Food For Thought

As we all know now our wonderful game of baseball has just implemented a new collective bargining agreement.  With all the new rules and caps this has given us stay at home GM types a bit of time to ponder on what to do.....what to do.....Jesus what do we do now?  I am not sure on any of the exact numbers but let's just agree that some of the now imposed caps are drastically different and will effect a lot of teams.  MLB has basically capped the draft and all international signings.

In regards to the draft, teams are only allowed to spend a certain number - which is to be determined - on their entire draft.  Gone are the days of the 17 million dollar drafts.  Teams now will have to spend wisely and put a premium on scouting to find those diamonds in the rough that will be worth the signing bonuses.  Also gone are the days of offering major league contracts to draft picks.

On international signings it gets even more weird.  Long gone are the days of giving players like Hech 10 million.  A team now has around 2 million to spend for the entire season.  They do get to trade some of the unused cap away but I'm not even going to get into that craziness!

With all these new strict rules and hard caps now out there, organizations are going to have to be a lot more selective on who they sign and what to pay them.

But wait.....do they really have to?  I may be wrong in all this, again it's just some food for thought.

Let's say for argument sake you have another Bryce Harper in the draft.  The Jays only have 5 million allotted for draft picks, FOR THE ENTIRE DRAFT.  This would mean that signing that player to a big bonus just got a whole lot harder and maybe he won't sign at all instead opting to go to college.  What if the Jays drafted said player and gave a signing bonus to him for the minimum amount.  He gets his minor league contract and reports to whatever level the Jays would like to start him at.  What is to stop the Jays at this point from purchasing his contract, adding him to the 40 man roster and renegotiate his contract to pay him the big bucks that the "stud" deserves?  Then burn an option year and send him out to the minors.

 

Simple.

The Jays wouldn't use up much of their precious draft cap and the phenom would get the money he feels he deserves.  Everyone wins.

I could be completely out to lunch and this wouldn't work at all....or maybe I found a sneaky loophole just waiting to be exploited.  Especially in the case of top notch draft talent and those gems in the international free agent market.

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This was a guest post by my idiot Reds fan friend

And The Winner Of The Cuban Lottery Is: US!

Adeiny Hechevarria
Shortstop
Right Handed Hitter
Age: 19, 20 or 21 depending who you ask.....
Height: 6'0 or 6'1
Weight: 160 lbs or 170 lbs

Apparently he resembles a young Alfonso Soriano.  Long and lean.

He hit .262 with a .302 on-base percentage and a .355 slugging percentage for Santiago de Cuba in his last season in the Cuban National Series.  In 141 at bats he managed 37 hits including 6 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 2 steals and 21 RBI. 

According to Cuban Ball Players:

On defense: Hechevarria covers a lot of ground, has amazing quickness, great hands and his footwork is excellent.

On offense: Hechevarria likes to hit behind the runners. During last season, he hit 50 times toward right field. He also hit 38 times to left field and 32 to center field.

There are a couple of additional videos of him available if you click the link above.



Start at the 4:58 mark, Hechevarria makes a crazy play to his left.  He uses a big glove for a shortstop.

The deal has been reported to be 10 million for four years.  

How long does he stay in the minors?  Does he get a look this season?  Does he speak any English?  What is his nickname?  Is it half as cool as The Cuban Missile?

Analysis:

Looks like he is a wizard with the glove.  Based on his hitting tendencies, he probably has the right skill set to hit second in the order.   

To me the biggest story here is that this guy turned down the Evil Empires offer for ours.  Boy Wonder outmaneuvered Cashman.  Fucking A!  And fuck you Skankees fans.

I'm wondering when this becomes official if he will be placed on the 40 man roster?  And if he does, who gets dropped?

And the winner of the Cuban lottery is:

NOT US!

He hits 100mph from the stretch @ the 3 minute mark.

So, we lost the Cuban lottery, can’t say that I’m overly surprised, but I am relieved. Can’t see why he decided on the Reds as I don’t think they’re any good either. He won’t have to compete in the AL East which must have something to do with his decision. Well that and the other 7 million dollars. But after all that, I’m glad we didn’t win, here we’ve got this kid who hasn’t pitched a day in the majors, I don’t think his stats are that great. Speaking of stats, his Cuban League stats translate to major league levels to what pretty much what we've already got. Sure with some seasoning and him getting used to big league hitters he "might" be something. But at that rate of pay, he doesn't have that kind of time. With 30 million on the line I’m guessing he’ll be pitching in the bigs before he’s ready. The Reds GM has already said that he may break camp with the team. He may break camp? You're going to have a player getting paid 6 million in the minors? 30 million might buy you a lot of things, but one thing it doesn’t buy you is time.

But for me, there is a much, much bigger story here. When you first heard or read that the Jays were at one point close to the front of the pack for this kid; what was your first reaction? I’ll tell ya right fucking now; I was like WHAAAT? When was the last time we were in the front of the pack for anything? When was the last time you could actually find the Jays mentioned in a story on Foxsports or ESPN’s website that didn’t involve Roy Halladay? Every time I read about the Jays it’s never good, 4th largest market in the league doesn’t get us many news stories down there. I was happy to see the Jays in the headlines again, but more importantly; I am happy to see Boy Wonder trying to make a big move. A very risky move, but a big move none the less. J.P. tried to make these kinds of big moves as well; Hello B.J. Ryan! They never seemed to work out for him. So why this time when Boy Wonder decided he’s going to make a big risky move, why am I excited about it? Faith is the answer to that question boys and girls, I’ve actually got some confidence in this GM, this President and I don’t think I’m alone in this. Rogers has faith in this kid. The fact that we were even talking contracts with this kid tells me that Rogers has faith in what Boy Wonder has to say and they’re buying what he’s selling. I don’t think they had faith in J.P. for a few years now, but just couldn’t pull the trigger on getting rid of him. Once again it comes down to hope and I’ve got hope in Boy Wonder taking us to the next level.

Quickly:

We DID re-aquire Zach Jackson. He joins the others on the list of shitty minor league free agents.

Boy Wonder still has one spot open on his 40 man roster but no back up catcher. Are we done shopping?