Fun Baseball Draft Article

[GTNavyNuke]

Since the draft is this weekend, I've been cruising the Perfect Game site. Here's a fun (free) article on 50 years of draft highlights. http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=9993

Since I'm an Orioles fan and hate the Yankees and the way they accelerated MLB into fantasy money ball, I liked this snippet:

"The New York Yankees sent shock waves through the industry in 1991, when they signed North Carolina prep lefthander Brien Taylor, the No. 1 overall pick that year, to a $1.55 million bonus—almost three times the existing record. The old mark of $575,000 was set in 1989 by John Olerud, a third-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, and matched earlier in 1991 by Mike Kelly, drafted second by the Atlanta Braves. Taylor’s contract, signed just hours before he was set to enroll at Louisburg (N.C.) Junior College, triggered an unprecedented wave of bonus escalation that would continue largely unabated over the better part of the next two decades. The Yankees got nothing for their investment in Taylor as his promising career careened downhill, topping in Double-A, after he injured his shoulder in a fight."​

Sounds like a UGAg prospect.

 

[Squints]

I'm a huge Yankee fan and I was too young to know anything about Brien Taylor at the time. I heard about the guy when I was way older. Apparently he was nasty. Could you imagine those late 90s team with a guy like that on the mound? Damn.

Also gotta defend my team here. Blaming the Yankees for the bonus escalation is bogus. Scott Boras gets that blame first. Not to mention that the previous year the Athletics gave Todd Van Poppell, as the 14th overall pick, $1.2 mill which gave Boras a leg to stand on in those negotiations. That being said, a lot of the recent changes to the draft have been good moves.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Van Poppel was supposed to be the #1player in the draft. He swore he was going to pitch for the University of Texas because he didn't want to go to the Braves, so he wasn't drafted at the very top. I'm pretty sure he even told the Braves that he wouldn't sin with them. That's how the Braves ended up drafting Chipper Jones withe the overall #1 pick. The A's took Van Poppel #12 (though I remember it being #14) with the full knowledge that he would sign instead of going to college if they gave him #1 draft pick money. He also got a guaranteed Major League contract. In 1990 the A's were on top and the Braves were on the bottom.

Ironically, the Braves won the pennant that year, went on to sign Greg Maddox as a free agent and won 14 straight division titles. The A's tanked, and so did Van Poppel's career.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

.................Also gotta defend my team here. Blaming the Yankees for the bonus escalation is bogus. Scott Boras gets that blame first. ......................

Which team has the highest payroll in baseball every year? Now the Yankees and Red Sox are in a spending war every year. Not much fun being in AL East.

 

[CuseJacket]

Blame the rules, not the Yankees. Same thing would happen in every other sport if salary cap restrictions didn't exist.

For what it's worth their streak was broken this year. Here's the full list of 2014 Opening Day payrolls, per the AP.

TeamPayroll
1. Dodgers$235,295,219
2. Yankees$203,812,506
3. Phillies$180,052,723
4. Red Sox$162,817,411
5. Tigers$162,228,527
6. Angels$155,692,000
7. Giants$154,185,878
8. Rangers$136,036,172
9. Nationals$134,704,437
10. Blue Jays$132,628,700
11. Diamondbacks$112,688,666
12. Reds$112,390,772
13. Cardinals$111,020,360
14. Braves$110,897,341
15. Orioles$107,406,623
16. Brewers$103,844,806
17. Rockies$95,832,071
18. Mariners$92,081,943
19. Royals$92,034,345
20. White Sox$91,159,254
21. Padres$90,094,196
22. Mets$89,051,758
23. Cubs$89,007,857
24. Twins$85,776,500
25. Athletics$83,401,400
26. Indians$82,534,800
27. Pirates$78,111,667
28. Rays$77,062,891
29. Marlins$47,565,400
30. Astros$44,544,174

 

[GTNavyNuke]

My Orioles should get a 40 game handicap to the Yankees since they pay 1/2 of what the Yankees do. And a 25 game handicap to the Red Sox.

Thanks for reminding me of why I don't follow MLB any more.

 

[Squints]

My Orioles should get a 40 game handicap to the Yankees since they pay 1/2 of what the Yankees do. And a 25 game handicap to the Red Sox.

Thanks for reminding me of why I don't follow MLB any more.

Oh please Nuke. That's a gross oversimplification and you know it. I guess the Orioles owe the Rays a handicap too. Then you could have finsished even farther behind them the past couple of years.

Maybe you should look in the mirror and blame your billionaire owner who completely mismanages the team or your the Orioles' inability to develop their pitchers before you worry about what someone else is doing.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I know it's an over simplification. Here's the straight view that I have: money buys the best players and there is no salary cap. It's all about entertainment and maximizing profits in which the higher paying markets can make a lot more. Therefore I haven't been to a MLB game for about 10 years since my son and I went to one. (Orioles and Cal Ripken stayed till 1AM signing autographs.) I probably haven't watched many in the last 10 years either.

I would agree that the Rays should get a handicap against higher paying teams. And I always root against the Yankees, because that's how I was brought up as an Orioles fan. My whole family does (my brother and one sister are Red Sox fans.) I don't know about the Orioles owner (that's how little I follow them now) so I'm sure not going to defend him. Given the Orioles record, it would be hard to defend him. Like I think I said in another post; "The Orioles have pretty much cured me of following MLB."

I really like the college game since the best players get siphoned off to MLB out of HS. Makes it much more competitive - like we see in the current NCAA tournament.

 

[Stinger90]

I'm not going to get into the middle (Yankee fan here) but the Orioles do have one of my all time favorite GT players...Matt Wieter.

When growing up here in Greensboro, there was a Yankee farm league (Hornets) and had a chance to meet a lot of great one's. But I'm a lot more about college sports anyway except NFL (Washington Redskins) and NBA (Boston Celtics).

I'll leave it at that.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Wouldn't be interesting or any fun if we agreed on everything!

The Redskins will be my favorite team again; after they trade the owner! {tic} Till then I pull for the Lions since CJ is there and it's my son's team.

 

[Stinger90]

Wouldn't be interesting or any fun if we agreed on everything!

The Redskins will be my favorite team again; after they trade the owner! {tic} Till then I pull for the Lions since CJ is there and it's my son's team.

So true, we wouldn't have anything to talk about. But then again..I doubt it

In the long run it's all good when posting with friends and GT brothers and sisters on this board.

 

[Squints]

I know it's an over simplification. Here's the straight view that I have: money buys the best players and there is no salary cap. It's all about entertainment and maximizing profits in which the higher paying markets can make a lot more. Therefore I haven't been to a MLB game for about 10 years since my son and I went to one. (Orioles and Cal Ripken stayed till 1AM signing autographs.) I probably haven't watched many in the last 10 years either.

Well first off after my reading my post it came off waaaaaaaay more hostile than I intended so sorry about that. But what you're saying isn't just an oversimplification it's kind of misinformed. Particularity the maximizing profit bits and higher paying markets making more. Are you familiar with the revenue sharing stuff?

I would agree that the Rays should get a handicap against higher paying teams. And I always root against the Yankees, because that's how I was brought up as an Orioles fan. My whole family does (my brother and one sister are Red Sox fans.) I don't know about the Orioles owner (that's how little I follow them now) so I'm sure not going to defend him. Given the Orioles record, it would be hard to defend him. Like I think I said in another post; "The Orioles have pretty much cured me of following MLB."

Ha. Fair enough. I've just heard the payroll argument so many times and it's nearly bogus in my opinion. FWIW, the Orioles have been a lot better the past couple of years.

I really like the college game since the best players get siphoned off to MLB out of HS. Makes it much more competitive - like we see in the current NCAA tournament.

That's fair. Although I do expect the average talent level to rise thanks to the draft bonus cap. Personally I find the college game right now to be way to light on offense. And it's a bit too fluky for my taste. Anything can happen in only a few games. That's what I attribute a lot of what you see in the tournament. Does make it exciting though.