Post-Draft Discussion Thread

With a few signings in the books it's not looking good for getting Groome anywhere near slot. Pick # 35 got 3.2 million and pick #40 got over 3 million. If I'm Groome I'm not taking less than 4 million after seeing those deals.

I am also shocked Quantrill got over slot money coming off injury.

I consider Chatman's and Nogosek's early signings to be positive news about signing Groome. If the Sox were worried about scrounging up enough money to sign Groome they might have tried to squeeze these two a little harder to get more money to play with, and negotiations would have taken longer. The fact that they signed these guys right away, pocketed a little but not overly much cap room, and moved on signifies to me that they have a specific plan in mind as to how much it's going to take to sign Groome and how they are going to accumulate the space they need.

I noticed the Yankees signed from #7 to #10 round players with $10K each. Pretty way below from the slot values. Hope the Red Sox can do same thing to their #7-#10 round players with $10K offer. Two senior college players from #7 & #9 rounds. But we don't know whether the FO able to convince with their #8 & #10 players since they can return back to college if $10K isn't good enough for them to sign.

Its highly unlikely that our #8 and #10 round signings would sign for that low. I've only seen ~10k bonuses accepted by senior signs since the new CBA rules. If we get Marrero or Espinal for underslot at all, its a win and helpful. I'd still expect them to sign for between 50k-100k though.

I have to say, though, I think I prefer the Yanks' strategy of signing more seniors, if it increased the quality of our 2nd to 4th round picks.

Its an interesting thing to consider. Either grabbing like 4 seniors for super savings, or a couple of seniors, and then going slightly below slot on 3-5 other places while at the same time not reaching too far (Chatham as a 2nd rounder and Anderson as a 3rd rounder aren't insane by any means). Not sure what I prefer...I think its very situation specific and we'd need to know more about how negotiations went behind the scenes.

According to my notes, the Yankees also only drafted 3 of the MLB top 200 players in their 10 rounds, and they were rounds 1-3 which are the only three they have not signed yet. The Yankees added 4 of the MLB top 200 later in the draft, but they had the fewest in the division in the first 10 rounds. Baltimore had 5, Boston and Toronto had 6, and Tampa Bay had 7. It's also worth nothing that Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Toronto had one more pick than Boston and New York.

I also believe that Boston drafted 6 more MLB top 200 players in later rounds, the Yankees added 4, and the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rays added 1 each.

Not discounting your conclusion but it could easily be explained away. He was excited and then found out that the number Boston is offering his lower than the number he heard from his agent on this other team.

Not saying that happened but, in this case, it's a complete viable explanation for what we saw and what Law said.

How do you check scouts' signing records? That's a neat feature.

Callis' just posted his mailbox and addressed a question regarding Groome.

- He says the industry rumor is that SD was going to give him $5M
- He believes that Boston will get it's other signings done and then offer him what's left
- He believes Boston could fit Groome and, at least, one of Quintana, Shepherd, Fitzgerald, Jones, Belge and Berger.

I'm calling that rumor at least partial BS and definitely a negotiating tactic. If Quantrill went underslot....maybe. But he didn't, in fact, he went overslot. The next two Padre slots had slot values of just over 2 mill. Were the Padres really going to draft Groome with one of those positions, and a senior in the other slot? First, I don't think thats even allowed (isn't there a rule that offers need to meet a certain % of the slot recommendation in the early rounds?). Second, even if they saved two mill on one of those slots, once you add that to the other position, its still shy of 5 mill, and you still need money to sign Quantrill overslot. Once you add in the 5% and senior signs later its possible by the slimmest of margins, but you're punting on the rest of the draft. Thats outlandish. Bottom line -- if the Padres really had a deal lined up, they would have almost certainly gone underslot at #8, or simply selected Groome at #8, and they didn't.

Yeah, I have a hard time buying the idea that they would throw Quantrill extra money. Once they know Groome is gone, why not spend the extra money on their next picks (or after Round 11 with a strategy that we used when we took 5 consecutive Top 200 HS player)? I mean I guess its the Padres who have made very questionable decisions in the last 2-3 years (minus the Kimbrel trade), but that still seems absurd. I well say though, that I looked back at the Padres total pool which was 12.8 mill, so I suppose its conceivable...but once you give 5 to Groome, ~4 to Quantrill...that leaves like 3.8 mill for another 1st rounder (2.15 mill slot value), their early 2nd rounder (1.3 mill slot value), a supplemental second rounder (0.9 mill), and picks 3-10 (a total of ~2.6 mill) plus anything extra beyond 11. Sure, its possible, but I'm just not buying it. Cute story by the agent though.