Tuesday Morning Rockpile:

by Russ on Aug 19, 2008 7:55 AM MDT in Rockpile Comment 31 comments

So the Rockies get to face Manny and the Dodgers. Ramirez has been on fire since joining LA:

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2008 - Manny Ramirez	16	59	11	25	3	0	6	21	10	12	0	0	.424	.514	.780

A little Ubaldo Jimenez should shut Manny down today. But Manny isn't the only new face around on the Dodgers. Or maybe it's better to say, another new face with the Dodgers is also an old face. The Dodgers have reportedly re-acquired former Dodger Greg Maddux from the Padres for two players to be named. Maddux, if the deal doesn't somehow dissipate, will take Brad Penny's spot in the rotation.

Kip Wells should join the Royals soon, as he became a free agent yesterday. How does he turn out for the Royals?

Patrick Saunders looks at Chris Iannetta's season so far, and he wants to convince everyone that there shouldn't be any "Helton has to go" discussions.

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Draft Signings??

I may have missed it, but what was the final results of this year’s draft signings? Did Burns or Dominguez sign??

TGFPR!!

by jlot10 on Aug 19, 2008 9:05 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

no and no.

The Rockies spent just under $3,000,000 in the first ten rounds, third lowest total in the majors, although one of the teams that was lower, the Angels, shows that this might not be the best tool to determine who’s adding talent. The Rox did make two significant bonus signings to later round picks in Massey and Cleary earlier in the summer, but nobody else came in before the deadline.

by Rox Girl on Aug 19, 2008 9:11 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sizing up the draft

So overall how did this year’s draft shake out??

TGFPR!!

by jlot10 on Aug 19, 2008 9:15 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right now, not too bad

Particularly considering we had a later first pick and nothing in the supplemental round. I’d say the Giants added the most talent, but given the Padres problems (they missed out on Ryan Khalish which is a similar blow to our losing Dominguez and Allen Dykstra’s hip problems are a concern) and relatively low ceiling drafts by LA and Arizona, I’d probably put us second in the division in talent added, and we’re probably doing better than all our peers in the professional debut department. I like the potential upsides of Massey and Cleary, Friedrich is living up to high expectations, Blackmon’s not overwhelming, but he’s looking fairly solid at least, as is Kiel Roling, and only a couple of picks are looking like quick flopouts right now. There are a few potential bullpen sleepers, particularly the Ya-Jo duo in Casper (Yacko and Jorgenson) and Matt Baugh as a starter. One of the biggest surprises might be Thomas Field, who’s showing more power and patience than I expected given his scouting profile. All of this adds to a pretty decent debut for the class.

by Rox Girl on Aug 19, 2008 9:30 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jason Kipnis = Ryan Khalish?

That was a confusing blunder by me. I need to get back to work, sorry.

by Rox Girl on Aug 19, 2008 9:31 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd add Walker to the list of relievers

before last night, he had been cruising through Casper, flashing a big K rate and surprising command indicators. He also has the live left arm to back it up.

I also like Cleary as a good wild card to this draft. He was the PG Arkansas Player of the Year last year (I believe) and is considered to be full of unrefined tools.

by David OhNo on Aug 19, 2008 11:55 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Draft

Here’s a listing of ALL signing bonuses for the first 10 round:

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/draft/2008/bonuses/signing_bonuses_08.aspx

(This prints like crap for me – I dumped into Excel to make it look better)

As for the money spent, a few things kept the Rockies amount down:

1) Dominguez not signing, obviously
2) No supplemental picks (more picks = more chances to spend)
3) Picking near the end of each round – lower picks = lower bonuses

It doesn’t appear that they really went above slot for anyone, but it doesn’t appear that they went to the discount bin for anyone, either.

Speaking of discount bin – check out pick 194. I’ve seen other references to this signing. It is apparently NOT a typo … Obviously not a Boras client.

by kosmo99 on Aug 19, 2008 9:40 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

pick 194

He was a college senior—obviously he lost all of his leverage. Still, the Mets could have been nicer to him and gave him some money.

by DenverBears on Aug 19, 2008 10:12 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

True, but

These guys were also college seniors, were drafted behind Satin, and got more money

pick 203 – 30k
208 – 40k
217 – 100k
245 – 58K
253 – 35K
258 – 30K
270 – 30K

pick 264 got the same amount.

Only one player in the first 10 rounds got less than Satin – pick 313 signed for 15K.

by kosmo99 on Aug 19, 2008 10:41 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's 24

With a 1984 birthday, he’s older than most of the others.

by rockieprogress on Aug 19, 2008 12:02 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

True

But I still think his agent sucks :)

by kosmo99 on Aug 19, 2008 7:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Royals....

So the Royals grabbed Kip Wells….

Would they like Livan Hernandez too?

by DenverBears on Aug 19, 2008 10:13 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Dominguez

Will he eligible for the ’09 draft? Do the Rockies now lose him? Is this an indication he did not want to be a Rockie?

by roxtalk on Aug 19, 2008 11:35 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Seemed he really wanted to go back to school

He committed to return to Louisville RIGHT after the draft. Didn’t seem he was waiting to see what sort of money the Rox were willing to hand him. Maybe he didn’t like his draft position and figured he’d go higher next year.

And if I understand the rules, the Rockies lose all rights to him. They could get another draft pick in the same round next year?

by Since1993 on Aug 19, 2008 4:37 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Compensatory

I think you only get a pick in next year’s draft if a 1st or 2nd rounder didn’t sign. Which is good, because otherwise there would be about 50 picks in the 40th round every year :)

There’s a blurb about it on Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_Draft#Compensatory_Picks

by kosmo99 on Aug 19, 2008 7:12 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Iannetta

So, I’m in a keeper league and I picked him Iannetta up during the season as a free agent. We get to keep 8 players, and I was wondering if you guys thought he would be a keeper quality talent?
The rest of my team:
1B – Prince Fielder and Jason Giambi
2B – Mark DeRosa and Alexi Casilla
3B – Mark Reynolds and Andy LaRoche
SS – Rafael Furcal and Stephen Drew
OF – Ryan Ludwick, Josh Hamilton, Jeremy Hermida, JD Drew, Hideki Matsui and Michael Bourn
SP – Haren, Billingsley, Gavin Floyd, Cook, Jurrjens and Phil Hughes

No RP worth keeping
Safe to say, my team has sucked this year, 11th place out of 12 teams. All of my closers got injured or supplanted, it was dreadful. Then Furcal got hurt, and my season was over.
Sorry to turn this into a “My Fantasy Baseball League” post, but I just wanted to get fellow Rockie fans opinions on Iannetta for the future. I do like that he has a higher OPS than Soto right now, by almost 30 points too. Just needs to get his average up.

by TehChamp on Aug 19, 2008 12:06 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Keep Him

He is 25, this is (in effect) his rookie year. I doubt his numbers will go down, and he’ll probably get to play more next year too.

by onholliday on Aug 19, 2008 12:12 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hate to tell you this

But it really doesn’t matter if you keep him – you are not going to win next year either.

Not with the top 96 players gone before the draft starts and a keeper list like this. You’ve got maybe 2 or 3 of the top 50 players here. Time to rebuild.

On this list I keep Fielder, Ludwick, Hamilton, Haren, Billingsley, Iannetta, Drew and Jurrjens/Cook.

by Roberbola on Aug 19, 2008 1:06 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Winning...

Oh, I know I’m not winning. This is my first keeper league, and first time doing a baseball league in like 6 years, and the day before keepers were due I had to submit my keeper list. I unrationally went through the list and kept some guys I shouldn’t, like Brad Penny and Hank Blalock, instead of keeping a guy like Corey Hart, who honestly I had no idea who he was before this year. The guy’s team I inherited had a lot of Brewers on it, it was tough.
I lucked out in drafting Hamilton and Billingsley, and lucked out in free agency with Ludwick. I made a trade I probably shouldn’t have when I traded Roy Halladay away though.
I just hope in a couple years these young guys stack my team with talent.

by TehChamp on Aug 19, 2008 1:11 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Keeper leagues

I joined my first keeper league last year (we keep everyone). I pretty much drafted from a top 100 prospect list, and pretty much ignored established players. I finished dead last (20th) last year. Most of my guys were in AAA most of the year, so I got killed in the counting stats. I’m 2nd this year – 1/2 game out of first (we only have 18 teams, as a couple guys folded, I guess)

Oddly, most teams went after established players, and I scooped a lot of good players.

Some of my players
Longoria, Headley, Lowrie, Pedroia, Alexei Ramirez, Delmon Young, Wood, Lincecum, Garza, Volquez, Hochevar, Wang, Detwiler, Andrew Miller … and Iannetta and Clement behind the plate (and it’s a Yahoo league, so Clement only needs to catch 5 games a year to remain eligible)

Bear in mind that this is an 18 team league :)

by kosmo99 on Aug 19, 2008 9:02 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man the money these guys get today!

Anybody want to guess how much I got in 1982?

by PinchHitLancePainter on Aug 19, 2008 1:51 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

50 bucks and a good luck pat on the back?

I want one of these unis. I don't care what you say, it looks awesome.

by The Lodo Magic Man on Aug 19, 2008 7:50 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

1st Rnd picks

How many in the 1st Rnd did not sign and how does that impact our position next season?? Thanks for the info

TGFPR!!

by jlot10 on Aug 19, 2008 3:12 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Only two,

So long as Josh Fields eventually signs, which he will, and it will only impact our draft position if we finish 10th worst or better as the Nationals will now get the tenth pick next season regardless of what happens, and whoever finishes tenth worst picks eleventh.

A couple of teams caved far more than they had to. The Royals in particular seemed into throwing away their money this season. I know this sounds like I’m taking a pro-ownership stance, but it’s actually just a stance based on the reality of the leverage ownership holds over these kids which I think is unfair. They can’t negotiate with other teams, and for most their two options are sign with the drafting team and pursue a dream that could make them millions, or go to college and hope they have the same chance one year later. All it will take to really drive down their signing bonuses is for about five or six teams in one year to say “sorry Charlie” and take the pick next season. It’s a much smaller gamble that there won’t be comparable talent available than it is for the kid that his talent won’t be as highly thought of by all teams.

I could understand why the Red Sox would screw the slotting system, but for other small market teams, they would be wise to look at just how strong their position is with just a little solidarity.

by Rox Girl on Aug 19, 2008 4:04 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

solidarity = collusion = union getting them in a twist.

I can almost hear Don Fehr or Marvin Miller or whoever dreams that crap up running to the nearest Federal courthouse now. And I know the players aren’t “in the union” now, and all the arguments on both sides, which is why it just boils down to a defined bonus system like in the NFL. Seems to work for them.

by Prospector on Aug 19, 2008 7:03 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do you mean NBA?

NFL is just as crazy in escalating bonuses, their rookies simply have less leverage by forfeiting eligibility by entering the draft.

by David OhNo on Aug 19, 2008 7:17 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I knew one of the four pro leagues had defined bonuses.

Regardless, the baseball draft will never be fixed. Just my opinion.

by Prospector on Aug 19, 2008 7:59 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Any Legal Eagles out there

Last I heard, the union wasn’t too hard pressed to protect the interests of unproven players. Less money for draft picks means more money for guys in the bigs. I agree with RG that ownership needs to start taking a hard line and take the upcoming picks a couple of years in a row and see where it goes.

The only issue I see is if Boras finds away to declare players free agents if they don’t sign and sit out a year. How did it work with Matt Harrington (obviously it didn’t for him) in terms of him being drafted two or three times. What are the rules and how concrete are they that MLB could make this happen?? I can rationalize easier paying Manny $30 million a year than paying someone like Buster Posey $3 million.

Note I said easier – not easily!

TGFPR!!

by jlot10 on Aug 20, 2008 5:56 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Well said

You nailed it. The MLBPA doesn’t represent draft picks, and would rather see the money go to their membership.

The issue with some 1st round draftees who became free agents had to do with agents exploiting techinical violations wherein the drafting teams did not tender an offer to the draft pick within the deadline. (I recall something about faxes being dated after midnight, or something similar.)

Watching the purple row from high atop the big brown monolith on California Ave

by Mondogarage on Aug 20, 2008 12:03 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Escape clauses

When Travis Lee was in the draft, he exploited a rule that allowed you to become a free agent if the team didn’t make an offer within 15 days. I’m guessing that this loophole has been closed, but I’m not 100% sure.

One aspect to eligibility is that only residents of the US, Canda, Puerto Rico and students who enroll in a high school or college in the United States (regardless of whether or not they are technically residents) are technically eligible.

I’m thinking waaaaaaaaaaaaay outside the box here, but if a kid is home schooled, they might be eligible to participate at sports at a local school without technically being enrolled. (obviously, this is going to vary widely from state to state). Let’s say he is a dominant player for this school at which he is not enrolled. He then moves out of the US and establishes residency in Mexico – has he excluded himself from the draft (allowing him to be treated as a “foreign” player, and be signed as a free agent)?

by kosmo99 on Aug 20, 2008 7:38 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs