Phillies 2023 Arizona Fall League/International Winter Leagues

[Austinfan]

My point is to be really wary of the big money prospects b/c that's where the temptation to play games is highest.
The best bet are lower cost guys who are less physically mature (i.e. normal for their age group) who you can project to fill out.

A good way to think of this is giving huge bonuses to 9th grade kids, outside of a few, rare outliers, you'd be bat crazy to do so. Between 9th and 12th grade, there's a huge reshuffling as kids go through puberty and growth spurts. Even then, how many HS prospects turn down the 3rd to 10th rd bonuses to go to college and blossom, not to mention the guys who would be taken at the end of the draft if they skipped college who become real prospects three years later.

It's hard enough to project 18 year old athletes to 22-23 years old, it's a fool's errand to project 14 year olds.

[fish]

They are not supposed to be doing advanced deals with younger players, but some teams are.

Every team is. From the outside it’s hard to know exactly who wants this system, MLB teams created it, I’m sure buscones want to keep it, but it’s not clear to me if the kids themselves actually want it. Does the training and opportunity still exit with these buscone programs if there is a draft? I would think so, and maybe they even get regulated by mlb.

[andyb]

Teams ARE wary of this. MLB put checks in but kids that want to get more money are always going to work around this. U.S. players did this back in the 1940s and 1950s too.

You just seem to be against international spending. The first thing teams need to do is spend their limited pool money wisely. That means getting their fair share of the top talent. That means doing their homework and scouting and getting players with the best projectable tools. Most of the top Latin American prospects signed for large bonuses. Are you saying you would not want Ethan Salas or Jackson Chourio in the Phillies organization because they had the temerity to ask for large bonuses when they signed?

Every team can sign lots of $10K prospects. But the best players at least on the position player side usually come with large bonuses attach. Not always, but more often than not.

[allentown]

Everybody commits to 15-year olds. Nor everybody commits to 13- and 14-year olds and MLB supposedly frowns on commits to those under 15.