By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
In an effort to curb signing bonuses in the MLB amateur draft, new rules in 2012 established a budget for the first 10 rounds and assigned slot values.
Players drafted after the 10th round would be limited to a $100,000 signing bonus. If that amount was exceeded the difference was taken from the 10-round bonus pool.
MLB general managers figured out the best way to sign players who commanded over-slot bonus recommendations was to draft college seniors, who have practically no bargaining leverage, and offer them $10,000 or even $1,000 to save money.
The new rules also confirmed how organizations view value in the draft: premium blue chips in the first 10 rounds and everyone after classified as either prospects or roster fillers. MLB honchos could have extended the pool to 12 rounds or 20 rounds but didn’t.
Of course, hidden gems are drafted in the lower rounds, once in a blue moon, and the greatest of all-time is Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza, taken in the 62nd round in 1988. (Now, the MLB draft has 40 rounds.)
Most ballclubs give high draft picks a longer safety net when production doesn’t immediately meet a scouting profile or expectations. Farm directors believe a slower-developing blue-chip prospect will eventually play to his tools.
And MLB owners dislike sunken costs, a reason first-round picks will stick around at the same level for years or get sent to instructional league, which is basically a remedial school.
It is best to think of an MLB farm system as a pyramid, the top being the big leagues. There is only one level for Triple-A and Double-A, unlike Single-A where there’s Advanced and Lower-tier ballclubs.
As such, nothing stays the same for long.
A new crop of prospects arrives every June from the MLB draft, and minor league rosters need to be weeded out, usually in spring training.
The minor league managers have a dual function: develop their players but also serve as secondary scouts or talent evaluators, writing reports on their players and the opposition as well. That intel is sent to farm directors, who make the call on roster moves and formulate player rankings.
That’s a reason some websites, like mlb.com, have a top prospect list that on first glance makes no sense. For example, Tampa Bay Rays farmhand Kean Wong is not on the mlb.com’s top 30 Rays list, but he’s going to the Arizona Fall League, considered the most competitive offseason circuit.
It should be noted that area scouts serve as the eyes and ears of an organization, not only evaluating talent, but also doing homework on a player’s intangibles, such as character and work ethic.
Rays area scout Robbie Moen was well aware of Wong’s daily routine of hitting at his dad Kaha Wong’s hitting cage (behind Target), weight lifting, running, and finding a field to take grounders.
Those notes were filed in his report and led the Rays to pick Wong in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft out of Waiakea, where he played everywhere but pitcher.
Like his brother Kolten Wong, the St. Louis second baseman, the Rays farmhand second/third baseman has climbed a level every year.
However, the Cardinals slugger played three years at UH-Manoa. His younger brother went straight to rookie ball as an 18-year-old and tore up the Gulf Coast League with a .328 batting average.
In his first year at Double-A ball, Wong, 21, posted similar numbers to last year when he was at Advanced-A, quite a feat for several reasons.
The biggest is the jump from Single A to Double A is one of the toughest because the hard throwers with no command are filtered out. They’re either stuck in A ball or released.
Wong was three years younger on league average and held his own against premium pitchers, most much older and more experienced and all armed with a tactical game plan on how to attack hitters.
Obviously, the pitching quality is deeper on each team’s staff. There are no weak links, someone Wong can count on for a 3 for 4 day.
While Kolten has changed his swing, dropping his hands to generate better bat speed and exit ball velocity, Kean has maintained his dad’s line-drive stroke.
He also religiously follows the family’s legendary workout routine, a part of his Tampa Bay profile and one reason Wong is headed to the AFL, following his own bright future.