The 'strategy' of holding out and playing indy ball

[RyDogg66]

If I understand correctly there are two players in this years draft pool who were drafted last year and did not sign and are now in Indy leagues, those players being Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers. I can only presume that they were drafted last year, were offered 'slot' value and turned it down, hoping to play Indy ball for a year and to cash in this year. I have to say, if that is the case, I really have to question the logic behind that.

 

The reason being is that lets say that Aaron Crow is drafted by the Reds this year at #8 and he is offered a slot contract. What is he going to do? Sit out ANOTHER year making peanuts wait for 2010 when he could have signed for millions TWO years ago and get closer to earning a MLB pay check? Not to mention the risk of injury in the Indy leagues. If anything I think this strategy severely limits their leverage in negotiations this year and then in 2010, what are they going to do hold out for 2011??

 

Maybe there are other perks that I am not considering, but if you are a top 10 pick and are offered a couple million to sign a contract and start pitching toward the major leagues, why throw it away or put it off a year or two by pitching indy ball where you could get hurt, or exposed as not worth the money offered originally.

[Invader3K]

It's probably not in the interest of the players. It's in the interest of their agent.

[sbrylski]

It's probably not in the interest of the players. It's in the interest of their agent.

Exactly. An agent probably would risk one player in order to increase his bargaining power in contract talks for all his other players.

 

If I'm a player and my agent tries to force me into Indy ball for a year, I tell him to go to hell.

[paul253]

I hate to root for injuries to players that don't play for the Cubs or Yankees, but it would really be something to see a guy like Aaron Crow or Luke Hochevar completely blow out his arm while in the Indy Leagues. It would give something all these player who turn down a guaranteed $2 million because they want $3 million something to think about. If I were to draft Aaron Crow this year, I wouldn't offer him any more than Washington offered last year. His agent is sitting here saying "Oh you can get more than that", and then more isn't even offered. I'm sure the last thing Crow wants to do is play another season with the Fort Worth Cats instead of making $3 million dollars and having the chance to play major league baseball.

[Godspeed]

What, no mention of Matt Harrington yet?

[RyDogg66]

I hate to root for injuries to players that don't play for the Cubs or Yankees, but it would really be something to see a guy like Aaron Crow or Luke Hochevar completely blow out his arm while in the Indy Leagues. It would give something all these player who turn down a guaranteed $2 million because they want $3 million something to think about. If I were to draft Aaron Crow this year, I wouldn't offer him any more than Washington offered last year. His agent is sitting here saying "Oh you can get more than that", and then more isn't even offered. I'm sure the last thing Crow wants to do is play another season with the Fort Worth Cats instead of making $3 million dollars and having the chance to play major league baseball.

Exactly, so doesnt their leverage go DOWN after they pull this stunt?

 

Harrington is of course the classic example, but even he made over a million between insurance on his arm and a lawsuit brought against his agent.

[JoeHova]

Why so much hatred towards kids who are just trying to get themselves a good deal?

[igor67]

How about looking at what the successful ones like Jason Varitek do to their career earnings. For an advanced college player holding out a year can easily push back free agency an entire year, which might not seem like a lot, but wouldn't you rather sign a catcher to a 4 year bigtime deal when he is 29 then 30? So the question isn't even so much about the Harrington's of the world that everyone can remember, but has the strategy of actually holding out ever benefited ANY of those players monetarily. It sure has helped Boras extract maximum value, but if the individual player always loses the bet he's getting suckered in a sort of reverse prisoners dilema sort of way.

[RyDogg66]

Why so much hatred towards kids who are just trying to get themselves a good deal?

Definitely NOT hating on the players, just wondering if it actually LOWERS their leverage the next year. Not to mention that the risk associated with playing another season uncompensated and subjecting oneself to injury or being exposed as not as good. What if the Royals offer Aaron Crow the same deal he had been offered last year. Does he take it? If he doesnt take it, what is he going to do, go back and play Indy ball again? Id like to see it.

[colbyjack]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned yet, but in Dennis Punzel's story out of Madison, he shared some quotes from Doug Melvin expressing his frustration with how signability was becoming a bigger and bigger problem for scouts trying to gauge who are the best players vs. who are the best players willing to sign and eager to begin their professional careers. It does make situations like Arnett and Walla more appealing since both have pretty much come out and said that they intend to sign and sign fairly quickly, which of course endears them more to the fans. I think instituting some kind of slotting system for the draft will be made a greater priority the next time the CBA is up, but it's going to be hard to get the right people interested while also getting the player's union to sign off on this (while the player's union isn't necessarily involved with players not on 40-man rosters, they still aren't going to give up anything without getting something back in return).