Wonder why MLB clubs are hesitant to sign players, such as Nelson Cruz and Ervin Santana, who have draft-pick compensation attached to them?
The New York Yankees handed over the No. 25 overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft to the Angels as compensation for signing Mark Teixeira. Yankees fans were happy to welcome Teixeira, who was coming off a very productive 2008 season in which he hit .308 with 33 homers and 121 RBI. The Yankees handed Teixiera an eight-year deal worth $180 million, and they still owe him $22.5 million annually through 2016.
Little did Yankees fans know that with the No. 25 pick, the Angels would select some kid from New Jersey named Mike Trout.
As a Yankees fan, writing that sentence just made me a little bit nauseous. All Trout has done is emerge into, arguably, the best player in baseball. Trout could be the best player in decades. Seriously.
Trout, who is on the verge on receiving his own payday, has finished second in the AL MVP voting the last two seasons.
Teixeira helped the Yankees win the 2009 World Series. But would Yankees fan trade the ’09 title for a decade of Mike Trout? It might sounds crazy, but I think some would.
If the Yankees drafted Trout, a local kid from Millville Senior High School in New Jersey, he would have a chance to surpass Derek Jeter in terms of stardom. Trout should be the new Mickey Mantle.
Instead the Yankees have Mark Teixeira.
The Jeter-to-Trout handoff should have mirrored the DiMaggio-to-Mantle torch passing. Instead, Yankees fans can look forward to Brett Garnder being the only homegrown regular for the foreseeable future.
Here is the statistical breakdown since Trout made his MLB debut:
Trout 2011-2013 -.314 average, 62 homers, 196 RBI, 86 steals, 258 runs
Teixeira 2011-2013 - .244 average, 66 homers, 207 RBI, 6 steals, 161 runs
The next time your favorite teams signs a big-ticket free agent, remember not to get overly excited. The compensation could be the next Mickey Mantle.
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