Quote:
Originally Posted by patteeu
I'm not the most informed person on this subject so someone can correct me if I get it wrong, but I heard that MLB frowns upon/doesn't allow teams to deviate so far from the draft salary slotting system until late in the negotiating period so for people like Starling who are going to end up busting the salary structure, these deals have to happen at the last minute.
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MLB has to approve all contracts. It's well known that they won't approve over-slot deals - especially big, first-round ones - until as close to the deadline as possible (to keep spending down).
As for Starling's ceiling and draft status...
He has been considered a top 10 pick since the Area Codes games last year (which were almost exactly one year ago). Still AFTER his Nebraska commitment, but it's been pretty clear since then that he was baseball all the ay.
And his ceiling... Starling's ceiling is Matt Kemp offense with Gold Glove defense. Basically, he has the same ceiling - with more power - as Angels prospect Mike Trout. Who was No. 1 in a lot of prospect lists this year.
This is a kid with plus-plus power, who can be an All-Star level baserunner and hitter for average, with Gold Glove skills in CF, who also will have one of the better throwing arms amongst CFs. Yeah, his ceiling is pretty high...