Red Pinstripes: Abolish the draft and trade highlights
The Kumar Rocker situation should prove once and for all the draft is about profits over baseball
Good morning,
Welcome to MLB Wednesday at Red Pinstripes.
I was going to lead today’s newsletter with trade deadline fallout. Then I wrote a section about Kumar Rocker not being signed by the Mets and decided to write about why it’s time to get rid of the draft and why the owners will never get rid of the draft.
Then I highlighted some teams I thought did well and some teams I thought did not do well at the trade deadline.
Finally, some more updates on the plight of minor leaguers and the U.S. Olympic baseball team.
Coming this Friday, I’ll look at the second half of the Phillies trade deadline moves — the acquisition of Freddy Galvis — and why their infield defense is so important down the stretch.
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Abolish the draft
In case you missed it, the Mets failed to sign first-round draft pick Kumar Rocker by Sunday’s deadline. It’s a pretty terrible situation that, among other things, reinforces why baseball’s draft should be abolished.
Here’s the quick recap: Rocker’s draft stock fell this year because of concerns over diminished stuff during his junior season at Vanderbilt. It’s why he was available for the Mets to take 10th overall instead of being one of the top three picks in the draft. The two sides agreed on a $6 million bonus, but after the Mets looked at his physical they tried to negotiate him down. Instead, Rocker chose not to take the diminished deal and has nowhere to play next year.
For the Mets, they completely messed up their draft strategy by failing to take a fall-back option in case they couldn’t sign Rocker. I’ll leave that to the draft heads to explain. I’m more curious about why they agreed to give Rocker $6 million and then reneged on that offer once they saw his medicals. It’s not like they weren’t already a concern. That’s why he was available to the Mets at 10!
And oh, by the way, it looks like they didn’t think his medicals were that bad. They were just concerned about future injuries. In that case, just never draft pitchers. They all get hurt.
It all leads to my conclusion that the draft needs to be abolished in favor of a free agent entry system for amateur players. Right now, they’re stuck. These players have to go to the team that drafts them and if they don’t reach an agreement, the player has to wait until next year’s draft to try again. It would be much better if all players could negotiate on the open market to find the best fit for the right money. And no, all top college stars wouldn’t just go to the Yankees or the Dodgers.
Think about it this way: in what other job market would you find yourself confined to just one employer who drafts you via a system that then allows the employer to offer you a significantly below-market salary? (By the way, Mets owner Steve Cohen admitted draft picks are worth at least five times more than what teams pay them.) You wouldn't want to participate in that system.
You also wouldn’t just go to whichever employer was offering the most money or had the best stock valuation. A lot of top college graduates go to work at startups, for less money but the dreams of doing something cool. I know someone who worked at Uber before most people knew what Uber was. He retired before he turned 30.
Development also plays a factor. In your field, you might be swayed to join an employer offering a strong mentoring program or with a track record of employees finding prestigious work elsewhere after a couple of years. Baseball players can’t make their career choices based on those factors. They’re stuck. If the team that drafts them has a reputation for ruining young arms or just middling player development compared to another team, that doesn’t matter.
And that means that the draft hurts teams, too. They have no incentive to try to attract these young players as free agents. They don’t have to recruit them. They don’t have to improve their minor league facilities or nutrition programs to attract young amateurs. These people plug-and-play “investments,” as Cohen reminded us. The owners don’t even see them as people. These players are just cost-saving opportunities to relieve owners from the financial burden of this baseball business that’s inconveniently attached to their real estate company.
Getting rid of the draft would be better for baseball players. It would be better for baseball teams. It would be better for baseball overall. It would also be bad for the owners’ bottom lines and that’s why we’ll be stuck with the draft forever.
Who did well and who failed at the trade deadline?
It was quite a trade deadline in MLB this year. I don’t think I can remember a year with quite as many trades and players moving teams. But, at this point, most of you are at least aware of what went down by last Friday. So instead, let’s run through some teams I want to highlight.
New York Yankees: The Yankees did exactly what they needed to do. They addressed the left-handed heavy lineup by adding Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is a very talented team that was underperforming. But there’s no reason to believe that the team as it was constituted couldn’t make the playoffs. By adding Gallo and Rizzo, the front office injected some urgency into the clubhouse.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, COVID has been a pesky nuisance for the team. Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery were both added to the COVID list and have been scratched from their starts this week. There’s no reason to believe that the players are not vaccinated and it is amazing how the disease has struck one of the league’s most vaccinated teams. But, if the Yankees were not so proactive about their vaccinations, Phil Nevin, who became seriously ill, might have died this year. It’s been one step forward, two steps back for the Yankees this year, and a lot of it is just plain unlucky.
Milwaukee Brewers: First, I want to highlight what might be the trade of the summer. The Brewers acquired Willy Adames from the Rays for two relievers. And since that trade, Adames has been the heart and soul of the first-place Brewers. He’s hitting .289/.375/.534 for the Brewers and his great defense has been another plus for the team.
The Brewers looked to continue to improve an otherwise struggling offense at the deadline by adding Eduardo Escobar from the Diamondbacks. He’s another good fit for the team as a switch hitter who can play multiple positions. It looks like he’ll mostly play first, replacing the supremely disappointing Keston Hiura. Suddenly, it looks like the Brewers might have a capable offense to go along with their dominant pitching staff.
Boston Red Sox: I’m pretty disappointed with what the Red Sox did at the trade deadline. They had an opportunity to solidify their position as leaders in the American League who could win the World Series. Instead, they added Kyle Schwarber as a consolation prize for missing out on Anthony Rizzo. Schwarber is fine, but he won’t be healthy for a couple of weeks and he’ll be playing a position he’s never played before. The Red Sox needed to add another starter because while Chris Sale is set to return to the rotation soon, I think the rest of that rotation still carries a lot of risks. The Red Sox, by the way, have lost four straight and are now out of first place in the AL East and have to be very concerned about the Yankees catching them over the next two months.
Colorado Rockies: The Rockies were a big loser at the trade deadline. They decided they were content not to trade Trevor Story or Jon Gray, two potential free agents. The logic goes that whatever they were being offered wouldn’t match the compensation they’ll receive if the pair leave as free agents. But that compensation is much further away than the prospects the Rockies would have received. If you’re a Rockies fan, prepare for years of terrible baseball.
Chicago Cubs: The Cubs held a firesale. It’s a disappointing end to what should have been a formidable dynasty. But instead of continuing to build the team after winning the World Series in 2016, the Cubs coasted. They tried to save money. They messed around with Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo and when those players didn’t want under-market deals to stick with the Cubs, they were traded. They joined Javier Baez and Yu Darvish as players to be traded over the last year. I said it would suck being a Rockies fan, you can double that for the Cubs fans. They reached the promised land and it looked like they might stay there for a long time. But it turns out that owner greed is greater than a desire to put a winning team on the field.
Los Angeles Dodgers: I don’t have much to say other than this team is an absolute powerhouse. They’re not afraid to spend money or trade prospects to get better. They added Max Scherzer and Trea Turner at the deadline. That’s impressive. They’re the favorites to win the World Series, again.
Washington Nationals: Earlier this year, I said the Nats should trade Max Scherzer to optimize their chances of winning next year. The Nats did that, but their cheap ownership took things a step too far, adding Turner to the deal with the Dodgers. Here’s the thing, the Lerners are the richest owners in baseball. And they have never extended a homegrown position player. Not Bryce Harper. Not Anthony Rendon. And, now, not Trea Turner. They completely blew up this team. Sure, in two years, they’ll have Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray to join Juan Soto. But are they actually going to give Soto the $400 million (and that’s a low-end estimate) it will take to keep him? I doubt it.
Minor leaguers keep getting the short end of the stick
Speaking of owners prioritizing extra profits overvaluing players as human beings, here’s some more terrible stuff minor leaguers have to deal with. I don’t think I need to say much more, just let these stories speak for themselves and imagine if you or your child had to deal with this to do your job.
Olympics update
The U.S. Olympic baseball team suffered a loss to Japan Monday morning. That means the team has a longer road to a gold medal than if they had won. They completed the first part of that journey Wednesday when they beat the Dominican Republic. Now they’re in the semifinal and will play the loser of this morning’s Korea-Japan game for a spot in the gold medal game.
Good job Tim very insightful good argument for abolishing the draft👍👍👍