Friday, September 19, 2003
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, BABY.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times has an article that is too interesting not to post on that contrasts the approaches of rival General Managers, Pat Gillick and Billy Beane.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2001736121_rivalry19.html
"They have a theory what they do, but I think what they're doing is limiting themselves, maybe because of economics. They think high-school kids are too much of a longshot, too much uncertainty. But the old saying is, if you want to hit it big, you'd better take a risk." (Stone, Seattle Times)
The above quote was made by Gillick regarding the A’s draft philosophy focusing on college players. Gillick hits the nail right on the head. It is economics; risk versus reward. Low revenue teams do not have the resources to make high risk/reward investments. Even if one pans out to be a great player, he can not bring a championship to the franchise alone.
Another benefit to drafting college players that does not get as much media attention is that the club should have the college draftee in or near their prime performance years as pre-arbitration players. If the college pick plays short season A-ball at 21 and follows the normal track (a year at each level), he would arrive in the majors at 26 years old. (Of course, a star player is probably going to advance through the minors more quickly, but platoon, backup, middle relief players are valuable too.) The club would pay the player at basically the league minimum during his prime years and control him through age 31. Drafting college players appears to be the most cost (signing bonus + MLB salary) effective approach to the draft both short and long-term.
Jumping squarely on the soap box…
The A’s and other low revenue teams can not always afford the monetary requirements of the top amateur players in the world. This is a major reason for “competitive imbalance” and it has not been addressed by MLB. I do not know enough about the draft to propose in depth reforms, but making it world-wide with the club owning the rights of a player for four years before they can re-enter the draft should decrease the number of “signability” picks and Alfonso Sorianos.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times has an article that is too interesting not to post on that contrasts the approaches of rival General Managers, Pat Gillick and Billy Beane.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2001736121_rivalry19.html
"They have a theory what they do, but I think what they're doing is limiting themselves, maybe because of economics. They think high-school kids are too much of a longshot, too much uncertainty. But the old saying is, if you want to hit it big, you'd better take a risk." (Stone, Seattle Times)
The above quote was made by Gillick regarding the A’s draft philosophy focusing on college players. Gillick hits the nail right on the head. It is economics; risk versus reward. Low revenue teams do not have the resources to make high risk/reward investments. Even if one pans out to be a great player, he can not bring a championship to the franchise alone.
Another benefit to drafting college players that does not get as much media attention is that the club should have the college draftee in or near their prime performance years as pre-arbitration players. If the college pick plays short season A-ball at 21 and follows the normal track (a year at each level), he would arrive in the majors at 26 years old. (Of course, a star player is probably going to advance through the minors more quickly, but platoon, backup, middle relief players are valuable too.) The club would pay the player at basically the league minimum during his prime years and control him through age 31. Drafting college players appears to be the most cost (signing bonus + MLB salary) effective approach to the draft both short and long-term.
Jumping squarely on the soap box…
The A’s and other low revenue teams can not always afford the monetary requirements of the top amateur players in the world. This is a major reason for “competitive imbalance” and it has not been addressed by MLB. I do not know enough about the draft to propose in depth reforms, but making it world-wide with the club owning the rights of a player for four years before they can re-enter the draft should decrease the number of “signability” picks and Alfonso Sorianos.
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Thank you - Red Sox!
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