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Meet the Matz

John Cougar Lunchbucket Aug 12 2009 10:37 AM

Quoth Rubin: ]Mets officials are optimistic that top pick Steven Matz, a lefthander from Ward Melville High School on Long Island, will sign by Monday’s deadline. Matz, taken 72nd overall, may get a seven-figure bonus, double the roughly $500,000 bonuses received by players drafted around him. And what up with D-Magz, LOLZ?!

metirish Aug 12 2009 11:05 AM

Gr8 newz

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Aug 12 2009 11:17 AM

Gently flipping the bird at the slotting "system"? Yep, that works for me.

bmfc1 Aug 12 2009 11:43 AM

Gammons was recently critical of the Mets for following the slotting system. If they did not, then management deserves kudos.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Aug 12 2009 01:03 PM

="bmfc1"]Gammons was recently critical of the Mets for following the slotting system. If they did not, then management deserves kudos. Well, either the teams around their pick went way below, or... Really, though-- the process is really kinda stupid, somewhere between actual draft-slotting (a la the NBA) and an open market. And the reason Mets management seems largely to have adhered to the system kinda seems clear, once you take into account what it takes to go above-slot. As detailed in a Kevin Goldstein article from 2007: ]“The only thing MLB can do is fine you if you don’t call them first,” said one scouting director, who then went into detail about the process, the annoyance in his voice coming through perfectly. “You call MLB and say you want to go over slot, and they tell you not to, and that they’ve worked so hard to put this system in place and that you are blowing everything up.” From there, things get uglier. “Now, the process can’t continue until MLB talks not to your GM, but to your ownership, where they will once again yell about your team messing everything up, but also often telling them that their own scouting director is doing the wrong thing here,” he added. “Unfortunately, there are owners who listen.” The key to getting an over-slot deal done seems to then rely on having a supportive internal management structure. “In the end, you have to have a strong enough ownership where you can tell him that signing this player for big money is in the best interest of the organization,” he continued. “When that happens, the owner has to call MLB back and let them know that their message has been heard and considered, but we’re doing it anyway. Then after MLB yells at you one more time, you sign the guy. It’s a bad process.” All in all, though, it's an awkward system, and doesn't seem to work in terms of equitable talent distribution. Any time the two sides sit at the table to renegotiate the CBA, the draft seems perpetually to be an afterthought... the system reflects it.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Aug 12 2009 01:12 PM

It's bullshit piled upon bullshit, considering they've long since limited the potential employers a player can talk with.

Edgy DC Aug 12 2009 01:23 PM

To one.

Gwreck Aug 12 2009 02:29 PM

I need to dig up the article but I recall Buster Olney pointing out that of the big-market teams, the Mets are one of the few who consistently stick to slot and do not go over. Edit: here we go: ="Buster Olney, 8/5/09":3r3vf3ql]An AL team executive followed up on Monday's column about the disparity between teams and about the recent trend of big-money teams to aggressively sign players for more than the slot recommendations made/suggested/demanded by the commissioner's office. The exec pointed out that the only team among the eight with the highest payroll which doesn't follow this trend happens to be the same team which wouldn't make the playoffs if they started today -- the Mets, who closely follow the commissioner's slot recommendations and, because of this, essentially compete against the Red Sox, the Yankees and others with one hand tied behind their back. In fact, another AL team official noted that a lot of the teams widely perceived to have the worst farm systems during this decade -- the Mets, White Sox, Astros and Royals -- are also the teams that almost uniformly follow the commissioner's slot recommendations. (The Royals have veered in recent seasons.)[/quote:3r3vf3ql] Frayed Knot Aug 12 2009 02:58 PM Of course it (slotting) is a stupid process - although the quote about the teams adhering to it consistently "having the worst farm systems" is more a case of shoe-horning the wanted results into the pre-determined answer me thinks. The Yanx haven't been rated any better than the Mets in recent years and they bust through the slotting "recommendations" all the time. Edgy DC Aug 12 2009 05:19 PM If you're buying tickets to see the Mets, I have a set of recommended prices you should pay for each slot and I think it would serve all our needs if you adhere to it stringently. Frayed Knot Aug 12 2009 07:30 PM The other thing about the Mets adherence to the slotting system is that, while it is stupid and frustrating, it's also getting blamed for virtually every weakness in their system and that's way over-emphasizing its effect. There are basically two types of players who can demand - and get - over-slot money. 1) A legit upper-half, first-round talent who scares enough small market teams (the ones who often have the best picks) with his supposed demands and and falls to either a later 1st or even 2nd/3rd round pick for a richer team. The team gets a better pick then they had a right to expect and the player gets himself on a better team while at least getting close to the money he wanted. But the Mets have never skipped over this type of obvious 1st round guy in favor of an easy sign of lesser talent. All their picks (when they've kept their 1st rounders -- Pelfrey, Humber, Milledge, Kazmir) were, at the time, considered worthy of their selection. 2) the other is the raw, yet athletically intriguing kid - usually a high-schooler - who isn't polished enough to be high-round material but could pay off in a long-term way for some team willing to risk big bucks in a later round to buy him out of his college scholarship or away from his other sport(s). This is where the Mets have NOT challenged the system and instead settle for the mostly filler-type guys that normally populate those rounds. Not that throwing big bucks at one of those guys is a high pct move, it's still a long-shot that will miss a lot more often than hit. But when a team that has the money won't at least attempt to pick a spot here and there to try for the big-bucks and maybe big reward stud simply because of an arbitrary system that not all your competitors adhere to then it's time to reevaluate where the priorities are. As for Matz, nothing I read suggested he should have been anything other than a 50-100 pick (he was 72nd) so I'm not sure if he's really worth what he's asking (approx $1.1mil or ~ double that spot's usual bonus). He has a college scholarship offer although it's to Coastal Carolina - a team that made it to the CWS last year but hardly a traditional powerhouse. Sounds like he'll get something over slot although maybe less than his asking price. Part of the problem is that the commish's office decided to [u:3ha55bf8]CUT[/u:3ha55bf8] bonus "suggestions" this year (about 10%) and naturally agents/players aren't happy about that. Signings all over are going slowly this year although a bunch have been announced over the last few days, including a lot of over-slot deals from the likes of Pittsburgh and others.