Suckers

by dajafi on Apr 19, 2008 1:17 PM EDT

This Philadelphia Inquirer Q&A with Phillies Assistant GM Mike Arbuckle should be required reading for anyone who buys a ticket at OFJOAB:

Q: Some teams like the Tigers and Yankees seem to ignore MLB's slotting system for signing draft picks. It seems the Phillies follow MLB's slot recommendations more closely. How will you approach this issue in the upcoming draft?

- Brian H., Howell, N.J.

A: I think generally we have been a club and are a club that tries to do what's best for the industry. Every club has to make their own decisions as to how they're going to go about doing their business, but I do think that there is something to be said for trying to do what's best for the industry.

So despite playing in a division with a team that trades most of its farm system for Johan Santana, chooses to sign him for six years, $137 million, and then will reload the farm by going "over-slot," the Phillies--with six picks in the first 100 selections--will play by Bud Selig's rules again this June. Good old family entertainment, says Mr. Giles, and one lonely championship flag flying in 126 seasons.

They're suckers for unilaterally disarming in the face of better-resourced and smarter competitors. And we--you and I and everyone else who helplessly loves this team--are suckers for supporting them with our dollars and time and passion.

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ugh

This sucks hard. If the team is not going to be aggressive in the free agent market or the draft what chance do the Phillies have to be a contender year in and year out? The Phils were quite fortunate to have drafted Utley, Howard, Rollins, Burrell, Myers, and Hamels and have them all find success at the same time. This is not normal, especially when not handing out huge bonuses. Unless they hit the jackpot again the Phils will be back to a state of mediocrity before we know it.

FJM, down in the trenches doing the Lord's work.

by zdavis2512 on Apr 19, 2008 3:01 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

What a joke of a franchise

Really, is there any reason an intelligent fan should enjoy this team other than a pure accident of where you’re born?

by David S. Cohen on Apr 19, 2008 4:43 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

Guess I'm a moron

I became a phan as an adult after moving to the Philly area. I was born about as far from Philly as you can get, and have absolutely no family ties to the area.

by phatj on Apr 19, 2008 5:19 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

What's wrong with you?

You seem intelligent, but with that back story, I have to wonder….

by David S. Cohen on Apr 19, 2008 8:24 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

2001

In my defense, it was early summer of 2001 when I moved to the area. The Phillies at the time seemed like an ascendant young team. Had it been one of their more typical seasons of futility I might not have become a phan.

by phatj on Apr 20, 2008 12:20 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

hey, me too!

I’m with phatj – I moved to Philly as an adult (well, chronologically, at least) in 1998, and quite a year that was to become a Phillies phan! My first Phils teams were Schill wanting to leave, Rolen wanting to leave, Abreu, and then Alex Arias, Desi Relaford, Marlon Anderson, Rico Brogna, Doug Glanville, Kevin Jordan, Chad Ogea, Wayne Gomes – oh yeah, man, how could you not fall for that? And all taking place at the Vet! Actually, the Vet was a big part of it: not that it was so great, just that – at least in ‘98 – you could get a seat in the upper deck, behind the plate, for $6.00. So in a funny way it helped that the team wasn’t that great, didn’t draw all that well, and had cheap tickets – it meant that a younger and not-too-wealthy me could afford to go all the time. In fact, it was cheaper than a movie.

"I am the Walrus?..... I am the Walrus." - Donny Kerabatsos

by The Navigator on Apr 21, 2008 12:50 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

horrid

I’m not even angry at Arbuckle. I’m sure he’s just spouting the company line.

But this is probably the most depressing thing I’ve ever read, with regard to the way Our Favorite Team is run.

by WholeCamels on Apr 20, 2008 9:40 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

The Flip Side

I know you all recall JD Drew and his more than fair agent Scott Bore-Ass asking the Phils for 6M. I love to see him on the DL of which he spends so much time. Another fine example is Gavin Floyd 4.2M signed at 11:55 p.m. As I recall the hang up was the 200K.

I have read, but can’t site the reference, that 95% of the prospects never make it to the bigs. And lets face it the Phils aren’t exactly into admitting when they are wrong.

My main fear is the cheap owners, in factoring in the cost of doing business would cut the big league payroll to offset the cost of bonuses.

Adding the bonuses of Drew and Floyd at 10M would have gotten the Phils a proven starter like oh say Freddie Garcia, oops bad example.

This game really is all about market and I feel a slot system, although not perfect, still gives the weaker, poorer teams a chance to draft talented youngsters ie: the Royals and Rays. Left to the owners the BIG Boys would over pay to gobble up the more talented.

by Steve-O- on Apr 20, 2008 10:28 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

the point

If they instituted an actual slot system, and actually enforced it, then that’d be great. BUT THERE IS NO ACTUAL SLOT SYSTEM. Just an edict from the league office “strongly encouraging” teams to pay certain bonus amounts for certain draft picks. And this soft, squishy edict allows the stronger, richer teams to overpay for the guys who fell to lower spots because the “bad” teams with higher picks couldn’t afford them / were playing “good soldier” for the league. How do you think the Yankees got Joba Chamberlain so late in the draft? How did Rick Porcello fall to the late first round despite being the best prep pitcher in the nation?

Spending money on the draft is dollar-for-dollar one of the best investments a team can make, but teams obsessed with the bottom line, as defined by this year’s budget, don’t seem to have the foresight necessary to spend on amateur talent.

But I guess we should be happy that Giles and Monty are well thought-of by Bud Selig & Co. It’ll make another second place finish, another “toolsy, raw” first round outfielder pick, and the failure to sign guys like Brandon Workman that much easier to swallow!

by WholeCamels on Apr 20, 2008 10:55 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

blind luck

That’s the only way this team can win. In 1993, every player on the roster had a career year, they managed to keep Schilling and Greene healthy, and they won a pennant. In 2007, the Mets had a collapse of historic proportions, and they won the division.

That’s it for the Giles/Montgomery Era.

The only sustained stretch of dominance in this organization’s miserable history came from 1976-83, when they made the playoffs six times in eight years. Guess what happened then? They had one of the highest payrolls in the game, as well as the best scouts and a famously aggressive front office.

Things won’t get better in any kind of sustainable, non-fluky way until these bastards sell that team. That’s it.

by dajafi on Apr 20, 2008 1:00 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

smart to pay slot

I posted a longer comment on backshegoes about this, but the key to understand is that this is simple collusion. It’s not stupid to pay slot. The main way that baseball teams make money is that they pay lower than market value deals (less than the revenue they generate) to players with less than 6 years service time. Naturally, if teams just paid everyone draft bonuses equivalent to the difference between what they earn as young players and what revenue they generate, this would be useless. So they have a pact to not do so. A few teams deviate from this strategy, but that doesn’t mean it’s smart to deviate. Every little bit helps.

by MattS on Apr 20, 2008 7:55 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs