Jim Thome's 600th HR Causes Ripples of Stupidity

It’s nice when good things happen to good people.  It reinforces our faith in humanity.  As such, I’m not surprised about the outpouring of adulation for Twins Designated Hitter, Jim Thome.  Thome, a former Phillies first baseman, hit his 600^th career home run on Monday.  His career accomplishments will likely land him in the Hall of Fame one day.  After playing 11 seasons in Cleveland for the Indians, Thome signed a monster free agent contract with the Phillies before the 2003 season.  It was a move 1 part baseball, 2 parts public relations and marketing.  Sure, the Phillies were a reasonably competitive team at the time, but Thome’s signing was ownership’s chief “Hey, come to the new stadium we tricked you into paying for!” plea. 

Thome with Chase Utley.

In 2004, when Citizens Bank Park opened, Thome was already the face of an awkward franchise.  A 24 year old Jimmy Rollins and a 26 year old Pat Burrell hadn’t yet grabbed hold of the reigns in the clubhouse from the likes of Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal.  The on field play of Burrell, Rollins, Lieberthal, David Bell and Marlon Byrd was frustratingly erratic and Abreu (one of the greatest Phillies ever) was totally unlikeable despite his excellence.  The pitchers were all awful.  Combining the 2003 and 2004 seasons, only Randy Wolf in 2003 had a sub-4 ERA.  Thome had to step in and immediately be the Phillies bell cow, producing on the field and shining behind the microphones.  He did.  He played two full, terrific seasons for the Phillies before getting hurt in his third year (like 34 year old players often do).  The player who replaced him during his injury? Ryan Howard.  The Phillies realized they had a cheaper, younger alternative to Thome and so he was traded during the following offseason.  In just two and a half years, Thome managed to make a lasting mark upon our fair city.  He gets a standing ovation every time he comes back.  His name graces the short list of ex-Philadelphia athletes that the town still loves.  A number of specific criteria must be met to get on that list and the All Time Ex-Philadelphia Athlete Roster deserves its own column one day, but for now Thome deserves a column all to himself.

He is the 8^th major leaguer to hit 600 home runs.  Eight.  That’s how many people have done what Jim Thome has done.  It’s a remarkable accomplishment that was reported lightly in comparison to Alex Rodriguez’s track toward 600 homers and Derek Jeter’s corpse’s march to 3000 hits.  I’m sure Thome, whose personality is almost universally lauded in the media, wouldn’t have had it any other way.  After Thome homers he circles the bases with swiftness and humility.  It’s as if he wants to get back into the dugout as quickly as possible because it makes him uncomfortable that everyone in the stadium is looking at him.  He is 80^th all time in Career Wins Above Replacement, ranking ahead of Brooks Robinson, Derek Jeter, Tony Gwynn and Barry Larkin.  He’s had an incredible career. 

That was it.  That was supposed to be the extent of this column. “Jim Thome is really good and more people should notice.”  Unfortunately, I ran into something dumb that needs addressing.

“@DailyHombre:   Hate to say it, but just because J. Thome is a nice guy doesn't mean we can accept his 600 HR without question. He's tainted like everyone.”

“Daily Hombre” is the Twitter handle for Philadelphia based sports writer, Michael Bradley.  Bradley’s career has been impressive especially when you consider the journalistic climate he’s had to deal with over the past decade and a half.  He’s broken a number of big stories (Rich Rodriguez’s hiring at Michigan comes to mind), written pieces for Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News and even makes cameos on the radio for 97.5 The Fanatic every now and then.  He’s mostly a college sports guy.  The 140 character comment of his you see above is insipid and irresponsible.  It is totally inappropriate for Bradley to offer up speculation like that.  It was irresponsible when Colin Cowherd made similar comments after Raul Ibanez had a hot month two years ago and again when several mainstream media outlets whispered about Blue Jays slugger, Jose Bautista, after he exploded into an MVP candidate last year.  Some industries never learn.

You might argue that, due to the dark cloud of Performance Enhancing Drugs that hovers over the era in which Thome left his mark, it is okay to question the legitimacy of Thome’s accomplishments.  You’d be wrong.  If you know anything about the science of PEDs, you know there isn’t a lot of science to it.  Studies on the effects of HGH and Steroids on baseball players don’t exist, because you’d have to have Major League players taking steroids to do the tests.  It’s impossible to say what any known steroid user would have done had he not taken the drugs, since we can’t quantify the aid the drugs provided.

Secondly, Thome has never tested positive for anything.  Bradley’s tweet about Thome being tainted is unfounded speculation and nothing more.  Bradley might hide behind the guise of journalism and claim it is okay to ask questions Thome’s HR total, but this claim is entirely semantic.  Which is why I sent Bradley the following tweet immediately after reading his drivel:

“Aren’t you an Anti-Semite?”

Do you see how ridiculous that is? Let me be clear, Michael Bradley is not an anti-Semite.  But for me to say such things and claim I’m just asking questions about him is a dangerous game to play.  I had exactly as much evidence about Bradley’s anti-Semitism as he does for Thome’s steroid use.  The problem is that when public figures like Bradley plant seeds like that in the public consciousness they can be very difficult to uproot. 

Michael Bradley is a great guy who made a mistake. I'm calling him on it

Why have I deviated from what started as a puffy little diddy about Jim Thome? What about Bradley’s comment got to me?  Why do I hold such high journalistic standards? Because Michael Bradley taught them to me.  Bradley was my Sports Journalism professor at Saint Joseph’s University (I took it as an elective, I was a Business Administration Major).  He was a brilliant teacher and even offered to be a reference on my resume or call in a favor should I need it (I have not, as of yet).  He violated the rules he so passionately preached from 6-9pm on Tuesday nights on Hawk Hill.  Old school, hardcore, journalistic standards thrown aside for a split second, but thrown away nonetheless. 

Jim Thome hit 600 home runs.  He can go to Cooperstown to pick up his Hall of Fame plaque.  Where can he go to get his reputation back?

Note: I approached Michael Bradley via email for comment before sending this to editing.  He threatened to sue for libel.  I’m not sure if he was serious or not.  I guess I’ll find out.

Anthony Recker's Call Up

The small town of Catasauqua, PA is back in the major leagues.  Catty High product, Anthony Recker, will be called up by the Oakland Athletics tomorrow as the A’s begin a series against the Yankees in New York.  It’s a fitting place for Recker to begin his major league career since it’s where Pat Kelly, the last Catasauquan to play in the majors, began his.

If you’re from the Lehigh Valley, you probably already know all about Pat Kelly.  The Yankees selected Kelly out of West Chester University in the 9^th round of the ’88 draft.  Kelly made his major league debut 3 years later at the age of 23 and played parts of seven season in the Bronx before signing with the Cardinals in the winter of 1997.  He played one year for the Red Birds then departed for Toronto where he played the start of the 1999 season before injuring his shoulder diving for a popup in foul territory (At least, that’s how I remember it happening.  I was 9 so I’m not totally sure).  The injury effectively ended his career.

Pat Kelly in his Aussie garb.

Was Kelly a great player? No.  Kelly’s best season came in 1993 when he was worth a respectable 2.1 Wins Above Replacement in only 450 plate appearances.  He spent most of his career either platooning or injured, hovering around replacement level with a career OBP below league average.   While by no means was Kelly a great player, he did have, in my opinion, an amazing career.  He got to play with Don Mattingly, Bernie Williams, Wade Boggs, Paul O’Neil, Derek Jeter, David Cone, Tim Raines (who needs to be in the HoF, by the way), Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Shawn Green, JD Drew (Booo!), Carlos Delgado and Dwight Gooden.  He was the first one out of the dugout to greet Mark McGwire when Mac broke the single season home run record in ’98.  He’s currently part of the coaching staff for Australia’s World Baseball Classic team and the Scouting Coordinator for the Seattle Mariners in the Pacific Rim (which, if I were Pat, I would constantly brag about. “I got the Pacific Rim job! I got the Pacific Rim job!” It’s priceless).  His experience in baseball has taken him around the world, is beyond unique and I’m sure he wouldn’t trade the road he’s taken for any number of home runs or awards. Neither would anyone in Catasauqua who still toast to him on a weekly basis in our local bars.  We love Pat Kelly because he made it out of our small town but didn’t forget that he came from it, even now as he and his family dwell peacefully in Australia.  We wouldn’t think any more highly of him if he’d won a handful of MVP awards.  He was only a utility player, but he was our utility player. 

Almost serendipitously, Kelly made his way back to the US this summer to, among other things, play in the Yankees Old Timers Game at Yankee Stadium.  (Long aside…He drifted down to Catasauqua where I saw him at the local playground one evening.  I had a conversation on the phone with him a day or two later, pleading for him to look at my scouting reports in the hopes of landing some sort of job.  He has not, as of yet, called or emailed me.  In fairness, I haven’t written as many as I wish I have.  Pat, if you’re reading this, I’m insanely busy but call me.  I’m better than 90% of the scouts out there.)  A few months later, Recker ascends to the majors and picks up in the same stadium at which Kelly left off.

So what should you expect from Recker?  Well, if his stats at AAA Sacramento are any indication, you’d think he’d be pretty good.  A .388 OBP with a .500 SLG? Sign me up.  Sadly, his stats aren’t a good indicator of what he’s likely to do in the bigs.  The Pacific Coast League is full of comical hitters parks (Cody Ransom had 25 HRs before the All Star break in the PCL) that inflate his numbers and Recker, age 27, is making his third go around in the PCL.  Scouting reports indicate he’s below average defensively as well.  The best part about all that pessimism? I don’t care one bit.  He might be a 27 year old rookie backup, but he is our 27 year old rookie backup.  No matter what Recker does during his Major League career, however brief or tenured, his picture will grace the walls of local taverns from now until eternity because he made it to the big leagues.  Everyone from Catasauqua feels like a piece of us has made it back, too.  

MLB Prospect Scouting Report: Scott Mathieson

Scott Mathieson (Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher)

Age: 27

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 230lbs

From: Vancouver, BC (17^th round of 2002 draft)

I wrote a lengthy human-interest type of column on Scott Mathieson for PhillyBroadcaster.com.  Since that piece was published, Mathieson has bounced around from the Phillies to the IronPigs and been shifted from the bullpen to the rotation.  It’s an interesting move for a pitcher whose secondary stuff has never been very good.  Pitching through the lineup several times with one pitch is not something one can do, even if that pitch deserves an 80 grade.  For the first time since his move back into the rotation I had a chance to sit and watch Mathieson pitch with the scrutiny and level of attention he deserves, and my thoughts are as follows:

First, some general stuff.  It was pretty clear Mathieson was working on things, rather than pitching like he would in an actual game.  He’d have stretches where he’d only throw one type of pitch, even if it was a secondary pitch, and neglect the rest of his repertoire.  He didn’t even start throwing his splitter until his final inning of work.  At 27, Mathieson and the Phillies need a plan to stick to.  He’s a clear bullpen arm for me but with a lack of rotation depth beyond what the Phils have in the major leagues, he might be needed to start should a rash of injuries make its way down Broad Street.  It should be noted that the Phillies began to stretch Mathieson out around the same time they discovered Joe Blanton had nerve damage in his elbow.  Phillies coaches likely have him working on all of his pitches during his starts as a last  ditch effort to develop secondary stuff in case he needs to start in the big leagues. 

Mathieson’s Fastball:

Mathieson’s fastball is his meal ticket.  He touched 98mph a few times in his start against Scranton but sat mostly in the 94-96mph range.  Late in his start Mathieson either tired or was working on something with a little less velocity, either a new sinker or a two-seamer, and his velocity dropped into the 91-93mph range.  He got a second wind later in the start and was back into the mid 90s.  That velocity is great but the fastball is very flat.  It has no sink.  Mathieson’s Groundball:Flyball ratio was a paltry 2:7.  It is a sign his pitches are flat and/or up.  It won’t fly in the majors.  Mathieson’s control of the fastball is about average.  He threw 32 of the 56 fastballs he threw for strikes.  It’s a viable major league pitch, but it’s not the hammer of god like the radar gun would lead you to believe.

Mathieson’s Curveball:

Yikes.  The mid to upper-70s offering is anything but tight.  Mathieson threw a handful of good ones but he doesn’t often know where it’s going and it’s flat.  It won’t miss bats and the lack of control means he can’t throw it for strikes early in counts.  It’s probably too late to scrap it and re-try to emphasize his slider.  It’s a dead-fish offering.

Mathieson’s Splitter:

Here we have something real.  Mathieson’s splitter sat 85-86mph with late sink.  He garnered several swings and misses with it, and showed no variation in release point, arm angle or arm speed.  I have little to compare the splitter to since I don’t see them too often, but it sure looked nasty enough to be an effective major league pitch to me.  He threw nine splitters, eight for strikes, five of those strikes were swings and misses.  Jesus Montero caught one that was about shin high and smacked it for a single, it was otherwise untouched. 

Mathieson’s Other stuff:

He seemed to toy with a slider, a pitch he used to use a lot more.  From my seating angle (Perpendicular to the batter’s stances down the first base line.  I was focusing on the hitters) I could not see the two-plane movement one looks for in a slider, so I won’t comment on it at this time.  Just knw he threw it sparingly. 

Mathieson’s mechanics:

We know Mathieson has had plenty of arm trouble in the past but he’s 27 now and there’s no use in being careful with him anymore.  The delivery undoubtedly puts a lot of stress on the elbow and isn’t the most athletic of offerings, but like I said, there’s no use in trying to change it now.  It isn’t so violent that it’s detrimental to his command.

All in all, Mathieson is an up and down guy at this point and for the foreseeable future.  

MLB Prospect Scouting Report: Devin Mesoraco

Devin Mesoraco

Age: 23

Bats: Right

Height- 6’1”

Weight- 220lbs

From: Punxsutawney High School, PA (drafted 15^th overall in 2007)

Reds catching prospect Devin Mesoraco would likely already be in the majors if not for Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan.  Both of those veterans are having fine years as they split catching duties down the middle for the Red Legs.  Part of the reason the Reds brought back Hernandez on a 1-year deal (and maybe drafted Yasmani Grandal, another catcher, in the first round of the 2010 draft) was due to Mesoraco’s slow progress in his first three professional seasons.  From 2007 through 2009, Mesoraco only got on base 31% of the time and hit a total of 18 HRs.  Most of these struggles can be attributed to recurring injuries to his hands and wrists.  In 2010, Mesoraco was healthier and broke out, popping 26 HRs as he tore up Hi-A and AA, reaching AAA Louisville by the end of the summer.  This season, his first full AAA season, Mesoraco continues to rake, boasting a .303/.378/.510 line.  He’s just about ready for the big leagues.

Offense:  Mesoraco has terrific leverage in his swing and generates a lot of torque with his body by rotating his hips during his swing.  This allows him to hit with above average power.  When his hands and wrists are healthy, that could even improve.  His bat is quick and he’ll likely hit for a good average to go along with the power.  He’s about an average runner, unlike most catchers, so he may even add some value on the bases.

Defense: Mesoraco will likely stick as a catcher but he’s not great defensively.  He has a great arm but his transfer adds some unwanted ticks to his pop time.  Watching Mesoraco in the Arizona Fall League last year led some to believe that he’d have to move out from behind the plate because he struggled to simply catch the ball, especially from pitchers with good velocity.  Now we know that Mesoraco had suffered another finger injury that hindered his ability to handle pitches cleanly.  I saw Mesorcao catch 3 games in a series this year and he was much better. 

Overall, the Reds have an above average starting catcher on their hands with the potential to make an All Star team or two.  I think Mesoraco will be given every opportunity to win the starting catcher’s job in Spring Training of 2012 and contribute to a very good Reds team next year, as long as Dusty Baker doesn’t get in his way.

MLB Prospect Scouting Report: Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso

Age: 24

Bats: Left

Height- 6’2”

Weight- 210lbs

From: The U (Miami) Reds 1^st rounder in 2008

Reds first base prospect Yonder Alonso is a name you’ll likely hear as a potential trade chip before this month’s trade deadline.  The Reds have holes to fill and Alonso plays a position they have filled with a guy who I hear is pretty good, Joey Votto.  The Reds front office obviously likes Alonso’s bat enough that they’ve pumped coaching resources into his defensive development (more on that “development” later) but his progress was slowed when he broke his hand toward the tail end of 2009.  He didn’t fully recover from that hand injury until half way through the 2010 season, finishing with a .296/.355/.470 line in 400 at bats at AAA Louisville.

Offense:

Alonso has a terrific approach, running deep counts and working walks with impressive regularity.  He sprays the ball all over the field thanks to his simple (especially below the waist) balanced swing.  The bat speed is good and there’s some leverage in the swing though Alonso hasn’t hit for as much power as you’d like to see from a first round-first base prospect.  While some of that can be attributed to the broken hand at the end of 2009 I think a lot of it has to do with Alonso’s hip rotation (or lack thereof) in the swing.  He’s obviously not very flexible and the hip rotation that generates torque in the swing just isn’t there.  Some scouts think the power will come, but I do not.  It would have been here already. 

Defense:

Alonso could be an adequate first baseman, but the Reds have been trying him in left field, hoping that he can fake it out there and come up to the big leagues to steady the revolving door of garbage (apologies to Chris Heisey, who I think is pretty good) they have up there.  They even tried him at third base but that went horribly, to put it mildly.  Alonso is slow of foot and is obviously uncomfortable in the outfield.  Even the most routine fly balls look like an adventure.  He does have an above average arm for a left fielder, but it’s more likely that he’s a first baseman only.

On the continuum of first base prospects, I like Alonso more than Freddie Freeman but less than Brandon Belt.  I think it’s likely the Reds find a trade partner before the deadline and that Alonso’s name comes up in the talks, maybe for someone who can replace Edgar Renteria’s corpse and Paul Janish at shortstop.  I think he’ll be an above average major leaguer.

Elbow Room: How Scott Mathieson's Leg is Pitching Him Back to the Majors

BY ERIC LONGENHAGEN A Canadian kid throwing a baseball?  You can count the Canucks who get paid to do that on one hand.  If you’re a strapping young male from the Great White North, chances are you’re being fitted for a pair of skates right now.  Even though great hockey players are Canada’s second most coveted export (First? Those delicious Maple Cookies that make Oreos taste like dogfood), our neighbors to the north have given us a slew of impact baseball players as well.  Sadly, Phillies minor league pitcher Scott Mathieson is not one of those guys.

Originally from Vancouver, the Phillies drafted Scott Mathieson in the 17^th round of the 2002 draft.  He struggled early in his pro career, due to the severe spike in quality over his competition as he transitioned from something called the “British Columbia Premier Baseball League” into professional baseball (hardy Americana, that is).

Slowly but surely, Mathieson started to put things together. His fastball was topping out around 100mph. Scouts also saw a hard slider, viable curveball and a promising changeup mixed in to Mathieson’s repertoire.  By 2006, he had become the top right-handed pitching prospect in the Phillies’ system and pitched his way on to the Major League roster by the middle of the season.  Then, in an early September outing of that year, Mathieson felt an odd sensation in his pitching elbow.  His downward spiral had begun.

Mathieson would need Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) Reconstruction, or what is now commonly referred to as “Tommy John Surgery”, a procedure named after the first professional athlete to undergo the Frakenstinian operation.  When Tommy John is performed, a player’s UCL is replaced by a tendon from somewhere else on the athlete’s (or a cadaver’s) body, usually from the foot, knee or hamstring.  This really isn’t a big deal.  Lots of baseball players have Tommy John Surgeries, return to the diamond and play just as well, if not better than they did before having the procedure.  Pitch velocity returns first, while command and movement of those pitches takes a little longer.  Success rates for Tommy John are staggeringly high, and players tend to return to action almost exactly 12 months from the day of the surgery.

But not Mathieson.

After months of strenuous rehabilitation, he returned to the mound at the end of 2007 and pitched in just seven minor league games before he blew out the elbow again.  He had two more surgeries, including another Tommy John, missed all of the 2008 season recovering, and drifted into the subconscious of even the most prospect-minded Phillies fan.  He became a ghost, effectively, and had to start all over, at the bottom of the minor league rung, for the third time.  Even the unluckiest Chutes and Ladders player would be sympathetic.

These are the Maple Cookies I was talking about. If any Canadians are reading this, we’ll trade you back Pamela Anderson for two trucks full of these bad boys.

But back he came.  Mathieson worked his way up to AA Reading in 2009 and pitched all of 2010 at AAA Lehigh Valley, a step away from the charter jets and swanky hotel rooms of The Show.  I had the pleasure of watching Mathieson pitch all of last year.  His fastball was back in the upper 90s (mph).  He was mowing down batters with extreme prejudice.  He stayed healthy all year.  You can’t help but root for a guy whose elbow is probably now made of a dead guy’s leg.  So I was sure that after a terrific 2010 season that he’d make the big league roster out of spring training in 2011 and make an impact in the Phillies bullpen this year.

But again, like an epic fail on repeat, Mathieson’s velocity took an inexplicable step backward.  He was topping out at 92mph at the beginning of the 2011 campaign.  I couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with him.  I thought it might all be over.  Then he came in to Wednesday’s game.

There was practically a vapor trail coming off the ball.  Spectators gasped as they saw readings of 98, 99, 99, 98, 97, 99, light up the stadium’s radar gun.  A crowd of minor league baseball fans who were drifting into delirium from the scorching summer heat suddenly began stirring.  It was alive.

How and why Scott Mathieson suddenly got his ungodly heater back escapes me.  Was he slightly injured at the beginning of the year?  Out of shape?  Getting little sleep from watching late-night “Kenny vs. Spenny” reruns?  Has his strange workload positively impacted his arm strength? (Normally relievers pitch one inning every other game, or so.  Recently, Mathieson has been pitching two innings per appearance and getting three or four days rest between them.  I’ve never seen that before.)  In all reality, I have no fucking clue.  All I know is that if the Scott Mathieson I saw Wednesday night is here to stay, then he won’t be staying in the minor leagues too much longer.  He’ll be embarrassing major league hitters in front of thousands of paying customers who have long since forgotten his once buzz-worthy name.

I Feel A Draft: The Importance of MLB's Amateur Draft

BY ERIC LONGENHAGEN Tonight is Major League Baseball’s Rule 4 Draft (there is also a Rule 5 Draft, but not a Rule 1, 2 or 3 Draft.  Weird, right?) and it’s not usually on the mind of many formal sports fans, let alone casual ones. Of the three major American sports, baseball’s draft is the least bandied about, while the NFL and NBA drafts are highly publicized and score big TV ratings.  I have some theories as to why it doesn’t register with the public:

1. We haven’t seen the players - College Football and Basketball are prominent entities in sports television.  We know the coaches and, more importantly, we know the players.  Tim Tebow is popular enough that he has an autobiography coming out this week; and he a) wasn’t even one of the top few picks in his draft, and b) he isn’t very good.  No such recognition for baseball’s best amateurs.  The lay person wouldn’t know Trevor Bauer from Jack Bauer, even though he’s having one of the best seasons a college pitcher has ever had.  There’s very little college baseball on TV and the public has no way of connecting with any of these guys like they do for basketball and football players.

Chase Utley during his days at UCLA, likely the birthplace of his love for Led Zeppelin.

2. We won’t see the players, for a while, anyway - Unlike the NFL and NBA where fans can be wearing a new draft pick’s jersey within a month of their selection and see them on the field almost immediately, baseball players can take years to develop, if they do at all.  Shane Victorino was drafted in 1999 and only saw regular playing time in the majors starting in 2006. Our attention spans don’t last 5 minutes, let alone… oh look a butterfly… Sorry, I’m back.  It’s an out of sight out of mind problem.  You can’t blame people for not getting into the draft when the results likely won’t impact their favorite team for 3 or 4 years.

3. MLB Marketing – MLB’s core fan base is aging.  There’s a reason Cialiscommercials are seen with great regularity during MLB broadcasts. Whether it’s inherent in the game of baseball (which is relatively unappealing to the ever shortening attention span of World youth) or something MLB’s marketing department is bringing upon themselves (MLB refuses to allow clips of their games anywhere online, which doesn’t really make sense when you’re trying to appeal to the Youtube generation) it’s obvious they don’t do a good enough job alerting people of the draft.

The sad thing is that the draft is easily the most important function the MLB front office performs.  Not only is it the lifeblood of  on-field success, but financial success as well.  Young players are under their team’s control for the first six years of their service in the majors. Their salaries start well below what they’d be worth on the open market. And they earn their franchise much more in revenue for the cost of employment.  Take Washington Nationals phenomenon Stephen Strasburg, for example.  Strasburg was drafted in 2009, signed a four-year, $15 miillion deal (one of the largest deals ever) and made his major league debut in 2010.  He made only 12 starts before getting injured but was already worth at least $10 million in revenue during that time (I’d love to tell you how that number is calculated, but you’re not ready for that yet).

Young players are also far more predictable.  Old veterans have injury problems and natural, age-induced regressions in performance.  Yet fan bases and front offices crave big name free agent signings that, more often than not, are abject failures.  Emphasis on the draft is a way for small market teams to compete and a way for big market teams to exact dominance.  One of the poorest teams in all of baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, have made it a point to allocate serious funds toward the draft and as a result are competing with the Red Sox and Yankees, the Goliaths of the sport. Tampa has worked to acquire 12 of the first 90 picks in this year’s draft, which is loaded with talent.  Trust me: this is serious business.