As many of you are aware, 5PM today is the last time 2013 draft picks can sign. The Phillies are still negotiating with Ben Wetzler, (5th) and they are not expected to sign Jason Monda (6th), but Jim Callis from BA just broke news on Twitter that 11th Rounder Denton Keys has signed, for an amount (not stated) that will put the Phillies into the bonus pool tax. That’s a 50% tax on every dollar spent over the allotted bonus pool, up to 5% over the pool, after which a 1st-round-draft-pick penalty is assessed, (not happening with a guy like Keys). This year’s bonus pool is floating at the moment until we know if Wetzler signs, and 11-40th rounders get the first $100k without changing the pool. So while we don’t know if Wetzler will sign, we can assume Keys’ bonus is somewhere north of $275k and less than $540k.
I’ll update this thread later with any other news, and link you to the final calculations when it’s complete. You can check out the draft tracker by clicking on the draft link at the top and picking 2013.
Just after 5pm, and Callis is reporting Ben Wetzler is going back to school. Rodney Dangerfield would be proud. As a Phillies fan, not so much. Also Callis is reporting Keys’ bonus to be $350k, which puts the Phillies $73,500 over their allotment, costing them $36,750 in tax.
Looks like 30th Rounder Venn Biter has signed as well. He retweeted a photo of him signing and congrats from his people. Thanks to commenter IHeartDomBrown below for posting that photo.
I’ll post the Draft Tracker here for your viewing as well. You can see all the signings and non-signings and “I don’t know”s.
Phuture Phillies 
Very happy they got Keys. Mildly surprised they are going into the tax.
LikeLike
Make that very surprised.
LikeLike
Eh- all things considered, that’s really not that much money. If they thought Keys was worth anything over $387K then its worth it.
LikeLike
Where’s the posters that rip the Phillies for being cheap? Nary a word from them on incurring the tax.
LikeLike
Their 6th round pick Monda is not going to sign so that’s a savings of $236,200 for his slot value. They were already $176,500 under the slot value of all their bonus pool(picks in the first 10 rounds) that they had signed. So that was a total savings of $412,700. They could sign Keys pay a slight bonus tax and still be within their initial draft budget. There’s still no word on what their 5th round pick(Wetzler) is going to do and his slot value is $315,000.
LikeLike
The Phillies have used $5,317,400 of their pool. There under about 176K. 4.99% of that figure is about 274K. The Phillies can comfortably incur a 274K tax, because they pocketed that much on Monda refusing to sign.
LikeLike
Don’t they lose the Monda and Wetzler slot money if those guys don’t sign?
LikeLike
Yes, but we’re just talking about them shelling out some tax money.
LikeLike
Hey Riggs — while it’s nice that the Phillies went into penalty territory to get Keys, they are still under water, because they failed to sign unprotected 5th and 6th round picks. That means that in aggregate we will be spending less than 100% of our slot total, while others will spend 104.99%. It is better than expected from the point that word came out that Wexler wouldn’t sign, but still an under-spend against a mid-range budget. Hopefully this represents a little change of philosophy and willingness to nudge the Selig rules, but really nothing to celebrate on the whole. Still, I really like the first 5 picks and at least they signed. I also like Keys, so no 7 signees whom I consider plus.
LikeLike
I know. I just like to rib people for constantly saying the Phillies are cheap.
LikeLike
You can’t be serious. They’re 36 grand into the tax. Drop meet bucket.
LikeLike
They’re into the tax, because their draft pool was reduced when they failed to sign Wetzler and Monda. Looking at their entire allocated draft pool, they spent several hundred K below the pool, while other teams signed all top 10 rounds, spent the full pool, and went well into the tax penalty range. So what I said is exactly correct. We had a mid-range pool, and we’ve spent less than that pool, do to drafting guys who wouldn’t sign with unprotected picks.
LikeLike
your funny riggs,and i get ripped on here, how could he post that erronus statement.
LikeLike
What the heck is an erronus statement?
LikeLike
i dont even know. lmao
LikeLike
Callis tweeted Mentioned #Phillies signed 11th-rder Denton Keys earlier. Bonus is $350k, also gets $200k w/college scholarship plan.
LikeLike
For a 350K bonus, that is only about 75K that will need to be taxed. The Phillies still have almost 200K (before incurring draft pick penalties) to sweeten another deal.
LikeLike
Callis tweets that the Phillies failed to sign Wetzler who will return to Oregon State.
LikeLike
Looks like just Keys today. Missing on both Monda and Wetzler is pretty bad to be honest.
LikeLike
Really disappointing about Wetzler. I hope we can get him next year as well as his teammate Michael Conforto in the 1st round.
LikeLike
Poor kid…Pat Casey will tear his arm apart next year. He should have seen that from this past playoffs.
LikeLike
I was thinking the same thing. I don’t know how many pitches he through during the regular season but the 120+ pitch count games in the post season would be brutal on a young arm if they were a regular occurrence.
LikeLike
Do we know what happened with Martarano?
LikeLike
Still haven’t heard anything official. I imagine we’ll get the story at some point. Either he’s signed and it was held up from announcement or just not big enough news, (seems unlikely as BA would have reported on one of their top 150 guys), or he decided against signing entirely.
LikeLike
At least they got Keys and Viza – those were the 2 realistically signable HS picks beyond the top 10. Could have been a little better but at least we added some HS arms with some upside.
LikeLike
Not signing either their 5th or 6th rd picks is awful. You could maybe understand it if they were high school kids that just up and changed their minds… But, for me, the fact that both were college guys that decided to go back to school makes it much worse. Someone needs a pink slip.
LikeLike
Not sure why you get it less with College guys. Guys change their minds – HS and college. I agree with you that it seems indicative of a weak understanding of the players. Maybe whoever is in charge of solidifying the Northwest college guys is responsible. Monda seemed from day 1 to be risky, with talk of going to med school, but I feel like Wetzler just decided he wanted to go back after the CWS. If so, that’s hard to predict.
LikeLike
Reason it surprises me for college guys is that they have little chance of making the same money as a college senior. HS kids have the thought that they can enjoy college AND still make tons of money.
Also I certainly hope Phillies call guys on draft day and ask if they intend to sign. College juniors should have a better idea of their career path than HS kids.
LikeLike
Fair enough on the college vs. HS point. Most elite college guys who go back to school have the leverage of multiple teams wanting them to hold at least slot wherever they’re picked. Not saying Wetzler’s that good, but I think probably he can expect a good payday if he performs in 2014.
LikeLike
And leverage isn’t the right word…advantage. Maybe. It’s early on a Saturday morning. I blame that.
LikeLike
Percentage-wise, its like the scratch-off lottery. Maybe less then 10% of 5th/6th rounders become impact players. Ryan Howard, who I missed earlier, is one that comes to mind in Phillie drafts between 2000-2007.
LikeLike
Of course, but there are some good players that come out of rounds 5-8.
Michael Brantley
Austin Jackson
Chris Davis
Jeff Samardzija
Andrew Bailey
Bud Norris
Doug Fister
Steve Cishek
Will Middlebrooks
Jeremy Hefner
Anthony Rizzo
Matt Moore (!!!!)
Alex Avila
Brandon Belt
Nate Freiman
Paul Goldschmidt (!!!!)
etc.
LikeLike
What is the percentage of the total of 30 teams and say 10 years worth of drafts?
LikeLike
I dont know about 10 years, but from 2005-2009, I have it at about a 15% hit rate in rounds 5-8.
LikeLike
Please keep in mind a lot of those guys got big loot!
LikeLike
Will Middlebrooks $925K
Austin Jackson $800K
Anthony Rizzo $325K
Jeff Samardzija $250K
Brandon Belt $200K
Chris Davis $172.5K
Alex Avila $169K
Michael Brantley $150K
Bud Norris $140K
Steve Cishek $139.5K
Andrew Bailey $135K
Jeremy Hefner $129K
Matt Moore (!!!!) $115K
Paul Goldschmidt (!!!!) $95K
Doug Fister $50K
Nate Freiman $40K
That’s plenty of Major League contributors for under $300K.
LikeLike
J…eliminate those college guys who were out of options and what is remaining from the list.
LikeLike
We are talking about 5th and 6th round picks that are college juniors. While perhaps wasteful, it also isn’t the end of the world. It is likely there are some horrible moves at the major league level yet to come that will easily put this minor failure in perspective.
LikeLike
+1 LOL
LikeLike
So you believe that since foul ups at the major league level are inevitable that foul ups at the minor league level don’t count.
LikeLike
Isn’t he saying that the colossal blunders about to happen at the trade deadline will make these mistakes look insignificant? That’s how I took it. And it was also supposed to be funny, I thought. Unless I just have a terrible sense of humor. My wife will back up anyone who decides that’s the case.
LikeLike
No, I’m with you about the comment being (intentionally) funny. If we don’t laugh, we’ll cry.
LikeLike
@bradindc — you understood both the meaning and the humor perfectly. Your sense of humor is just fine. @handzus, you too. Thank you both.
LikeLike
Score one for me and you, Zus.
LikeLike
any word on if their going to sign Dalton Dulin
LikeLike
Looks like the draft part was good but the signing part was pretty bad.
The draft is the easiest way to acquire assets and have control of them. Many will fail but al these guys costs is a relatively small amount of money.
I did not the Monda choice in the first place. Even if he signed for slot I figured he would not make it, but then it would have made more sense to snag another senior and have pool money available. Even the inept Phillies likely called Monda and his representatives to see if he’d sign for slot if they drafted him. If he wavered Phillies should have bailed and chose elsewhere.
Wetzler pick was unpredictable. He had a great run into the CWS and wants to live that experience again. Too bad a number of his colleagues did sign so he may be a one man show. Very tough for Phillies to predict his change of heart as I figured he was certain he’d sign. I would be surprised if he gets much more next year. In fact, it would be ironic if Phillies drafted him again next year and he signed for $10K.
Also surprised that Keys needed $350K. I consider that a fail by Phillies for an 11th Round selection. If I was running the draft, 11th Round guys should be HS guys who Phillies have an ‘in’ and know would sign for $100K. There has to be a few HS kids who want to go pro and have some talent. Though HS guys are slightly more risk they are tremendously more valuable trade assets due to their age-to-level situation. College kids will always be too old for level which diminishes their trade value. Also why international guys can be very valuable lottery tickets.
Kudos to Phillies for not tanking their draft by missing out on Wetzler AND Keys.
LikeLike
Taking Keys I’m the 11th was not a fail at all, not even close
LikeLike
In*
LikeLike
Agreed. The HS players you take in the rounds just after the 10th are usually guys who will take more than slot to sign, but you drafted them because you hope to create bonus pool space by signing some of the guys in your top 10 to underslot value to free up the money to use on one or more of those HS picks.
LikeLike
I’m not sure you could say the Phillies would’ve “tanked” the draft, if they had missed out on both Keys and Wetzler. Be serious. I wonder what the Blue Jays and Marlins fans are saying after missing out on 1st round picks.
LikeLike
1st round picks are ‘recovered’ by obtaining a similar pick next year.
I expect some teams to use this fact as a negotiating tatic, especially with how critical it is to maximize draft pool talent. Can try to sign Rds 1-3 under slot if possible but just set the max deal at slot and let them walk if they want and just get that pick and pool money back the next year.
LikeLike
All that is true, but it is hyperbole to say the Phillies would’ve tanked the draft by missing on Monda, Wetzler and Keys.
They spent 5.7 million dollars. So they missed out on using 400K (about 7%) of their allotment.
They missed signing two 3rd tier college juniors. They partially made up for it by signing Keys and Viza. If the Phillies had drafted Keys and Childs in the 5th and 6th rounds, and drafted Wetzler and Monda in the 11th and 18th, nobody would know the difference. Nobody would have complained and they’re the same level talents.
LikeLike
Any “talent” you do not sign is a lost opportunity. I want them all and Phillies should try to sign all the guys they think are worth it.
I did not think they’d get Child so that was a win and seems interchangeable with Wetzler on talent. Obviously Phillies did not think so during draft day but nice job by them.
I just assume (incorrectly) that Phillies “knew” they had Keys number and would quickly get there, same with Jax and Martarano since they were such ‘early’ risk picks.
Overall I do think they did well. Just wanted more…
Excellent post btw.
LikeLike
I read the blues jays went big in 11 and 30th round for top high school talent, they spend 850 a record on there 30 th round choice, so losing there first doesnt hurt as much, they get a protect pick and sign two good high school kids.
LikeLike
the cardinal gave 750 to there 11 pick, and toronto the same.
LikeLike
Unless this is some elaborate ruse, Venn Biter signed.
LikeLike
An article about Venn Biter…
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20130608/SPORTS/306080025/Rossview-s-Biter-drafted-by-Phillies?nclick_check=1
LikeLike
Always good to sign another HS kid, but .377 isn’t all that high a BA for a HS kid and he apparently had no HRs.
LikeLike
Interesting to see who (across all the teams) signs at the final hour…
LikeLike
Good sign, pretty unexpected.
LikeLike
I called this, (jokingly) on Twitter. Surprise for sure.
LikeLike
Brad, this article has a lot of humor potential such “Last Train to Clarksville” references, “Venn really bit into that pitch and smoked it” and “Biter is striking fear into the opposition”. On the serious side congratulations to the young man to play professional baseball and no negative comments meant-just bad puns.
LikeLike
scouts got to do a better job of knowing what these kids plans are. Basically a waste of a million dollars that couldve been spent.
LikeLike
Signing Biter and Keys on the final day makes up a bit for the loss of Wetzler. Biter was a long shot to sign and looks to be a pretty solid young outfielder. Good job on these two.
LikeLike
It seems since they lost out on Wetzler and Monda that they decided to spend the money on Keys and Biter.
LikeLike
I wonder what happens to the “tax” money? Does it go to the widows and orphans fund or the steroid reclamation project?
LikeLike
Congrulations to Cosart on a great start to his career. Hope he is the next cy young pitcher,
LikeLike
I have to admit Rocco, that my first to-do this morning was to log on and find your posts about Cosart. I did this even before my coffee.LOL. He did look good, i have the MLB package so i was able to watch. But i’ll also say i dont think he looked as dominant visually as just the line score would suggest.
LikeLike
Frankly the line suggested he was very BABIP lucky. Lack of Ks is a concern.
LikeLike
right i just meant line as in the simplistic quick view- IE runs/hits..He didnt overly impress me with command and put away stuff to be honest.
LikeLike
“Before the draft, I was pretty convinced I was going to sign wherever I got picked, and move on,” … “But a couple days after we got back (from Omaha) something in my belly just wouldn’t let me leave.” this is off google by wetzler, in this one cant blame the phillies, the kid mislead them,
LikeLike
I just wish some teams other than the Phillies got misled too. Or at least got misled by high nonprotected picks.
LikeLike
I still see nothing on Martarano. If he signed it would have been made public somewhere right? I must assume now that he is going all in on football.
LikeLike
Didn’t he say last month he will not make any decision until after the fall foorball season is over? Supposedly getting 50K if he signs after the football season and $50K down the road at some point.
LikeLike
The Phillies lost his rights if he didn’t sign by yesterday. I don’t know of any exceptions to the deadline.
LikeLike
Right, except for college seniors, I don’t believe there are exceptions. They can sign later if they want as they don’t have any eligibility left. I’m sure there’s a more technical explanation than that, but that’s the gist.
LikeLike
Keys vs Wetzler. IMO, in the end, say 2016 or so, we will be more happier with the Keys signing, then losing out on Wetzler
LikeLike
Possibly, but if Wetzler didn’t waffle they’d have both AND not paid the tax.
Phillies have done pretty well with college lefties so I figured Wetzler might actually turn into something.
He just had a great run in the CWS and decided to stay. Not sure what else the Phillies could have done other than to point out the ‘risks’ he is taking going back to school.
LikeLike
Yes that is a possiblity that Wetzler could be a good player. He turns 23 next year a few months after the draft, so his timetable to the majors will be a little later then most college kids. If it works for him, he could be pitching in the majors a few months before his 25th birthdate, since it appears clubs tend to bring guys up in June for future contractual-financial considerations. If it all works smoothly for him. He assumes risk like you say.
LikeLike
We’d likely still be paying the tax even if Wetzler signed, unless he’d signed for $73500 under slot or whatever it turned out to be.
LikeLike
This is another symptom of the front office not getting “it”. The signing of these picks should be the trade fodder for that middle reliever in 2 years. These picks are your guys that you trade to Houston not the high upside guys that should be your 1B next year and guys that shutout the Rays over 8 innings in their debut.
At worst, they should be used on college seniors that will sign for $50k and let you use your bonus pool for high upside HS players that you can draft later.
Terrible use of resources. BUT they get to one-up themselves shortly when the international players are done signing.
LikeLike
That trade was done three years ago so let it go and move forward. Lastly, if you did not complain about it in 2011 why are you now?
LikeLike
I can’t wait for the day that the crying over that trade stops. I guess it will be a few more years. You would think these guys were projected Hall of famers. The same guys just stopped crying about Adrian Cardenas, and he barely made the major leagues.
LikeLike
I dont think that villar will make the hof, but cosart and singleton have a great chance,
LikeLike
Cosart and Singleton have a great chance of…what? Making the Hall of Fame? Are you freaking serious?
LikeLike
no only kidding. damm you believe that///
LikeLike
Just making sure haha. Sorry
LikeLike
Villar was the Oswalt trade.
LikeLike
Bottom line is the two highest unprotected, unsigned picks in the majors belong to the Phils, and there were only about 7 or 8 of these in all of MLB. The teams that compete with us in terms of player budget pretty much signed all their unprotected picks.
LikeLike
Why is everyone so butt hurt over 2 College Juniors not signing? I can understand the Monda pick being a sore topic as it was clear very early on he was not signing. But the Wetzler pick was no fault of the Phillies, even the kid said “I was going pro and signing with whom ever drafts me” then he chose to change his mind and play another year for his College team. In the end we got Keys and Biter over Wetzler and Monda, calm down its not the end of the world.
LikeLike
Unlucky but still bad. More lottery tickets is better than fewer. No reason Keys and Biter could have been signed AND got Monda and Wetzler.
LikeLike
Still a good additional of talent though. I just had high expectations after thinking they did a good job during the draft. Sandberg was an excellent research and sign, Williams was a good later signing. Even Parr, Martin, Prosninski were good Senior sign players with some talent to save money. Child for $100K was a big surprise. Never expected Biggio or Musgrave, but I did think they had arrangements with Keys, Jax, and Martarano since they were picked long ahead of the higher risk HS guys (by like 500 selected players).
They went into tax territory, which I thought they’d never do. (Of course it Wetzler had signed which everyone expected they would not have.) With the current CBA Phillies are not getting significantly outgunned. Good draft and another group of guys to root for.
LikeLike
I dont understand if they didnt spend the slot money for there 5 and 6 picks, what tax do they pay, they are still under the allotment for the draft or am I wrong, if they were taxed 100.000. but never spend the 5 and 6 round money how did they go over what the league gave them to spend???so they saved two players money and pay a little tax, still under the 6 million.
LikeLike
You only get the slot allocation if you sign the pick. That is why you have to sign your picks from rounds 4 – 10. If you don’t sign one of those picks, your draft allocation is reduced by the amount for that slot. The tax is based on the new reduced allocation, after deducting the slot $ for the unsigned 5th and 6th rounders. I believe the tax they pay is 75% of the overage based upon the reduced allocation.
LikeLike
Pretty sure it’s 50% – if not, I’m calculating it wrong up top.
LikeLike
You can not control a kid saying yes I will sign for this $$$, gets drafted offered that amount and then turns it down for 1 more shot at CWS as it seems both Wetzler and Monda changed their minds after being drafted.
Also we do not have hinsight and can not know for sure if we sign Monda and Wetzler if they would still go out and sign Keys and Biter. All we know is 2 Juniors were drafted and both said initially they were signing and bailed out, thats on them, those are things we cannot control.
They will both be Seniors next year and if they do not have stellar performances they will be losing $$ because of Leverage. This is not the same situation as Alec Rash, Brandon Workman, and Scott Frazier, or even Andrew Susac and Daniel Palka.
LikeLike
You do NOT know that both Wetzler and Monda “initially said they were signing.” That has been reported (by Zolecki), but no source has been cited, and there’s been no such statement from either player. The Phillies do have some history of spinning the truth a bit in such cases, you know? Simply repeating over and over “they said they were signing,” without any real evidence of that except hearsay from the Phillies, doesn’t make it accurate.
LikeLike
There’s a comment in this thread with Wetzler saying he had every intention of signing before he almost went to the CWS. That’s about as conclusive as it gets. Put the pitchfork down and relax on the witchhunt. Shit happens.
LikeLike
There have also been published comments that even at the end, Wetzler would sign for the right $ — no indication given on how much that was, but there was an indication that the Phillies offer was less than slot.
LikeLike
I haven’t seen that one. Do you recall where you heard they didn’t offer him slot?
LikeLike
#1) Bleacher Report
#2)The writer said it was their “belief” that he didn’t sign because he was being offered a very underslot bonus by the Phillies. That’s different from saying he has sources that he didn’t sign. I myself may believe he didn’t sign because the Phillies tried to get him underslot, but just because I type it out and post it doesn’t give it any more validity. (even I think it very possible the writer is correct in his assumption)
LikeLike
Quite true, but I view it as same credibility as report that suggested Wetzler said before draft he’d basically sign for slot, no matter where he was drafted. He had a $ figure in mind and didn’t get it. I wouldn’t care where I was drafted either, as long as I got the money I was looking for.
LikeLike
So your evidence of this is what, exactly?
Come on allentown, you’re better than this. This is Free AEC territory.
LikeLike
LarryM….allentown1 may border on the FreeAEC territory…but what he says has some merit and truth. That is, this organization and their reluctance to risk the ‘money’. But then again they come knocking on my door in November with a pay-due date in December, to cough up hundreds/thousands of the trump for the following season tickets.
The question is , how do you get an organization to change their traditional philosphy dating back half a century?
LikeLike
But Romus, the money issue is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO THE ISSUE IN FRONT OF US. The idea that they guys didn’t sign because they were low-balled by the organization is a flat-earth theory, not JUST unsupported by evidence but contrary to logic, evidence and reason.
it’s like the crazy cat lady who has a dispute with her neighbors and starts ranting about the Nazis. It’s embarrassing, and frankly undercuts the credibility of ANY argument based on the team’s alleged cheapness.
LikeLike
I don’t disagree with this. It doesn’t however follow that not signing our 5th and 6th round picks is either normal nor acceptable or that the Phillies won’t be bottom 5 again in spend as % of allocation. You are basically focusing only on what was an almost throw-away comment in response to comments that this was clearly not any fault at all of the Phillies and guys just told them they 100% for certain would sign and then changed their minds. There really is no proof that either of these theories is true. We don’t know how much due diligence this scout and cross-checker did on these two guys, we don’t know how much the Phillies offered them. We just know that they were drafted and not signed.
LikeLike
Dude, seriously, there have been times where I needed a break in posting, and I think this is one of those times for you. “that the Phillies won’t be bottom 5 again in spend as % of allocation” is, in the context of the way that draft now works, basically random words strung together without meaning.
LikeLike
Except there is NO PROOF they low balled anyone! No one here has any freaking clue how much they offered. There is ONE ARTICLE out there where some guy offered his PERSONAL CONJECTURE that they lowballed people. It’s like The DaVinci Code.
LikeLike
Why does it matter what he was offered?
All this debate over what Wetzler was or wasn’t offered is really missing the forest for the trees.
LikeLike
No, we have facts 1)The Phillies were bottom 5 last year in spending as % of their allocation 2) The Phillies always seem to be around bottom 5 of late, 3)The Phillies have 2 of the only 4 unsigned, unprotected top 10 picks in all of baseball, 4) The two Phillies picks are the highest value unsigned picks among the 4, 5)the Phillies took cheap signability picks in rounds 8 through 10, which is why we were able to sign Keyes and Viza. Child was a $100K guy — you’re allowed to sign 30 of them after round 10, with no hit against your allocation. I admit, it is unclear exactly how the Phillies messed up their 5th and 6th round picks, but it is clear that they were unique in MLB in messing them up. These are also picks scouted by the same area scout and cross-checker. That suggests we have a problem. Somebody posted something that Wetlzer said after the draft, I linked to something that Phillychuck found after the draft. Does any of this constitute an accurate autopsy of why the two patients died? Obviously not, but we do know we are just about the only team with dead patients, so something is wrong.
LikeLike
Allentown,
I had a long response planned, but I’ll forbear, mainly for the same reason that I don’t argue with young earth creationists. This is pretty deranged stuff, and, if you step back and take a deep breath, I suspect that you will realize that.
LikeLike
What is deranged. I copied a post of what was posted in Bleacher Report. I didn’t say it was true. I didn’t say it mattered. Someone said there was no mention of and this was a mention. What is important is that the Phillies are the only team with unsigned 5th and 6th round picks. I NEVER said the point was that the Phillies made low-ball offers. I said it didn’t matter why these guys were drafted and not signed, only that it was unacceptable and follows in a long Phillies tradition of being low spenders, for an innumerable array of excuses. I think the scout and cross-checker likely did less than due diligence. When all of the key signing failures in a draft not only belong to one organization, but to one region of one organization, that is close to a smoking gun.
LikeLike
“only that it was unacceptable and follows in a long Phillies tradition of being low spenders”
Trying to think of an analogy. Let’s see … “Tiger Woods putting stroke in recent tournaments is unacceptable and follows in a long Tiger Woods tradition of cheating on his wife.” That’s your logic.
LikeLike
But what is the illogic or untruth. It is unacceptable to not sign your 5th and 6th pick. This does continue a long history of the Phillies underspending on the draft. The net result of both is that we under-perform in acquiring amature talent. Again, since you didn’t address it I assume that you are not able to find anything remotely approximating your claim that I said the Phillies obviously low-balled Monda and Wetzler.
LikeLike
Why is it just a matter of how the draft works that the Phillies are consistently bottom 5 in draft spending?
LikeLike
Because for years the Phillies haven’t had a first round pick(Or one that is out of the top 20’s/30’s.). Those picks are normally worth MILLIONS. Without having one of those, of COURSE they are going to have a lower draft spent amount than other teams.
LikeLike
But other teams without primo picks have busted slot big time to sign talent that slipped down the draft. The Phillies haven’t done that. Hey, you can trace this all the way back to drafting and not signing J. D. Drew ‘for the good of baseball’, when a very signable Glaus was sitting right there for them to pick..
LikeLike
Dude, that was like…17 years ago! Do you REALLY think Ownership cares that much about the draft that they have led a coordinated attack on it for over 17 years? Come on man.
LikeLike
Allentown,
The rules have changed. I won’t be obnoxious and re-print that 100 times as I was tempted to, but yes, the rules have changed. Teams can’t do that any more, unless they want to lose a first round pick.
The rules have changed.
First rule of getting out of a deep hole – stop digging.
The rules have changed.
It’s like a train wreck – gruesome but I just can’t look away.
LikeLike
Allentown. Just leave it alone. You are Andy Dufresne trying to argue your point against Warden Norton(s). They would rather argue semantics instead of dealing with the overriding principle you are speaking to. You are just going to end up in solitary.
LikeLike
Your valid arguments:
1) The Phillies missed out on two top ten draft picks
2) The Phillies historically have been on the cheaper side of the draft
2a) Ignoring the fact that last year the Phillies spent, I believe, their whole draft allotment. They missed on Rash, but from everything I read he was injured and underperforming and asked for MORE than he originally agreed to.
Your Invalid arguments:
3) The Phillies lowballed Monda and Wetzler
4) That you are using a Bleacher Report (Please, once again, read up on Bleacher Report. It’s a glorified forum) to support item 1.
5) That you are giving just as much credence to the bleacher report article as a Quote from Wetzler saying he was going to sign.
People aren’t arguing points 1 and 2 with you. It’s your crazy 3-5 points you are making that aren’t supported by a single shred of ACTUAL evidence.
LikeLike
Please check your facts. The Phillies did not spend their whole allocation last year, apart from Rash. Even deducting Rash, they spent 95% of the remaining allocation. I haven’t given any particular credence to the Bleacher Report. I mentioned it as something that is out there. I have never argued that the Phillies low-balled Monda and Wetzler. The entirety of my argument is that it was unsatisfactory for the Phillies to be the only team in MLB not to sign their #5 and #6 pick, and that I don’t really care what the reason is and think I have been reading a lot of excuses.
LikeLike
Quote insinuating the Phillies lowballed Wetzler:
“allentown1 says:
July 13, 2013 at 6:55 PM
There have also been published comments that even at the end, Wetzler would sign for the right $ — no indication given on how much that was, but there was an indication that the Phillies offer was less than slot.”
Quote regarding the Bleacher Report article being just as valid as Wetzler’s own quote:
“allentown1 says:
July 13, 2013 at 9:17 PM
Quite true, but I view it as same credibility as report that suggested Wetzler said before draft he’d basically sign for slot, no matter where he was drafted. He had a $ figure in mind and didn’t get it. I wouldn’t care where I was drafted either, as long as I got the money I was looking for”
LikeLike
Quoted facts have no place in the debate. I was just about to do this myself. Pinning the Wetzler non sign on the Phillies seems wholly ridiculous when it wasn’t something they could have foreseen. Monda on the other hand was a shambles.
LikeLike
You beat me to it.
LikeLike
“I have never argued that the Phillies low-balled Monda and Wetzler. The entirety of my argument is that it was unsatisfactory for the Phillies to be the only team in MLB not to sign their #5 and #6 pick, and that I don’t really care what the reason”
You know allentown, I think you believe this to be the case. But then why do you keep bringing up, in virtually every post, crap about Drew or the % of the draft allocation or teams busting slot to sign picks? Or the bleacher report citation – I know you claim (and likely believe) that you weren’t quoting it for it’s truth, but your … well, explanation is way to kind, assertions about why you linked to it just don’tr even make any sense.
A train wreck.
\Really, step back. For your own good.
LikeLike
Allentown,
I’m not going to deviate much from my other post, and I know I’m being harsh. It really ISN’T personal. I’m serious in saying that I was surprised to see this from you.
But the short version of the problem with this PARTICULAR post is the disconnect between 1, 2 and 5 on the one hand and 3 and 4 on the other. There just is no logical link, at all.
Now, you do try to have it both ways with the “I admit” phrase. Actually, I DO think the obvious explanation is almost certainly the correct one – that they didn’t do their homework on Monda, and that Wetzler just changed his mind. Now, I know you don’t buy that, but even if you’re right, that does not logically support your theory.
But I also want to make a distinction here. Your “they must have low-balled them” theory is crazy talk. Your other theory, ‘so something is wrong,’ is not crazy, though your insistence that it MUST be true kinda is. Sample size rears its ugly head again. But if you want people to take that argument seriously, you probably should drop the crazoid argument about how cheap the organization is (not crazy to argue that it is, just crazy to argue it had anything to do with Monda/Wetzler).
LikeLike
Now you are putting words in my mouth. I NEVER said anything approaching ‘they must have low-balled them’. I challenge you to point to where I said that. Second, I have NEVER said the Phillies are cheap. I have always said that I don’t object to the current overall level of spending, and that the major league salary budget is adequate. I have said, and the facts back this up, that when it comes to acquiring amateur talent, the Phillies have consistently been among the 5 cheapest teams in baseball. That is not an overall cheap, it is a gross misallocation of resources, which causes them to be very, very cheap in a particular area.
LikeLike
allentown1 says:
July 13, 2013 at 6:55 PM
“There have also been published comments that even at the end, Wetzler would sign for the right $ — no indication given on how much that was, but there was an indication that the Phillies offer was less than slot.”
With that quote you’re very much inferring that they low-balled Wetzler. I guess if you wanted to litigate you can say you didn’t say it word for word, but its clear as daylight you think at least Wetler got low-balled with a below slot offer.
LikeLike
There is a QUOTE of Weltzer. Saying he would sign. Bleacher Report dude(Who I am sure is NOT an accredited journalist) said it’s HIS BELIEF that the Phillies offered under slot. How are those even close to the same thing.
LikeLike
There wasn’t an “Indication”. There was a freaking uncited BLEACHER REPORT ARTICLE where some no name bozo just threw out there that HE THINKS the Phillies offered under slot. Do you know what Bleacher Report is? It’s not an actual news website with true journalists. It’s like a mass blog where anyone can submit content.
LikeLike
It’s always the fault of the team that doesn’t sign the kid in rounds 4-10. You have to be CERTAIN before you draft him. If you’re not thrilled with college juniors, we could have drafted and signed 2 fifth-year seniors and had almost a $half mill more to sign HS kids taken later in the draft. I read a lot of excuses being offered for the Phillies missing on two picks, but nobody else in MLB has to look for excuses, because they got their guys signed. And — we most certainly did not get Keys and Biter over Wetzler and Monda. We got them using the money saved from cheap senior signs at the end of the first 10 rounds and dipping into the 5% tax range, something which the aggressive teams do routinely. Other teams signed their equivalent of Keys and Biter and more. Those are the teams we are trying to compete against. I’m surprised how many fans seem quite content with a less than all-out effort in the draft and international amateur acquisition efforts. This will be the second year that we spent less than our allocation. Other teams exceeded their allocation both years. I’m not counting the failure to sign Rash last year — that was a protected pick and hurt us not at all as we carried the allocation forward to this year and were given a do-over with essentially the same pick.
LikeLike
i haven’t heard about what the phillies did internationally this year. i guess they made another nonsplash.
LikeLike
The guy they’re focused on isn’t of age until August.
LikeLike
i think i do remember reading about him. thanks.
LikeLike
allentown1…you really are starting to scare me. If I didn’t see your handle I would have thought you were FreeAEC or even roccom on a rant. But understand the frustration you are experiencing and the organization’s blatant ‘betrayal’ to their fans, and then trying to sell us a bill of sale that everything is peaches and cream in the prospect world of their farm system. But the stench I smell from their farm system eminants from the BS they serve to us on a Phillies frank platter. Dollar dog night doesn’t have this much pork!
I feel your pain.
LikeLike
I disagree with FreeAEC on the major league spending level. I think their major league salary budget has been fine. They’ve not spent it all that wisely at times, but the aggregate spend over the last half dozen seasons have left nothing for me to complain about there. There spending on amateur talent is just inexplicably stupid. That is what’s so aggravating. We are talking peanut $, but very highly leveraged $, compared to their MLB budget, so the penny pinching on amateur talent is just insane. When my team behaves insanely, it annoys me a lot. Had the Phillies spent an extra $1-2 mill over the years on amateur talent, really just about $.5 – 1 mill under the new system, I’d be happy as a clam, with regard to their budget.
LikeLike
They were playing the league line on the draft, rarely going over slot, or at least less frequently than many other teams, and never, (from what I can recall), shelling out a huge bonus to buy out a late rounder. I don’t think it was sensible, but it was their position to push for hard slots and play within the league’s “guidelines”, and stick to that plan. In the end, it came around to a pool the league is much more comfortable with. It’s like they were playing by a gentleman’s agreement that many other teams weren’t playing by. To me, that’s dumb, but maybe there was some business reason to do so.
I’m sure there are things written about that out there. If anyone knows a good example of some long-form article on the subject, especially of how the Phils played into it, I would be curious to read it.
LikeLike
Phils are still playing the league line and now letting MLB determine their entire draft budget, not just the draft pool. Do the math and add up the $100,000 signees after the 10th round in the 2012 draft and compare it to the starting Bonus Draft Pool. Do the same with this year’s draft and the starting Bonus Draft Pool.
I think you’re find the numbers are very close. If 10 HS kids draft after round 10 all said they’d sign for $100,000 after the Phillies had spent most of their draft pool they’d reject them. Draft Pool Allotment = Phillies Draft Budget.
LikeLike
You think the league cares how many $100k kids you can sign out of high school? I don’t. If the Phillies are using that as their budget, that’s their issue, not the league line, IMO.
LikeLike
Thank you for the mention,.
LikeLike
What is your problem Allentown? You resorted to using Bleacher Report to substantiate your complaint about Ben Wetzler not signing? That is like using the National Enquirer to prove your point about a major story. The young man changed his mind after reaching the CWS and wanted to come back according to his own account so that’s the story unless you want to force signings. So please chill out.
LikeLike
Someone asked where I saw the comment, and I referenced Phillychuck’s post. My concern does not rest upon that quote. It is hard fact. Only two unprotected picks as high as 6th round failed to sign this year. They were both owned by the Phillies. That is a serious mistake. Your argument simply goes to the question of how these mistakes happened, they don’t excuse them. Remember, this happened only to the Phillies, a team which was in the lowest 5 of MLB in last year’s draft in % of allocated draft pool actually spent and which projects to repeat bottom 5 this season. You may find that to be acceptable. I do not.
LikeLike
Agree. The monetary philosphy of this club is shamefully ‘cheap’ when it comes to FUTURE AMATEUR TALENT acquisition and is historically based. The ‘small market’ mentality that Bill Giles proclaimed in ’94 still has residual affects now. A team/club in a city with the 4th largest TV market in the US and getting ready to get a windfall in a few years from that venue. Sell-outs for years. A new park largely funded by PA taxpayers. The lone team in a city where they not share market revenues with any other MLB team. Truly is disgraceful.
LikeLike
I agree with you about the Monda pick and but Wetzler is a case where you can not force someone to sign as OSU could have a great team again. He wanted to try again for a CWS title but he is taking a huge monetary and physical risk(he will be overworked by his coach next year as he is the ace) for next year. The Phillies did a bad job on Monda which lowered their pool amount and not signing Wetzler lowered that pool also. Just don’t get so worked up worrying about this.
LikeLike
Too much conversation about ‘next to nothing’. They missed out on using about 8% of their pool. They can not make up for the opportunity cost of losing the chance to use that 550K (Monda and Wetzlers combined slots) on talent, but in the grand scheme of things, those mistakes aren’t significant enough to get worked up about.
In rounds 11-33, they signed four (4) players who rated just as highly as the (2) guys they missed out on in rounds 5 and 6.
From a fan’s standpoint, if they had signed Wetzler and Monda, but failed to sign Meadors, Childs and Viza, there wouldn’t be any conversation on the matter, but the team would have been tangibly worse off.
LikeLike
Yes it is worth talking about. There is an expectation in every draft that you will sign some guys for $100K who don’t count in the slot. If the Phillies thinking was that they could do this only because they had saved money on Monda and Wetzler, then this is very wrong, unaggressive thinking at a time they desperately need to improve their level of talent. Viza and Keys don’t come from saved money on Monda and Wetzler, they come from money saved on the final picks in the top 10 rounds — guys chosen to be signed significantly below slot, so some HS kids after round 10 could be fit into the allocation. You are basically making the ‘we did good enough’ argument. When your farm ranks bottom 10 in baseball, your major league team is below .500 and aging, and your allocation is exact middle of the pack to begin with, then ‘good enough’ clearly isn’t good enough. If you want to improve, relative the rest of MLB teams, then you have to do everything you can to get as many prospects, including chance prospects, as you can out of every draft and international signing season. We have already placed about 80% of our bets in the international signing season on one guy, who will be among the last eligible to be signed, and for whom there will be competition from teams who have traded for international slot allocation. Don’t you want the Phillies to get every possible prospect that they can in the draft? Don’t you expect them to be shrewd in conducting this phase of their business? Why is it acceptable not to spend 8% of our pool, after doing roughly the same last year? I want to see 104.5% of allocation spent year-in and year-out. That’s the sort of commitment that is needed to build a winner. Leave nothing on the table. Our competition certainly isn’t leaving anything on the table.
By the way, losing Wetzler is not insignificant in itself. He was the most advanced/takented pitcher whom we drafted this year. This draft is REALLY short on pitching in a farm which is becoming notably short of pitching.
LikeLike
I admire your passion on the subject. But I still don’t see it the way you see it.
I would have liked to see the Phillies spend 104.5% of their draft pool too. But you’re caught up in the pool number. The Phillies could have spent 102% of their draft budget by neglecting to sign Meadors and Childs, while signing Monda and Wetzler, (plus Keys). It would have put them in the SAME position as far as talent acquisition, but it would have looked better cosmetically to guys like you, because they used the entire pool.
I’m not going to lose sleep, because the Phillies only used 92% of the draft pool.
LikeLike
Nice post with many valid points
LikeLike
I obviously agree that you can’t force someone to sign, although he did say he would sign for the right $. I am not saying they made a mistake in drafting or they made a mistake in signing negotiations or they just failed to offer quite enough $. The exact cause doesn’t really matter all that much. The key point is a team has to do whatever it has to do to make sure all of its round 4-10 picks sign. Signing them gives you your $ allocation to spend. That’s why the Phillies drafted not as good as 8, 9, 10 round talent. They were easy signs and that money was used on Keys and Viza. I guess I just get tired of reading the excuses offered year in and year out for why the Phillies failure to sign key picks or to spend as much as other teams is due to factors beyond their control and they should not be blamed, and we should be happy anyway, because they did sign a handful of good/interesting talents. This neglects the obvious. The Phillies play in the same draft pool as everyone else. Yet they always end up in the low-spend end of the pool. Even under the new system, they are still in that end of the pool two years running. You can make explanations and excuses why it is reasonable not to have signed Wetzler and why it was reasonable to draft him where we die, and yet — no other team in baseball had this problem with a 5th or 6th round pick. We had the problem twice. The same area scout/checker seem to have been involved in each case. This is a lot of coincidence to explain away. So, in conclusion: yes, we had a very good first 5 picks in the draft. Yes that adds useful talent to the farm. I give our draft a B, because of these guys. But…. we could have and should have done better. We wasted two picks and the allocation money that went with them. We would have done better had we reached agreements with two college seniors who had never played a day of baseball in their lives and given each of them $5K to autograph a contract for us, with the understanding that we’d release them in a week. So, yes, your explanation sounds reasonable, but it is just explaining away yet another year of non-aggressive draft/sign, which puts the Phillies in the shallow end of the pool, with about 25 other teams happily splashing around in the deep end. With the state of the Phillies system, management should be inventing ways to get into the deep end of the pool.
LikeLike
Dave I have the quote from wetzler on google. Which i posted earlier, he said nomatter where he was picked he would sign,that was his words not the phillies.Hey i am the first to rip them, but in the case of Wetzler they got a kid who gave them false info. not there fault.
LikeLike
roccomr: Wetzler said what he said – which you quoted – AFTER the draft. There is NO indication that he said that before the draft, whatever he might have been thinking at the time. If you disagree, document it. There is no evidence I’m aware of, except Zolecki’s unsourced comment, that Wetzler told the Phillies ANYTHING before he was picked.
Maybe he did. But I’m not prepared to just accept that because somebody in the Phillies organization told Zolecki that. The organization has misled the press and the fans on this kind of thing for years and years. They long since forfeited any claim to the benefit of the doubt, at least to me. But if you want to believe them, hey, whatever.
LikeLike
Dave if you read my rants, you know I dont believe there lies most time, and your right, I dont know the date of the quote, I found it on google. maybe your right.. That is something I cant say for sure.
LikeLike
Dave, you don’t believe Wetzler’s own comments? The Phillies don’t control that at all.
LikeLike
Reading comprehension, Pat.
I don’t disbelieve Wetzler – but he didn’t say he told the Phils he would sign. He said – after the fact – that going in, he expected to sign. But he didn’t say he told the Phils that – or that he told anybody that in advance. It’s not the same thing.
Or did I miss something somewhere? All I said was that I’m not inclined to accept a report that’s based on info provided to a Phillies beat writer by the Phillies – because the Phillies have a track record on this, and that record doesn’t tell me I should trust them.
LikeLike
dave,
One can criticize the Phillies’ failure to sign these kids on other grounds (though IMO it doesn’t look like they deserve any blame on Wetzler). But to say that the notion that their “cheapness” had anything to do with it is beyond bizarre. That’s true even if you think that’s been a problem in the past (which I do to some extent, though not to the borderline crazy extent some people seem to). But not only is the evidence lacking in THIS case, but there is considerable evidence, direct and circumstantial*. to the contrary. Even if you want to look for reason not to trust some of that evidence, lacking entirely is ANY evidence in favor of the proposition.
I’m just shocked that the normally sensible allentown has fallen for the argument.
*Among the circumstantial evidence is this: if Wetzler was motivated primarily by money, then he would have signed almost regardless of the offer – even a low-ball offer would have been a couple of hundred of thousand more dollars than he is going to get next year.
LikeLike
Did anyone watch Wexler pitch on tv and really think he’s a difference maker? I never love college pitchers, their upside is usually lower than high school guys. Maybe the high school OF signed on the last day will surprise people.
LikeLike
Difference maker? Not at all. Possible 4th/5th starter after some major league tutelage? Sure. That being said I’m not upset we didn’t sign him. Guy changed his mind.
LikeLike
Wetzler probably will not pitch in the MLB until at least June 2015. Close to 25 at that point.
LikeLike
Dumb move on his part, there is little chance of him moving up enough in next seasons draft to cash in. He is looking at the standard college senior bonus of 10k next year. He just flushed a couple hundred thousand dollars.
LikeLike
The girls at Oregon State must be outstanding. One more year of BMOC or 250 thousand dollars in your account.
LikeLike
Thank you. Great point. Wetzler was very Meh I thought. Not what I expected from someone in the top 10 rounds. And besides, though not very scientific, Venn Biter is a much much cooler baseball name than Ben Wetzler. (so is Denton Keys and Tyler Viza).
LikeLike
Wetzler was head and shoulders above the guys we took in the 5 rounds after him. Our round 8, 9, 10 picks were deliberate cheap signs. I’m just amazed all the excuses made for the Phillies unique non-signing of two 6th round or better draftees. Your point is that they drafted bad and never should have taken Wetzler and I guess also Monda. Well, isn’t that the Phillies fault. Alternatively, if you draft him, you have to sign him. Our 8th-10th round picks certainly are no great shakes, but signing them did give us the bonus allocation for those slots. Any way you want to slice it, the Phillies did less well than they could have in this draft by failing to sign the guys they drafted in rounds 5 and 6. A 5th rounder is never going to look as exciting as a first or second rounder on paper. That’s why they were drafted later and will get the smaller bonus. But, if you don’t sign them, then you miss on guys like Howard, Asche, Pullin. Those great sounding 1st and second rounders can also turn into Hewitt and Collier, the top guys taken in our very good 2008 draft. That draft was very good, not because of Hewitt and Collier, but because of the guys taken later. That year, the roughly equivalent pick to Wetzler was Trevor May.
LikeLike
+1
LikeLike
When it comes to the MLB Draft the Phillies are like the guy who comes into the office everyday with a different reason why he is late to work. It’s never his fault. Meanwhile everybody else seems to find a way to get there on time.
LikeLike
with all the comments on the Phillies unsigned picks, It would be interesting to see a team by team list of other teams picks in the first 10 rounds that didn’t sign. Maybe then we could make a fair comparison? just wondering…
LikeLike
You first have to exclude the first 3 rounds, since those are protected picks. The team basically loses nothing for not signing them as it gets essentially the same pick and the same slot carried into the next draft. Of the unprotected rounds 4 – 10, which carry allocation $ that are lost if the pick is not signed, only 4 draftees throughout all of baseball failed to sign this year. Of those 4, 2 were Phillies draftees. That shows we were very different from the rest of MLB. Of the unsigned picks, the only two which were as high as the 6th rounds were also both Phillies picks. So we did way worse than the rest of baseball on signing our unprotected top 10 picks. It’s actually worse than this suggests, however. The Phillies 8th, 9th, and 10th round picks were all lesser talent easy signs, who inked for well below the slot $, allowing the Phillies $ to spend after round 10. Other teams, which signed all of their unprotected top 10 picks did not include any easy-sign minimum bonus guys in those rounds. As an example, look at the Braves, who signed all their picks in the top 13 rounds and did not put any low-$, college senior easy signs in the top 10 rounds. Baseball America’s draft database will allow you to check the specifics for every team.
LikeLike
Is it possible to see a list anywhere of other teams unsigned picks from first 10 rounds? I admit I’m not a huge follower of the draft, but I read the comments about the Phillies unsigned top picks, I was wondering how other teams do with it.
LikeLike
Here is a shortcut to the Baseball America draft database. You can look up how each of the other teams did. Remember, unsigned round #1-3 picks don’t count as losses, since the pick and the money just slide to the 2014 draft. That’s how the Phillies unsigned pick last year (Rash) turned into a second third round pick this year.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2013draftdb.php
LikeLike
There were only 4-5 unsigned, unprotected picks in the Top 10 rounds in all of MLB (300+ players). The Phillies had 2 of them, and the highest drafted, unprotected picks that didn’t sign. There are 30 teams in MLB.
LikeLike
There is always an excuse for some why the Phillies spend near the bottom, or are now spending a lower percentage of their bonus pool than most other teams, or don’t get top picks signed. The Phillies were misled, cheated, guilty of lowballing, not guilty of lowballing, whatever. Who cares what the rationale is? Why does it matter? The cumulative effect of this year after year is plain to see for anybody that cares to look.
Meanwhile most of the rest of MLB just handled their business. Only for the Phillies is the process so fraught with drama and 18-21 year olds who are masters of trickery and / or extreme vaccillation.
LikeLike
No matter what happens you guys will never be satisfied so stop complaining and get over it
LikeLike
Okay, folks, I don’t like that they didn’t sign their 5th or 6th round picks either, but, please, let’s put this in perspective. First, the team is not cheap. They may be misguided and incorrect as to how they should best maximize their expenditures (and that’s a legitimate critcism), but they are not cheap. Second, while you don’t want to miss signing any picks, especially, those in the top 10 (due to cap and bonus rules as well as missing out on the players themselves), be real – the value of a 5th and 6th round pick is not that great – very few of these picks even make the majors and only a small percentage (probably less than 5%), rise to the level of an average regular or mid-rotation starter. Third, it looks like Wetzler just changed his mind – there’s only so much you can do about that and it’s not necessarily the Phillies’ fault. Fourth, the Phillies seem to have signed a few valuable post-10th round picks and looked to have done well there. If Crawford pans out and we get a few other “hits” out of this draft, it will turn out to have been a fine effort and nobody will care about the missed 5th and 6th round picks although, admittedly, this is a situation that nobody wants to see repeated.
LikeLike