One of the apparent outcomes of sports talk radio, and in particular the discussion of NFL draft picks, is the overly serious evaluation of drafted amateur athletes. Specifically, the overvaluation of the entry draft picks even crept into the speculative discussion about the plans of Major League Baseball teams, like the flawed Philadelphia Phillies. May God keep us from forgetting that signing such and such a player will cost you an MLB draft pick.

This is even more the case when there is a work stoppage in MLB business.

For a team like the Philadelphia Phillies, whose president Dave Dombrowski apparently understands his team need good draft picks, this matter is extremely serious. He’s trying to balance building a better farming system without wasting the bonuses of his current very good MLB players, specifically the current National League MVP. Bryce harper.

Should the Philadelphia Phillies be worried about their farm or current roster?

His team need multiple players to play at South Philly next spring (or any time) as his team only finished two out of 0.500 games in 2021. He also dropped his last left fielder, Andrew McCutchen, therefore an outfielder is needed to wear red stripes and endure criticism from the press and the very tough Phillies fans.

And that’s where considering an MLB draft pick comes in. Recently, writer Corey Seidman, a very knowledgeable guy, made this observation: “[Nick] Castellanos…would cost the Phillies their second draft pick because he was extended and rejected the qualifying offer of his old team…. “

The horror! Losing the “MLB Second Pick”!

That’s almost unfair to Seidman, whose observation was buried in a semi-long think-piece about the Phillies and any MLB draft pick they might keep or drop.

But the notion of grabbing a great hitter rather than giving up the MLB “second” draft pick is worth considering.

And to that end, we have to go back in time about five years to when two Phillies minor leagues lit up the Eastern League Double-A. Their names were Rhys hoskins and Dylan cozens, and they became the first Phillies MiLB teammates to hit at least 35 home runs each in 45 years.

In 2016, Cozens had hit 40 home runs and led 125 runs in 134 games, and Hoskins had added 38 bombs and 116 RBIs.

Both have been honored as MiLB Co-Players of the Year by the Phillies, and the organization’s director of player development Joe Jordan has said on the occasion: “It has been a fantastic experience to play. seeing them, and the reward was seeing them develop into players. We couldn’t have written it better. I think both should be a bright part of our future.

Phillies fans were to the extreme, with many hoping for an immediate Reading to South Philly leap for the two young hitters.

The fans and Jordan were only half right in their excitement. As many know, the following year, Hoskins, a fifth-round draft pick, joined the Phillies late in the season and immediately hit 18 home runs in just 34 games. He hasn’t had any homeruns in his last 16 games, but has become a valuable everyday hitter in Philadelphia, despite being scored.

However, Cozens, a second-round pick, struggled every year after 2016, ultimately only making 27 games for the Phillies, hitting just one home run and beating .154 in 2018 and 2019 . He is no longer plays professional baseball.

In other words, keeping your draft picks, even while rebuilding your farming system, is like saving up to develop a player much worse than the departure of McCutchen and the coveted Castellanos. Dombrowski must keep this in mind as soon as a new collective agreement is concluded.

There’s no way the drafted player could be in Phillies left field in 2022.