Yanks make up for draft slots with international signings
ByWhile the Yankees farm system does not rank among the best in the league, it has certainly improved over the past few years. It got into such bad shape in the first place because in addition to picking in the 25 to 30 range every year, the Yankees also sign free agents, sometimes costing them first-round picks, and otherwise trade young talent for veterans. There is one place where the Yankees can still tap talent, though. The international market brings no draft order restrictions, so teams are free to bid on any player they want. As Ben Badler of Baseball America shows, the Yankees have more top-30 international signees than any other team in baseball.
The obvious caveat here, which is obvious when looking under the Notable Prospects section for the Yanks, is that the prospect doesn’t necessarily have to be in the system today. Badler counts players signed by the organization, regardless of whether they were subsequently traded. As Badler also notes, the Yankees have already seen production from two of their notable international signees. Arodys Vizcaino and Jose Tabata (along with international signee Melky Cabrera) have turned into Javy Vazquez, Xavier Nady, and Damaso Marte.
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The Mason Williams Watch
Nady doesn’t really count as we got nothing and don’t have him now.
But wasn’t he acquired for one of those international signees?
That’s the whole point of the article. Just because Nady got hurt and is no longer a Yankee, doesn’t mean that they didn’t trade for him at a time when he was a valuable player. Had they not signed the IFA’s, they may not have gotten him.
Nady doesn’t really count as we got nothing and don’t have him now.
/boversimplified
Why did I waste my time when a simple boversimplified was more than sufficient?
Don’t be too hard on yourself; my comment was more brief and incisive, but your lengthier, more detailed response had a certain Mystique and Aura to it.
/buildingthebrand’d
youre not a writer on that site, are you?
What I do or do not do at that site is none of your concern.
(waves hand)
These aren’t the droids your looking for. I can go about my business. Move along.
/reads post
//moves along
A-Rod was the reason we lost in 2004.
/this user’d
/this user’d
Who has two thumbs and hates A-Rod?
Bullshit he doesn’t.
Hopefully the Yankees can continue to use their financial muscle to get these IFA prospects even after the CBA expires.
Any word yet on Hechavarry (sp?) the Cuban SS, or that pitcher Depaula? I’ve heard these are the latest 2 we’re going after, looking forward to having a SS in the system to replace Jeter in a few years.
Other than knowledge of interest then no there isn’t any news.
http://twitter.com/#search?q=hechevarria
http://twitter.com/#search?q=depaula
Looks like the twittosphere has the Yankees, Jays, Cubs, and Angels as the Hechevarria frontrunners. DePaula looks like a two-horse race between us and the M’s.
H-E-C-H-E-V-A-R-R-I-A
(although some intertubes reports have his name without the H, fwiw.)
Everyone seems to think that an International Draft is only a matter of “when” rather than “if.” Is there any truth to this? My concern is that this not only hurts the big-market, perennially successful teams, but it also hurts the countries affected. From what I understand, there’s not nearly as much baseball talent coming out of Puerto Rico as there was before its inclusion in the draft. Shouldn’t there be fears that the same thing could happen in the DR, Venezuela, Panama, etc.?
It hurts the big market teams, it hurts the small market teams, it hurts the countries affected, and it hurts the free agents themselves. In short, it is a fantastic idea.
Sincerely,
Bud Selig
(golf clap)
Luckily it will not kill baseball. Alex Rodriguez has already done that.
/Stark’d(IIRC)
He didn’t just kill baseball. He murdered baseball history.
/stark’d
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3892788
Every time I see that headline, I burst out laughing. IT’S SO DRAMATIC!
I’m willing to bet right now that Alex Rodriguez will join that Cooperstown missing-persons list — no matter how many home runs he hits, no matter how he chooses to spin Selena Roberts and David Epstein’s impeccably reported story on SI.com.
impeccably reported story
impeccably reported story
While it might “hurt” big market teams, the key question for me is what will it mean for the players.
I don’t think that an international draft would necessarily hurt the players, but might actually help depending upon the involvement of the players union and the structure which is set up.
While we hear most about the major international signings, in which prime players get millions, for most of the international players they don’t get anywhere near what their American counterparts get. Of course, it is easy to say that what they receive is often more than what they would make elsewhere, but this does not legitimate the ways in which most of MLB treats these players as disposable. If not a draft, I would still like to see some kind of structure in place to protect the rights and interests of international players.
I don’t have much hope, though, for the involvement of the players union, given their general and, to my mind problematic, “hands-off” approach to the current draft.
Wouldn’t the MLBPA be more likely to support the current system since it, generally, allows the players to get as much money as they can? A draft could potentially limt the amount of money the prospects could make.
And, if we know owners, they don’t like to give out money too easily. If they have to guarantee more money or “rights,” so to speak, to the Int’l. players, would they be less likely to draft those players? I’m not saying that’s right–it may not even make sense–just throwing something out there.
The implementation of an international draft also pretty much takes the incentive away for teams to build academies in Latin American countries (I believe that’s what’s happened in Puerto Rico, no?).
Wouldn’t the MLBPA be more likely to support the current system since it, generally, allows the players to get as much money as they can? A draft could potentially limt the amount of money the prospects could make.
Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but this is essentially their approach to the current draft. I wrote a longer post about it a few weeks ago, but essentially the union has taken a “hands-off” approach to the draft because they see the players as competition for limited resources. This post from BP talks about the unwritten “decision” the union has made not to get involved:
http://www.baseballprospectus......cleid=6545
However, I think that it is a short-sighted approach. They would be better off fighting for higher salaries all around, since international signings are a way for the owners to find cheap sources of talent at less of the cost it takes to sign similar talent in the US. In the long-run, I think it would be better for them to work to get a structure in place rather than the current system. Of course, the MLBPA’s approach is the short-sighted approach of most unions today.
And, if we know owners, they don’t like to give out money too easily. If they have to guarantee more money or “rights,” so to speak, to the Int’l. players, would they be less likely to draft those players? I’m not saying that’s right–it may not even make sense–just throwing something out there.
I think that the owners will use this as a scare tactic, but if every country agrees to the draft then it simply won’t be possible. If they want the talent, then they’ll have to draft it. The problem will be if some countries do not agree to participate, which would allow MLB to circumvent the draft and freeze out any countries which don’t agree to their terms. For instance, it would be interesting to see what happens with players from Cuba, given the embargo.
The implementation of an international draft also pretty much takes the incentive away for teams to build academies in Latin American countries (I believe that’s what’s happened in Puerto Rico, no?).
I am not sure what happened in Puerto Rico, but again I think it is a matter of unity. They build these academies because it allows them to sign dozens of players at very low cost and see what develops. If Puerto Rico has been frozen out of the development process, it is only because other countries have not gone against MLB’s wishes. If enough countries sign up for a draft, then MLB won’t have any choice. Draft and develop the talent or do without it.
Overall, my thinking is that without a structure, the system benefits the very best international players, but more generally hurts the mid-level players who don’t get the large bonuses. If the MLBPA had more foresight, it would get involved to protect all of the players.
Without the presence of academies, though, where would the potential prospects be playing ball in many of these countries? I’m not especially well versed–okay I know nothing–on the educational systems of all of the L.A. countries, but I don’t think they have the same high-school/university based athletic systems that we see in the U.S. and Canada. If not for the IFA/academy process, it’s likely that some of these guys may not even be playing ball (someone please correct me if I’m wrong on this).
As per your last point on the MLBPA, I think we can all agree there; the more protection there is for these guys, the better it all is.
Without the presence of academies, though, where would the potential prospects be playing ball in many of these countries?
I think that there are two sides to this issue. On the one hand, the academies do provide the means by which many of the players are able to work towards playing in MLB that they would not otherwise get, as well as playing experience in general. In this sense, you are probably right that some of these young people would not get to play ball if not for the academies.
On the other hand, the problem is when the options are put in terms of either there are rights for the players or there are academies but not both, which is the way that “Free Export Zones” are also often justified. However, if MLBPA decided to side with the international players and demand regulation of the academies as part of the next CBA, the owners would have to either accept or deal with the consequences. Of course, that is unlikely.
It is a complicated issue, but one that I don’t think gets enough attention in the U.S.
As Badler also notes, the Yankees have already seen production from two of their notable international signees. Arodys Vizcaino and Jose Tabata (along with international signee Melky Cabrera) have turned into Javy Vazquez, Xavier Nady, and Damaso Marte.
Also:
The progress of IFA pitchers like Al Aceves, Ivan Nova, Hector Noesi, Wilkin De La Rosa, Jose Ramirez, Manny Banuelos, etc. etc. creates the pitching depth that enables us to trade away guys like IPK, Coke, Dunn, Ohlendorf, Karstens, McCutchen, etc.
There’s plenty of ripple effects. Signing lots of good IFA’s not only gives us good trade chips but also makes other drafted players expendable trade chips.
soooooooo we sign foreigners so we can trade whiteys?
/opposite of Boston’d
+1 IETC
I don’t like giving up grit for laziness.
/anonymous scout’d
I can’t tell the difference between serious writing and parody.
/YES network’d
Ha ha, I can’t believe YES Network thought that was real! What kind of an idiot would do that!
Well it is YESNetwork.
Go read the first couple of comments on the post with the “scout interview.”
what? what did i miss?
YES Network posted Axisa’s conversation with a scout on their homepage as if it were a genuine, legitimate article. The headline was something ridiculous like: Scout: Is Granderson a good fit for Yankees?
Don’t remember exactly. Should have screencapped it.
Principal Skinner: It was all a ruse, Simpson! There’s no such thing as Scotchtoberfest.
Groundskeeper Willie: ACH, YOU USED, ME, SKINNER!!!
What happened?
The more lottery tickets you buy, the better chance you have of winning.
There’s plenty of ripple effects. Signing lots of good IFA’s not only gives us good trade chips but also makes other drafted players expendable trade chips.
Then other draftees/IFAs make thos guys expendable.
/vicious cycle’d
We’re getting dangerously close to creating an infinite loop on this thread. Let’s just stop right here while we still have our lives.
http://blog.stevienova.com/wp-...../image.png (SAFE)
/
viciousawesome cycle’d/
vicious awesome cycle’d
being the Yankees’d