What's the value of quick signings?

[Frobby]

We've talked a bit about whether the O's chose certain guys due to their "signability." There's a financial aspect to that which we all understand. But what about the value of getting the player signed quickly and on to a minor league roster this year, as opposed to having a negotiation drag out to August 17 and having the player miss the minor league season? What importance do you place on that?

Personally, I think that's got a fair bit of value, especially for the high school guys. For them, I think you really want to get their feet wet this year at Bluefield or the GCL, and maybe Aberdeen if they get off to a great start, and then you are way ahead of the game when 2010 rolls around.

I place slightly less importance on it for the top college guys, because they've already been playing against some pretty good competition on a regular basis, and you can always send them to the Arizona Fall League to get their feet wet. (Unfortunately, the Hawaiian Winter League has folded so there aren't as many options now.)

So personally, I'm glad that it seems likely that Hobgood and many of our other top picks will be wearing a uniform in 2 weeks.

[Stotle]

We've talked a bit about whether the O's chose certain guys due to their "signability." There's a financial aspect to that which we all understand. But what about the value of getting the player signed quickly and on to a minor league roster this year, as opposed to having a negotiation drag out to August 17 and having the player miss the minor league season? What importance do you place on that?

Personally, I think that's got a fair bit of value, especially for the high school guys. For them, I think you really want to get their feet wet this year at Bluefield or the GCL, and maybe Aberdeen if they get off to a great start, and then you are way ahead of the game when 2010 rolls around.

I place slightly less importance on it for the top college guys, because they've already been playing against some pretty good competition on a regular basis, and you can always send them to the Arizona Fall League to get their feet wet. (Unfortunately, the Hawaiian Winter League has folded so there aren't as many options now.)

So personally, I'm glad that it seems likely that Hobgood and many of our other top picks will be wearing a uniform in 2 weeks.

I'm not a developer of young, professional talent, but my guess us you can use this year to start making the small changes you've identified pre-draft, rather than working on them for the first time in the fall and spring. If I can get the quick-fixes out of the way early, I can start on the more challenging developmental/instructional issues.