This is coming in a little late, but I have not had the time to sit down and write about this, but Joe Starkey's column entitled
Pirates' Spending Overrated, was seemingly all over the place in trying to prove a point that the Pirates need to spend more money.
Starting from criticizing Neal Huntington for correcting an interviewer on 93.7 The Fan for the amount of dollars spent on the draft this season, to saying they need spend more internationally, to saying that they need to spend on the major league club.
What stuck in my craw the most from this piece, that exemplifies your usual Pittsburgh sports media piece, is his argument that the Pirates are not spending enough internationally. One would think a chart or graph of total international spending from the past few seasons would illustrate this point. But why do that when you can cherry pick examples and pick those examples poorly.
The international market, as readers of this blog know, are any ballplayers not subject to Rule Four Draft. This is players not from the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico. That covers a large mass of players and countries. The vast majority of those players hail from the various countries of Latin America. Countries like the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela, Panama and so forth. There are also growing pockets of talent in Australia, Europe, and in Asia.
One country that is different, due to the politics of the situation, is Cuba. Due to the communist regime there, Cuban ballplayers have to defect to another country to sign with a major league club. When they do defect the supply of Cuban ballplayers, history of Cuban success, and the general pedigree of their young players drives up their value, making them a much different player than say a Venezuelan.
I am sure Mr. Starkey knows that, but he decided to use recent signings of Cuban ballplayers as his point against the Pirates not spending internationally. Notably he used the high profile signing of Aroldis Chapman by the market similar Cincinnati Reds and the high spending Red Sox getting two more Cuban players for $12 million. (On a related note, the Red Sox are actually spending less than $12 million as one of the players
failed a physical.) But these signings do not illustrate the typical international signee. Cuban ballplayers are different and have their prices rise simply because they are Cuban.
The vast majority of the players signed internationally are still looking at, at most, six figure bonuses. Spending money is good at getting the top players in these parts of the world, but the game is still mainly about scouting and development. Sure you are going to pay a good bit to get the top guy, but the overall value of any international budget is not that large. Scouting and development, that is the true measure of the effectiveness in international fronts.
Don't bother though pointing out the main differences in Cuban players versus the rest of the talent pool. Don't bother mentioning that the bonus, at the time of writing reported to be given, to Luis Heredia is tied for
5th largest in history for an international amateur. Don't bother in discussing the scouting of these players. Don't bother trying to go into all the intricacies of international scouting. Also don't bother to discuss the clubs expanded international efforts into new countries. No just focus on one factor, money. It is easiest to write about and easiest to dispense to Yinzer nation, is it not Mr. Starkey?
