Knights of the Roundtable

Only regret is that I wasn't invited, but this roundtable at Biz Of Baseball is worth the read. Of course, I have no reason to have expected an invite in the first place....

Shyster was invited (damn him!) and focused on a big topic of mine: The Draft (rule IV). Clearly, we're of the same mind, even if the system has been bent to benefit my rooting interests more than most...

I fear we are approaching a day of reckoning with respect to the Rule IV draft. It's original purposes -- to put a cap on signing bonuses and provide a means of parity-encouraging talent redistribution -- have largely been thwarted as as teams which pick high in the draft are increasingly unable or unwilling to pay the bonuses demanded by the players and their agents. This phenomenon, in turn, has allowed the richest and best teams to enhance their already-strong farm systems. I'm no wizard when it comes to this stuff, but it seems to me that revenue sharing money has to be tied to talent acquisition and development somehow, or else we're going to see an increasing talent disparity as time goes on.

I think Craig buries within the "unwilling" line the fact that MLB has set "guidelines" for slotting values. But these guidelines are merely recommendations. The ADA's recommendation that I floss twice a day carries the same threat as MLB's/Selig's recommendation. With the Yanks, Sox, Tigers and some others leveraging their resources with no fear of retribution, they are able to draft players who, based upon their talents alone, should be drafted much higher.

The system is indeed broken but don't yell at me for my team ignoring it. Can't say I didn't tell you.