I agree with a lot of your posts but the lack of a salary cap is a terrible, terrible thing in every sense. I wish every pro sports league had a hard cap, not even a soft cap. In some ways, a soft cap creates some of the same problems as no cap, giving an advantage to bigger market teams and owners with deeper wallets. Revenue sharing in MLB doesn't come close to serving it's purpose, either. Even if owners on the bottom used every dollar toward improving the on-field product (which they don't), it wouldn't come close to creating parity. There is nothing fascinating about having teams that can blow other teams out of the water when it comes to FA spending and even in the draft due to the lack of enforced slot allowances. I would love for MLB to have a hard cap on both payrolls and slot allowances. I believe that it would make for a better league, both in terms of parity and financially in the long run. I understand that teams on the bottom have had success but it doesn't change the fact that the rich teams have an advantage coming into every single season, even if drafting and developing is at the core of successful team building. The rich teams even have advantages in that area, being able to spend more to go over slot. Also, the teams on the bottom are not as able to have the sustained success of the richer teams and history proves that undeniably.
I know you already figured out that he is right, but you had to look no further than the Astros last year paying the buyout on Brocail and declining to offer arbitration. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/astros-offer-arb-to-valverde-not-tejada-hawkins-brocail.html
Ding ding ding, until this happens MLB won't see a dime of my money. Yankees Red Sox vs. everyone else.
The Astros also signed undrafted shortstop Jonathon Merritt out of UAB. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/7048640.html
You're giving the Dodgers way too much credit with this one. The reason they picked him was definitely because they knew he wouldn't sign, but it has more to do with McCourt's money issues than anything else.
@MLBDraft: Astros sign three more #mlbdraft picks - 19 in total now. Jamaine Cotton (15th); Adam Champion (24th) and Jeremiah Meiners (40th).
If those deals happen they will happen much farther along in the process, though it would be good to get the first 4-5 picks signed.
Well, sometimes those deals get done quickly if the team simply meets the player's demand. Personally, and this is the pessimist in me speaking, the longer these things drag out the less I feel confident about getting them. And we desperately need these guy to help refill the farm. The first player that came to mind when the Astros picked someone who dropped due to signability, was Berkman. The Astros immediately gave him a huge bonus and signed him.
Here's an article from Keith Law that recapped every team's day 2 picks. The Astros happened to be the title...
Q & A with Kvasnicka. Not a lot to it, but he seems like a nice kid. http://www.startribune.com/sports/g...cyaiUjc8LDyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr
Good progress for sure. Adam Plutko and Jacoby Jones will be the toughest signings. Both will require paying way over the slot for their services. Let’s see if they open their checkbooks for them. Also don’t forget the International Signing Period starts July 2 which is like the 2nd draft. Let’s see for once if the Astros are aggressive during this period. They usually wait till later and sign the leftovers.
Yeah guys like Jean Batista, Jose Montero and Michael Feliz are real leftovers. What a bunch of cheapskates the Astros have been lately.
Yeah, with the new facilities in the Dominican, the increased presence in Asia, the signings like the ones you mentioned (all 3 highly sought after by other teams & signed for large bonuses) and the increased focus placed on the Wade/Heck drafts, it's painfully obvious to anyone that's seriously paying attention that the Stros philosophy has changed drastically from the latter Hun & the Purpura tenures.
Bill Brown just said that Ben Heath and the 37st rd pick have signed, hadn't seen anything concerning it. Heath is extremely intriguing as a possible 1st baseman Edit - found this on twitter... JasonBristol has learned that Ben Heath, catcher from Penn State and 5th round pick in 2010 #mlbdraft has signed with @astros... http://bit.ly/
alysonfooter The Astros signed two more picks, both catchers...fifth rounder Ben Heath and 49th rounder Kenny Diaz....
