A new idea I had for the site. If you look to the left, you’ll see a “Profile” link under Carlos Carrasco’s name. If you click that link, it will take you to a post with links and information on the player. I added a few articles I was able to find, a picture, and then I made a little career register, highlighting key peripherals. The plan is to eventually add things like video clips, more pictures, and rankings for each player, both from me and from other major prospect evaluation sites. If you have anything to contribute to a player’s profile, just leave it in the comments on each player’s page. For now, Carrasco is the only one I’ve worked on, but I plan to work on them slowly and surely over the next few months. Feedback on this idea is much appreciated.

Lauber, who writes for the Wimington News Journal, wrote a wrapup article yesterday about the Phillies (in)activity at the Winter Meetings. The article itself is your standard fare, nothing exciting. However, he posted a followup in the comments section, and this is the part I’m interested in

You raise a very interesting point about the Phillies’ reluctance to go over slot value to sign draft picks. Was talking about this with a few people today before leaving Nashville, and it probably merits its own blog post/story in the paper someday soon. For those who don’t know, MLB sets a “slot value” for each pick in the draft and frowns upon teams that sign their picks for above slot. The Tigers are a routine offender. Yet, there’s no punishment besides a slap on the wrist. The Phillies typically adhere to the slot value, and sometimes, it costs them a chance to sign a pick (Brandon Workman last year is a prime example). One of the reasons the Tigers were willing to include Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin in the Cabrera/Willis deal with Florida is that they’re confident they can quickly reload their farm system because of their aggressive approach to signing picks. For whatever reason, the Phillies’ decision-makers don’t have that ability. So, they’ve decided to hoard what few prospects they have rather than package them in a mega-deal. It’s a philosophical divide that often gets overlooked. But it’s rather important, too.

Article link here. More below the fold

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