I’m reading Moneyball by Michael Lewis, and I come across a chapter in which Lewis is covering the Oakland A’s draft room in 2004. In the section, it’s mentioned that the Indians were set to draft Jeremy Guthrie because they had agreed to Scott Boras’s demands…a $20M package.
Doing my research, it appears that the Indians gave Guthrie a $3M signing bonus and a 4 year MLB contract at $4M per. Boras wanted a higher bonus; the Indians appeased him with the MLB contract.
Four years later the Indians designated Guthrie for assignment and lost him to the Orioles. At that point, Guthrie was 26 years old. He had appeared in 16 games over the prior 3 years, with no record and a 6.08 ERA. He started one game.
I bring this up not because of how Guthrie has pitched for the Orioles since - though we could talk about it - but because of how little the Indians, an organization for which every dollar counts, got for their $20M investment.
One major league start. 16 total appearances. No players in exchange. No draft pick compensation.
This is not the type of decision that breeds long-term success.
