BLumbergh wrote:

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templeUsox wrote:

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People understand that he's a FA and is not subject to draft slot regulations, right? Dayan Viciedo was Igleisas' age when he defected and he got a 4 year/10 million dollar contract.

Yes, but draft slot regulations don't distort the market so much that a 2nd or 3rd rounder would get $8 mill absent them.

BLumbergh wrote:

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Common sense? Take, for instance, Alex Meyer. Dude was, by consensus, at least a late first round talent. Sox offered him $2 mill, give or take, and refused to go above that, presumably because that was their valuation of what he's worth. If the true value of a second or third rounder is $8 million, it would be economically retarded for them to cap their offer at $2 million (and no, I don't think the bogeyman of Bud Selig explains this; it was an economic decision). In fact, their entire approach to the draft would make no sense if the real value of these kids was 10 orders of magnitude or more above what they pay them. All of the economic incentives would favor more investment in the draft -- an insanely efficient use of money, were this true -- and less in international free agency. It does not pass the straight face test that a second-rounder would ever be worth $8 million, or anything close to that.

Or, to go a simpler route, PhillySoxFan calculated the value of first round draft picks and while I can't remember what the number he arrived at was, it was something like $2.5 mill. Mind you -- this is not what people paid; it's what the picks were worth based on their production.

Jose Iglesias is either a) a hell of a lot better than a second or third round talent, or b) getting a hell of a lot less than $8 million.