What $11.5 Million Will Get You
What if I told you that you could acquire the OSA Top 10 rated prospects for just $11.5M? Sure, the OSA might not be the best scouting service around, but it's the only one we've got, and the top ten prospects would surely be a bargain at that price. That's exactly what clubs spent to get those guys in the first place. Each? No. Total.
Even that figure is misleading, because eight of the top ten cost their clubs nothing at all. They were scouting discoveries, drafted too low to qualify for a signing bonus, or in one case, was a minor league free agent who also got no signing bonus. There were just two bonus babies in the top ten.
Tankut Saltik – Scouting Discovery
Austin Nolan – Scouting Discovery
Michael Buckley - 2nd Overall Pick, $5,000,000
Dabir Nawfal – Scouting Discovery
Jorge Canó – Scouting Discovery
Tom Guenette – Scouting Discovery
Jameel Khanum – Minor League Free Agent, $0
Dave Lachance - 208th Overall Pick, $0
Mark Lolololo - 8th Overal Pick, $6,500,000
Terry Cole - 508th Overall Pick, $0
International scouting discoveries, also known as pure dumb luck, account for fully half of the top ten, and cost their respective clubs nothing to add to their international complexes. Late round picks Lachance and Cole, also cost nothing to add to their clubs minor league systems. Khanum had a 25 future value when Mexico City picked him up for nothing, after he had been let go by two other clubs. Buckley (2054) and Lolololo (2052) were both top ten draft picks, and were paid accordingly.
Sometimes the best prospects in the BBA are free, actually a significant amount of the time. Forty-four of the Top 100 cost their teams $0 to acquire. There are the twenty-five scouting discoveries, there are fourteen drafted prospects who did not get a signing bonus, and there are five prospects who signed minor league free agent deals with no signing bonus.
