Posey signs with SF; Crow signs with Indy league

[allstar1579]

This is just all an example why there needs to be a hard rookie salary cap per slot. They need to stop doing it half way with stern looks and lectures under the table from the ML offices. Do what they do in the NBA and NHL and come up with a standard rookie contract you sign that can only cover say the first 5 years for HS and 3 years for college players with the current ML standards (super 2, arbitration, FA) rules applying after that player makes the ML.

The NFL will be going to something like this in the next CBA, so baseball might as well start thinking about it now.

[markpolis]

True but his agent publicly saying that Bowden told him there was no reason to talk anymore, and that Crow will never sign for slot, period, doesn't exactly encourage Bowden toward a compromise.

An other wrinkle an next year's already deep draft if he doesn't sign.

I also think this helps the Orioles in their negotiations with Matusz. Next year's draft is said to be much deeper in college pitching talent and this will just give teams more options. Simple law of supply and demand. If Matusz decides to go back in the draft next year, good luck getting more than $4mil.

[BaltimoreTerp]

To be eligible for the draft, the following apply. Note the bold part, where it states that... 'He never signed a major or minor league contract.'

From Wiki

I'm not saying that he doesn't have to go into next years draft, it's just one of the things that rarely has been tested.

Independent leagues are not part of Organized Baseball, and therefore don't count as "major" or "minor" leagues.

[bOhs01]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/08/orioles-closing.html

Seems as if a deal is hopefully close

[MarkF]

True but his agent publicly saying that Bowden told him there was no reason to talk anymore, and that Crow will never sign for slot, period, doesn't exactly encourage Bowden toward a compromise.

An other wrinkle an next year's already deep draft if he doesn't sign.

What is slot for a #9 pick? And anybody know what Crow wanted?

[bOhs01]

During the game on masn 2 days ago, they had a graphic with the supposed slot numbers and contracts signed so far and it had the number 9 pick slotted at around 2.6 million. Crow has been asking for around 4 million and a major league contract

[bOhs01]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/12/hoping-not-to-eat-crow/

[MarkF]

During the game on masn 2 days ago, they had a graphic with the supposed slot numbers and contracts signed so far and it had the number 9 pick slotted at around 2.6 million. Crow has been asking for around 4 million and a major league contract

Thanks a lot.

[hoosiers]

These top-of-the-market-but-not-elite college pitchers (Matusz/Crowe) have some serious stones asking for $4+M in signing bonus. These guys do not have the reputed stuff of a Price, Porcello or Andrew Miller and yet they are asking for far superior coin than the amounts received by Reynolds and Lincoln.

Going back into the pool carries far more serious downside risk for the player than the team. The player could fall on merit, could move into a superior draft class and also risks being drafted by a team that offers him $2M or wait out a second year and enter the draft a third time (in which case the above risks come up again). The player almost certainly loses some (debatable how much) development time because he is not receiving top advice or playing against sufficient competition.

The upside to the player is to get drafted into a higher position on merit or work out a pre-draft deal with a team for more than what is being offered now. That's not much upside for a guy drafted in the top 10.

[Lucky Jim]

These top-of-the-market-but-not-elite college pitchers (Matusz/Crowe) have some serious stones asking for $4+M in signing bonus. These guys do not have the reputed stuff of a Price, Porcello or Andrew Miller and yet they are asking for far superior coin than the amounts received by Reynolds and Lincoln.

Going back into the pool carries far more serious downside risk for the player than the team. The player could fall on merit, could move into a superior draft class and also risks being drafted by a team that offers him $2M or wait out a second year and enter the draft a third time (in which case the above risks come up again). The player almost certainly loses some (debatable how much) development time because he is not receiving top advice or playing against sufficient competition.

The upside to the player is to get drafted into a higher position on merit or work out a pre-draft deal with a team for more than what is being offered now. That's not much upside for a guy drafted in the top 10.

I think this is spot-on - and what I've been trying to say (far less clearly) from the beginning.

[BoysofArbutus]

This is just all an example why there needs to be a hard rookie salary cap per slot. They need to stop doing it half way with stern looks and lectures under the table from the ML offices. Do what they do in the NBA and NHL and come up with a standard rookie contract you sign that can only cover say the first 5 years for HS and 3 years for college players with the current ML standards (super 2, arbitration, FA) rules applying after that player makes the ML.

The NFL will be going to something like this in the next CBA, so baseball might as well start thinking about it now.

This will never happen in baseball. The reason that the NFL is considering it is because draft picks are making more than the majority of veterans and are preventing veterans from getting contracts because the rookies have an immediate impact on the salary cap and the top team. This is not the case in baseball.

Baseball has such an extensive minor league system and such a strong union that this will never happen. There is such a high likelihood that a drafted player will never make it to the bigs, so they want to cash in as much as possible when they have leverage. Good luck if that is ever taken away

[Sports Guy]

The Nats and Crow end up 700K apart and can;t get a deal done? that is awful.

Crow's agents wait until the last minute to go from 8-10 million to 4 million and then can't swing a deal...horrendous job done by all.

[SouthRider]

From the article in the Washington Post it sounds like Crow would only sign if he was grossly overpaid. The Nats were willing to pay more than the O's paid for Matusz and Crow and his agent still turned it down. Unbelievable. You have to wonder about this guy. Have fun pitching for the Fort Worth Cats.

[sportsfan14]

The Nats and Crow end up 700K apart and can;t get a deal done? that is awful.

Crow's agents wait until the last minute to go from 8-10 million to 4 million and then can't swing a deal...horrendous job done by all.

(speaking as a Nats fan...)

Nats offered 3.5 MM and a major league deal (which, as I'm sure you know, would have been more than Matusz got, who was picked 5 picks earlier). They did nothing wrong, that is well above slot. Crow and his agents were incredibly greedy (asking for 9MM until 20 min before the deadline) and its going to hurt them in the long run way more than it will hurt the Nats.

Now the Nats have two top 10 picks next year (almost definitely including the #1 pick...hello Steve Strasburg) so this really doesn't matter much in the long run. It just shifts the dividends from a crucial asset from the present to the future. May not be a bad thing, since 2009 is going to be a lost year on the major league level as well.

Btw, hope this doesn't perpetuate the whole "Lerners are cheap" theory some people have accepted as fact. Nats went above slot to sign their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th round picks.

[Tony-OH]

I feel bad for the Nats actually. The only thing you have to wonder was did they do their homeword on Corw. Did they know he and his agent were going to be so out of whack? I really don't know the answer, but I do know that I always root against these kind of players whether they stiffed the Orioles (Townsend) or someone else. I kinda hope the guy ends up being terrible in Indy ball and his value just keeps going down and down.

I hope he ends up a cautionary tale to future draft picks to pick your agent wisely and stop thinking you are so special.