Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla
Isn't that the argument for taking a Rule 5 guy (for absolutely nothing)? I get the developmental delay, but it's still a good asset.
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Get the Rule 5 guy - don't get him through the Rule 5.
The developmental delay could sabotage the 'good asset' and make him simply organizational chaff that you push at least a year and generally 2 years further behind.
The Padres know they're at risk of losing him. They know there are teams with the mind-set you are suggesting who will just take him to bury him 'cheap'. They'll take a hell of a lot less than his real value for him - they'll take his 'arbitrage' value, so to speak.
Let's say on a 0-100 scale the Padres look at Ruiz as a guy with a 'true' value of, say, 60 'points'. But they think there's a 40% chance they lose him to the Rule 5. So they say "well that's a 60 point asset with a 60% chance of us retaining him so his 'true' value is really only about 36 points..."
So the Royals find a guy with a 40 point value, flip him the Padres way, put Ruiz on the 40 and option him so they can give him the best chance of actually becoming a real long-term asset. That is, presuming that the Royals see Ruiz as a 60 point piece in their own right.
I'm not saying organizations should hoard all their pieces - I'm saying that they should leverage them better.