Can_of_corn

Roch raising expectations for his bosses. Takes a lot to inspire me.

So he was hitting 93 before the O's acquired him? I don't remember that being the case.

It was 8M before Givens decided to sign.

I don't like including Cespedes. While he did debut at 26 he defected in 2011 and was playing MLB in April 2012. I think it was more circumstance than ability that delayed his debut.

When you ignore Drungo's post in it's entirety it shows me you are not interested in honest debate.

Is he a tough guy that stays healthy or did a collision with the wall last year result in his poor year?

Missed my Matt Harrington reference..

I guess those last two points are really important.

I disagree that Trumbo is an inferior first baseman to Mancini. It isn't as if Mancini is a good first baseman and when he has a chance to play there regularly is isn't as if Trumbo is a bad first baseman. As for same type of player at all? They are bat first 1B/CO/DH types with no added value on the basepaths. Career OPS+ of the three players? 117/117/108. I wonder how exact a match you are requiring?

Cosco not McDonald's.

This is simply not true by any reasonable definition of successful. Hobgood is what an unsuccessful pick looks like, or Rowell.

Eh, Jake Arrieta dropped to the fifth round and signed for 1.1M. Why didn't he just go in the second round?

If you are correct why would Elias declare that he wouldn't be trading any slots this period?

Eight teams share the top pool size at -6.5M. Not sure where you got your numbers from. If they were only going to spend 2-3 millions Elias wouldn't have declared that he wouldn't be trading any slots. And yes if they spend 3M folks will be extra tired of listening to me.

Right, can be. Not is, your assuming something with supporting evidence. Anyway no system would ever be completely fair.

And then the Yankees are out of money. Thank goodness more than ten kids play baseball. BTW Brooks chose us, because he knew he would get an opportunity.

A lot would depend on what figures they arrive at. But teams would certainly cut back on infrastructure.

With everyone spending the same on player contracts? Sure.

Right, they invested heavily. That isn't the mark of an unfair system, that is the mark of team putting in the work and getting rewarded. Do you think Detroit and Milwaukee are somehow less attractive than say Cleveland? Or they simply not doing as good a job?

So what teams does the current system favor and which have it harder? Please don't include the O's since we know they are a special case.

How is it not even now? Just because the team we favor didn't put in the work? It's pretty even for the other 29 teams.

Do you know that at one point Puerto Rico was exempt from the draft? When it was added to the draft we went a good long while without any impact players coming out of Puerto Rico. Imagine you are an owner of a ML team. Does it make any difference to you if every team gets players out of the DR or if no team gets players out of the DR? I'm going to say it doesn't make a difference to you. As long as it even. Imagine you are an owner of a ML team. Why pay for an academy if there is a draft? What's in it for you? Just draft 20 kids and slap on your DSL team. Imagine you are a Buscone. Sure you are not a nice guy but a lot of kids would end up with nothing if it wasn't for your efforts. If there is draft you need to find a new line of work, no profit for you in a draft. Imagine you are a young player. You know your whole family is depending on you. You are smart enough to know you probably won't make it, that this signing bonus is the ticket for you and your family. How would you like your free agency to be replaced with a draft position and a slot payment? As a general guideline fans should be very suspicious of anything ownership pushes for. We know they are not concerned with player welfare.

It is surprising to me how many fans are in favor of a draft.

It would decrease both the owners expenses and the number of International players getting an opportunity to play in MLB/MiLB.

I know.