The Dodgers Ownership Situation And The Draft

This week MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that do the financial and personal trouble Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt is going through MLB will oversea operations of the team. I'm not going to get into that but if you want to read about the ramifications you can read this article on SI.COM

I wonder how this is going to affect the Dodgers who pick 16th in the first round. Last year everybody assumed that they didn't have any money which case they went on to draft Zach Lee, probably the biggest sign-ability pick of the draft. What was more surprising was that they signed him for a record bonus of ~$5 Million.

This time it will be more difficult as MLB will be overseeing operation of the club, which means that they'll have to approve or deny any deal. MLB has been a strong supporter of the slotting system so how would it look if they let a team that they are overseeing operations go above slot? don't get me wrong, if every other team is able to do it they should too but that would be like MLB admitting that the system is broken.

My overall feeling is that we'll see the Dodgers go with what has worked for them which is HS pitching but they'll be out of high price ones that drop because of demands. In 2009 MLB was in the same situation with Texas and they blocked a deal with their first round pick Matt Purke that year so the Dodgers know MLB has done it in the past and wouldn't want to walk down that path.

In Other News:

Taylor Guerrieri: Baseball America had a game report on Taylor Guerrieri the other day. He reportedly sat 93-96 MPH and showed a wicked Curve ball. One scout was quoted as saying "When you look at what big leaguers do, he does that already. He's a lot of fun to watch and I like him a lot, but he's the kind of pick that's not up to an area scout."

You can read more on Guerrieri's outing HERE

Matt Purke: TCU Left-Hander Matt Purke was sliding into the middle of the first round after he missed a start with a blister and his stuff wasn't as sharp as last year. I saw him top out at 91 and show more of a slurve rather than the mid 90s FB and sharp breaking ball we saw last year. This week there was more bad news as Purke was shut down for the rest of the season with shoulder soreness. He went to see Dr. James Andrews and we are still waiting on the prognosis. His draft status is more cloudy now as team fear Shoulder injuries more than elbow injuries. I'll update his status as news come in.