You win some calculated risks. You lose some calculated risks. Last summer, Josh Bell was a first round prospect who made it known that he intended to play college baseball and basically told teams not to draft him. The teams listened, at least in the first round. The Pittsburgh Pirates decided to take a gamble on Bell in the 2nd round of the June amateur draft, and they eventually wooed him to sign by throwing above slot money his way.
It worked last season, but this season, the gamble didn't pay off. The Pirates selected Stanford right-handed pitcher Mark Appel with the 8th overall pick in the 2012 June draft. Appel was the projected number one overall pick by many, but he reportedly turned down a $6 million offer from the Houston Astros, and because of his apparent decision to not sign with anyone and go back to school, the rest of the teams at the top of the draft passed on him, and he slipped to Pittsburgh with the 8th pick.
Even though the Pirates clearly could not offer Appel what the Astros did because of the new restrictions on signing bonuses given to players in the draft, they still took a gamble on the young right hander.
Well, today's signing deadline came and went, and Appel really is going to stay in school for his senior year.
The Pirates offered Appel roughly $3.5 million, but he rejected the offer and was the only first round pick not to sign. For their troubles, Pittsburgh will receive the 9th pick in next year's draft as compensation.
With high-end pitchers Jameson Taillon, Luis Heredia and Gerrit Cole in their system, one has to wonder why the Pirates would go after a player who they knew would be difficult to sign.
But what I really don't understand is why MLB took away the one weapon that a small-market team like the Pirates can use in-order to stay competitive.
There is no salary cap in baseball, and there probably won't be ever, and for small-market teams to get high-end talent, they must do so in the draft. For the Pirates the last few years, they were able to quickly restock their once barren farm system by taking risks on players like Bell and Pedro Alvarez in 2008. For years, it was said that Pittsburgh refused to go after high-end players in the draft because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to sign them. One has to look no further than the Matt Wieters fiasco of 2007 for proof of that sentiment.
Instead of drafting the Wieters of the world with their annual top 10 selection, they would take lesser talents like Paul Maholm, Brian Bullington and Daniel Moskos. In fact, it was Moskos that the team selected 4th overall in 2007 instead of Wieters. That worked out so well, the Pirates just released Moskos this week.
Well, starting in 2008, the Pirates became more aggressive and selected Alvarez with the 2nd pick in the draft, and even though he was represented by the infamously tough to deal with Scott Boras, they eventually signed him. In 2010, they took Taillon in the first round and then another pitcher, Stetson Allie, in the 2nd round, who, much like Bell, was considered to be a first round talent but made it known that he wanted to play college baseball instead of being drafted. And just like in the case of Bell, the Pirates offered Allie above-slot money, and they signed him and got him in their system.
But starting this season, MLB passed a rule that restricted how much money teams could pay draft picks in signing bonuses.
Had last year's rules still been in place, Appel would probably have been selected number one by the Astros because they would have been able to pay him any bonus that they wished.
It will be interesting to see if the Pirates continue to take these kinds of gambles now that they don't have the freedom to pay above slot.
We'll find out starting next season when they have yet another top 10 pick, at least as compensation for Appel. With the team doing so well in the standings, let's hope they won't have two top 10 picks.
As for Appel, who is also being represented by Boras, let's hope his gamble pays off in next year's draft. It is said that the draft will be deeper in talent in 2013, and Appel could again fall to the Pirates.
Could be interesting.
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