive to go to Miami, wait 3 years to be drafted. Actually, he has none. Even if he was offered $2 million it’s to his benefit to take it rather than waiting 3 years to re-enter the draft.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  81. Rice Cube

    @ mb21:
    That’s what I figure. Slot 6 is at $3.2MM or something and the first slot is at $7MM or so, so he’d probably make up the difference just by throwing the money in the bank and letting it sit and collect interest, plus the fear of injury killing his career is gone because he’s basically set for life. I think the Cubs can squeeze a few extra dollars his way but I don’t see why he wouldn’t sign.

    Is he really represented by Boras? If so, he’s got to have seen what happened to Appel and even Carlos Pena and he can tell Boras to just take the money.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  82. shawndgoldman

    If you guys want to watch the Venus transit and don’t have the proper eyewear or if it’s cloudy where you live you can watch stuff online here:
    http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

    (I’m working on a book in my “spare time” with the tall guy in the shirt and tie on the right.)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0

Leave a Comment