Can_of_corn

Sounds like they have pretty much caught up to other teams. Next step, passing other teams.

If Coby Mayo had signed for slot (565K) would Tony have ranked him #15 in the prospect list?

That fits into what we know the MLB's overarching goal when it comes to the minors.

Well if they are "bs" then they are worthless and shouldn't be referenced. I think they are imperfect tools worked on by folks that are doing the best that they can. I think dismissing them as "bs" is insulting to the work that is put in. I don't think anyone on this board is taking prospect rankings as the be all end of of player evaluation. When you have a game in which a college senior can go 1-1, not have any significant injuries and still be a complete bust no one in their right mind is going to take something written about a 16 year old as the gospel truth.

So we should just not have opinions or base them on the totally non-biased comments the O's make after they sign a guy?

I think the huge signing bonuses handed out to Cuban players might skew the results.

I don't think they made a determination on their value at all. I just don't think they were willing to cut a big check at the same time they were slashing payroll. That being said I don't agree with you on the market. Yes in a normal situation they would not have been worth what they received, but the specific market they found themselves in wasn't the normal market. You had Oriole and Marlin teams with pool money to spend and both teams desperately in need of young talent. With few other avenues for spending the money the Mesa market was warped. Day one of the International market isn't the same as day 300.

In most circumstances a million dollars isn't much to spend on a player. Look at what the Dodgers spent on Diaz for example. If you have the cap room, which the Orioles did, why is it unreasonable to think a team would spend the premium on someone like Mesa? (for the record I don't think the O's made anything close to a comparable offer) They wouldn't be doing it "just because" they would be doing it because they aren't going to spend the cap room on anything and trading slots doesn't bring much in return. If you hit on one of these guys the payoff can be immense.

It's Ronald Acuna. Nice work as always.

I think they while highly regarded guys can flop, and under the radar guys can flourish, guys that are more highly regarded are so for a reason. They don't just pick 30 names at random to put on a list.

I've read the thread. You appear to have difficulty discerning the intent of my posts. Obviously teams have overpaid for players in the past. For instance Boston had to pay Price a premium to get to come to Boston, and NY had to pay Sabathis a premium to get him to pitch in the AL.

That was sarcasm, I'm on your side of this one. What I think is actually going on is that teams are colluding against these young players to keep bonuses down. They basically call "dibs" a couple years in advance. They don't want a team coming in and starting a bidding war, even with the cap to spending.

I asked the Phillies. They said signing free agents to supplement a core before the core is ready leads to the possibility of having expensive veteran players on a team without a talented, inexpensive core.

Obviously the O's need to build a rapport with the player, his family, and his agent. That's something that simply offering more money can't compete with.

I've never heard of a team intentionally overpaying for a player before.

These 16 year olds don't need an extra million.

I'm sure they will drop him once he signs with the O's.

You don't actually believe that.

Anyone in the top 20 on those useless prospect lists? Top 30?

Compared to other teams or by Oriole standards?

I've still got a ways to go. January is by far the longest month. Y'all can expect more music finds over on the appropriate forum as I tend to have extra spare time around now.

I think the one is part of the other.

He didn't even give that as a reason. Not sure why you are asking about first year eligible players.

Current ownership may not be willing to add to payroll during competitive years. We have no way to know at this point. All we have seen is that so far is a strong desire to keep payroll low.

The movie was Downfall. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/