The A's go Green... AKA: Now is not the time for a scorched Earth policy

With the 13th pick in the 2009 amateur draft, the Oakland A’s picked USC SS Grant Green.

OK… now what?

I’m not going to write up a detailed scouting report for you, there are a couple examples on the draft thread that I’ll link too instead. The bottom line is a lot of people (including, one hopes, the scouting department and general management of the Oakland Athletics) think that Green can be a good starting SS in the big leagues. Will he achieve what is expected of him? I have no idea, but he faced 3 years of legitimate competition in the Pac-10 and spent some time in the Cape Cod League so it’s not like he hasn’t cleared some hurdles already.

The big question is, how quickly can the A’s sign Green and get him in their development program? Green is represented by Scott Boras and Mr. Boras is known for hardball dealing and not letting his clients sign until near the deadline… that’s how he gets top dollar for his people. I understand that Green is likely to require an above-slot bonus to come to terms. I can accept that as the cost of doing business. What I cannot tolerate is the idea that the A’s don’t get Green signed ASAP and into their farm system. Having Green sit on the sidelines for two months is unacceptable. This is a player with the potential to move quickly and get to the Show and play a position of need in the Oakland line-up.

Major League Baseball has requested that teams cut the recommended slot bonuses by 10% from last year in an effort to control costs. That means the MLB recommended bonus for the 13th overall pick in the 2009 draft is $1.656 million. The A’s already know that Boras has no intention of letting Green sign for slot, so let’s skip the foreplay and go straight for the hardcore porn. The A’s don’t have a 2nd round pick this year because of the FA signing of Orlando Cabrera, that’s a recommended slot bonus of $614 K that the A’s have sitting in the bank. Combine those two figures and the A’s have $2.27 million that they were planning on spending anyways before they signed Cabrera. I haven’t heard a specific number attached to Green but $2.27 million should go a long way towards getting a deal done.

The A’s aren’t going to win a price war with Scott Boras; they aren’t going to get Green to sign on their financial terms. Victory can only be achieved by finding the price tag quickly and getting the deal done. Get Green into an A’s uniform and get him playing professional baseball. Drafting Green was the easy part, now is when the work starts.

Link.

Link.