Friday, May 16, 2008

The draft matters even in baseball

People talk all of the time how the Major League Baseball Draft has the least affect of any draft in sports but that is not the case just look at the team that is playing the best ball in the NL: the Arizona Diamondbacks.

During the last five drafts the Diamondbacks have shown how to build your team through the draft. After winning the World Series in 2001 the front office decided to rebuild and they did it through the draft.

A look at the key players shows the success the scouting staff had between 2003 and 2006.
  • 2003: Connor Jackson and Carlos Carlos Quentin, who was later traded.
  • 2004: Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds. As well as two other players that were traded for veteran pitchers.
  • 2005: Justin Upton (pictured above) and Micah Owings.
  • 2006. Max Scherzer.
During the period the team spent $25.7 million dollars on signing bonous for all of their picks. Sure it seems like a lot but in the end it looks like it was money well spent.

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