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In an e-mail, Toby Hyde from Mets Minor League Blog had the following to say, regarding my earlier post about the Mets and drafting over slot:
“I think the system is more fair than most people give it credit for. The draft, and the current amateur signing structure rewards teams who plan ahead and allocate resources to the process. The Mets don’t allocate as many resources as other teams, including the Phillies, Red Sox, Rays or Yankees, just to name the last four World Series participants. The Mets then can’t complain that it’s unfair… Just to be fair here, the Mets did pay their first pick, Steven Matz an above slot bonus, and went over slot with 13th rounder LHP Zach Dotson and 16th rounder OF Chase Greene.”
Additionally, I had the following exchange with MiLB.com’s minor-league guru Jonathan Mayo, also in response to my earlier post:
Mayo: I think your second point about lower-market teams is a good one. The Pirates are perfect example for the past two drafts.
In 2008, they spent $10 million on the draft, $6 million on Pedro Alvarez, but were still aggressive above-slot later. In 2009, they went “on the cheap” in the first round with Tony Sanchez, then signed several high-ceiling high school arms for above-slot later in the draft.
Cerrone: I guess I just never realized how significant this is, until I listened to a few agents talk about its importance in building a farm system.
Mayo: The thing that’s been so strange about the Mets is how they’ve been willing to be so aggressive and tilt the market on the free-agent front, but so risk-averse on the draft front.
Teams like the Mets should be super aggressive and take chances with high upside guys in the draft because they can afford to do it.
To follow Mayo on Twitter, click here, and to read his minor-league blog for MLB.com, Big, Bald and Beautiful, during which he is going a lot of writing about the Arizona Fall League, click here.
Lastly, Matt Meyers, who used to cover the Mets farm system for Baseball America, and now is a contributing editor at ESPN The Magazine, said this to me in an e-mail:
“I mean, some top players do ‘slip to them,’ but they don’t bother picking them because they have no intention of signing them. For example, the Mets could’ve had Tim Melville last year in any of the first three rounds, but they didn’t bother taking him because he wanted seven figures. And it ended up being the Royals who took him in the fourth round, I believe, and signing him for over $1 million… You’ll notice the Royals and Pirates have been two of the biggest spenders in the last couple of years, giving seven-figure bonuses to kids in rounds three through 10. Instead, the Mets will stick to slot in those rounds and spend $2 million on Alex Cora. It’s a joke, and shows a complete lack of understanding of value on the part of the Mets.”
To follow Meyers on Twitter, click here.
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It seems to me that the Mets should be further agressive in the draft because they are always losing picks due to signing free-agents.
They don’t supplement that loss by allocating appropriate resources to sign players that fall to them. It’s my hope that the current FO is reevaluating their draft philosophy. If 2009 didn’t teach them anything else, it should be that the major league club needs organizational depth. A good drafting philosophy can help in making that a reality.
Once again, this just reminds me how painfully obvious it is that the draft system needs to be reconstructed so that money is not a factor.
The entire concept of a draft (and a draft order) is to help weaker teams improve their team. Again, the goal here is parody, with a level playing field being somewhat of the crux of what “sport” is.
If the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox can essentially draft up all of the top talent by out-bidding teams like the Marlins, Nats, Royals and Brewers, how does the draft system make any sense?
It’s twice as hard for the smaller market teams to compete in the draft, because they have to find guys who are not only good, but willing to take less money in the draft.
Sure, the Royals can continue to pay $1MM to 10 different draft picks, which is cheaper than $15 million per year to a proven player like Carlos Beltran … but if the Mets can circumvent that by paying $20 million to those same 10 draft picks and still pay $15MM to Beltran … what’s the point of the exercise?
On the bright side, here is a link to an article where it says MLB is expected to mandate draft slotting in the next CBA in 2011:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/132658
Fix the draft. It’s busted.
Money being a factor should be an advantage to the Mets. The small market teams are the ones that are supposed to be complaining about it. Not a billion dollar organization! People get mad at me when I call the Mets cheap but considering there resources they are cheap. I’m sorry but it is true. Articles and posts like the ones above only prove my point.
If what you are saying is “The Mets should take advantage of this loophole and abuse it while they still can”, then I agree with you.
If, on the other hand, you think that large market teams by default should be entitled to advantages in recruiting, then I disagree with you.
By the way, it’s not that the Mets are being cheap by not spending more money on the draft, it’s that they are putting their money into what they feel are sure things, like Carlos Beltran. So instead of spending 8 million on 10 draft picks, they are spending 2 million on 8 draft picks and 140 million on players. You could argue that this is a bad strategy, but that is what they are doing. They feel signing guys like Beltran and Billy Wagner is a better investment that spending 1+ million on what-if guys.
I meant the first thing you said. I think the Mets should take advantage of this system while it lasts. It is pretty pathetic that they havent.
And as for your last point. Good teams that win every year allocate money to both. Ie. The Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox etc. Why arent we doing what those teams are doing????
It’s not the mets being cheap. It’s the Wilpons respecting the way they want baseball to be and playing within the “gentleman’s” rules.
To fix baseball, so every team has a fair chance, you need:
1. A HARD salary cap, with no exceptions (ala NFL), not a measly soft cap like the NBA.
2. A draft that takes has Hard Slotting rules, where a big market team just can’t outspend another team to get the players. All players have to make themselves Eligible for the draft, then foregoing playing college baseball(if out of high school). If your drafted you can hold out and go to an independent league team, or play over seas. No more if i get drafted and don’t like what I’m offered i go off to college and try again next year. #1 pick makes the most money in the draft then 2,3,4,5 etc with pick number 5,000 (whatever the last is, getting the lowest amount.)
3. MLB Revenue sharing, where all products, televised broadcasts, video game, and other miscellaneous revenue is pooled evenly to every team. Not the way it is now with the Mets, Yanks, Red Sox et el, all having their own networks which broadcast their games, and they pocket all the revenue.
4. All international players would have to declare for the MLB draft. No more over-spending on International talent by the big markets. The Chapmans of the world have to wait until the MLB draft and can then be taken.
5. No more compensations for lost FA’s.
6. Draft picks are tradable commodities.
The profit sharing is the only way a smaller market team would be able to survive consistently the way they do in the NFL, which in tern makes the game WAY MORE WATCHABLE.
The Cap will limit the offseason spending and the out of control contract. While penalizing big time mistakes in signing (pavano’s, Ollie’s, Lowe’s) The focus would be then on scouting and player development, then FA spending.
Teams can still spend as much as they want on scouting, player development, facilities, etc. But what can be spent on players is set in stone.
Major league baseball as a whole is broken, has been for years, Bud looks the other way as do the owners of a few select teams because it benefits them.
Well good guys finish last. Aint that the truth about this organization.
Do you really believe the Wilpons are respecting baseballs “gentleman” rules??? ITs all about money. Come on man. Look at their track record.
Yes, they have flat out said it before. They want to stay within the confines of the agreed upon draft slots.
Look it’s being stupid and hard headed. It’s what they believe, and how they want to operate. It’s not about the money, you think they give 2 craps about 2 million extra dollars to minor league players or even 10 million there.
It’s how they wish to operate their team. Pay slot dollars to draft picks. It’s flawed thinking in today’s baseball. But it is what it is. I can for certain say it’s no the Wilpons being cheap. Stupid YES. Cheap no.
Mark whatever the case may be it is unacceptable and doesnt translate into a winning product.
“Instead, the Mets will stick to slot in those rounds and spend $2 million on Alex Cora. It’s a joke, and shows a complete lack of understanding of value on the part of the Mets.” Omar Minaya has absolutely no idea how to put a monetary value on talent, he may be a good scout, i dont know, but the man is completely financially irresponsible when it comes to handing out contracts. He doesnt get that instead of signing tatis, castillo, redding, cora, perez for a combined 24 million per year he could get adam dunn, randy wolf or garland, and probably 2 legit middle relievers for that same amount. Nevermind the draft, Omar just doesnt know how to spend money outside of just blowing away big name FA’s.
I agree with you. Now that being said, the real blame should be our owners. They are the ones that dont see the obvious, like all of us do. Rewarding a clueless GM with a 3 year extension says a lot about our ownership. There is no denying that!
I agree with both of you.
Omar has never shown really how to be properly allocate monies, but the trend to not go over slot in the Draft is all Wilpons- it goes back before Omar.
Exactly.
1 mill on Cora for 1 year is perfect
If the Mets passed on this kid Melville 4 times, didnt every other team (including other big market teams also pass on him 3-4 times as well? Perhaps the kid just wasn’t worth the risk at $1M.
For what it’s worth at the beginning of this year, Melville was the Royals #5 prospect.
His profile reads as…..
“91-95 mph FB, plus curveball, decent change. Has a frame that can add wait, can be consistent once he matures. Has clean mechanics, may be too good that cost him some deception. Stuff improved when he switched to his old delivery.”
They don’t give what he projects to as this was his first year in pro ball I suppose..
That was from Baseball America.
Everyone just says that the Mets don’t spend on the draft. That may be the case, but at this point its all generalizations. I’ve never seen one of these writtters bashing the Mets clearly lay out who these ‘no brainer’ picks the Mets have passed on because of money are, and where they are now.
Everyone just says, ‘they dont spend’. Well thats good an all, but we all know that just because a draft picks wants alot of money, doesnt mean hes worth that money. Like this Melville kid mentioned got $1M from KC in the 4th round. The Mets took Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the 3rd round and piad him 1/3 of that and Nieuwenhuis now is looking like a pretty decent prospect. Maybe they just liked who they picked.
In evaluating draft spending, you really have to think of it in the broader context of player development spending and include contracts given to latin-American and other foreign-born prospects that are not subject ot the draft.
I do think in the Minaya era that Mets have been far too reliant on their perceived ability to scout and sign Latin American talent…I think they basically show up to the draft and make predictable picks based on tangible attributes (size, arm strength, etc) rather than have an aggressive scouting department charged with unearthing steals. I think an intelligent fan with a Baseball America draft guide would probably come up with something very similar to what the Mets do. Do you ever get the feeling that they ‘target’ anyone? I think they just take who is there and think they are going to unearth the gems picking plantains in the Dominican.
Well in baseball unlike other sports you can’t trade draft picks and trade up, so I don’t know how a team can really ‘target’ any player as you suggest. All teams in baseball are limited to taking who they feel is the best player left at the time of thier pick.
What I mean is go in with some guys who may be under the radar in mind. You don’t have to trade a pick to target someone…you just need to have guys you want to come out of the draft having grabbed. I don’t get the sense the Mets do.
Pelfrey was the quintessential Mets pick – all you hear are “live arm, pitchers body” and alot of other stuff that makes you wonder if anyone in the organization ever actually saw the guy pitch.
So now you are knocking the Mets for taking Pelf, the top pitcher that slipped to them because of $$$$, who they had to go over slot to sign? Make up your mind. Pelfrey was a stud in college, you dont find a much better prospect in a draft than him.
And how exactly do you develope your sense of how the Mets draft? Considering that beyond maybe the guys taken in the first round, you probably have zero knowledge of any of these players taken.
And in terms of these ‘under the radar guys’, how do you know they are not doing that? I mean look at a kid like Murphy, drafted in the 13th round out of Jacksonville, started most of the year at 1st base for us. Or bobby Parnell, take a look at Parnells college stats at Charleston Southern, he had an ERA his senior 6.50 and a WHIP near 2.00. If you looked at his stats you’d think the Mets were nuts to draft him but they did, and his in the big leagues.
i am getting a kick out of you guys defending the mets…and you may have a point (i dont know much about the draft)…but for guys who really took a risk (granted maybe they didnt think so at the time) with madoff you would think the mets would be willing to gamble better on the draft…they would make it up eventually with deep playoff runs…
Mostly interesting discussion….I just wonder sometimes why peopl assume the Mets/Omar “don’t have a plan” as if they would email it out, or don’t have a “Draft Board” with pertinent info, etc, etc. IMO some of what has been coming out over the past few months from psudo “experts” with a forum is just more piling on. With all Omar’s failings, lack of a plan, bad management, etc,etc,etc, the cheap Wilpons, no prospects,many of the “experts” picked the Mets to get to the series.
I like the idea of getting high ceiling high school players in the middle rounds, and going for college players that will not cost to much in the higher rounds. THAT WAY the Mets can get a lot of high reward players for cheap and some will turn great. You will also have some solid players [the high round picks that come out of college].