Tigers rattle commish's office with draft signing

Rick Porcello, No. 21, signed a record-breaking contract despite being only the 27th pick in the draft. Courtesy of Seton Hall Prep

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Bud Selig is said to be livid over the Tigers' record $7.3 million deal for prep pitcher Rick Porcello. Yet, the commissioner's well-known sentiments on the subject weren't about to stop the Tigers from doing what they do best, which is to spend for talent and take chances, especially in the draft.

With the blessing of their pizza king owner Mike Ilitch, the Tigers' front office has done what it took to quickly rise from an all-time dregs team with 119 defeats to rank among baseball's elite teams and it isn't about to stop now. The way they have engineered the turnaround is to identify young talent and pay for it. Good for them.

Porcello's four-year, major-league deal surpassed Josh Beckett's $7 million contract eight years ago as the biggest for a drafted high-school pitcher and rankled Selig and other MLB powers who have worked hard and instituted new rules designed to scale back bonuses for amateur draftees, one area where they retain some fiscal control. Porcello's contract also shattered the $1.17 million slot figure MLB people had assigned to the 27th spot in the first round and was the latest coup for super agent Scott Boras.

Selig tried to discourage both Ilitch and Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski in separate conversations in which he spelled out the risks. "It's an opportunity he didn't necessarily believe in," Dombrowski conceded by phone of Selig. "We support the commissioner's program and have adhered to it in almost every single case .... You never like to do anything that may hurt another organization. But we're in a spot where we feel we have to do what's best for the organization."

Dombrowski is doing just that, taking advantage of an opportunity that's there because many other teams roll over for MLB's powers. Scouts say Porcello has talent that's comparable to Beckett -- the pick of Dombrowski's Marlins eight years ago -- and if that's so, he may a gigantic bargain, just as Beckett was.

"We never thought Porcello could get to us," Dombrowski said.

Perhaps this will teach Dombrowski not to underestimate the power of the commissioner's office, which got a vast majority of teams to follow along like lost lemmings. Many of these teams that passed on Porcello and other high-ceiling stars are erring by disregarding talented, young players for what amounts to piddling prices.

Let's not forget that this is the Golden Era of baseball where teams will spend $40 or even $55 million in free agency on average (though proven) big-league starters.

Selig is understandably trying to prevent a spate of wasted deals, and it's true several have been bestowed upon supposed phenoms in the past, such as the $10 million once spent on Matt White by the Devil Rays. The commissioner worries one big deal will begat another, that Porcello's large price will cause others to rise, as well. But the Tigers' recent draft record is excellent. And they shouldn't have to answer for the mistakes of the D-Rays and others.

Dombrowski pointed out the Tigers can't easily compete with the biggest spending teams for the absolute biggest stars in free agency or even in international free agency, so they rely on scouts and make their bets on amateur draft picks. Lately, they have been consistent winners in this arena, from Justin Verlander three years ago to top outfield prospect Cameron Maybin two years ago to young left-handed pitcher Andrew Miller last year.

With Porcello, a hard-throwing right-hander, they've spent about $18 million, in total, on those last four first-round picks combined, a tiny of fraction of their current value (though, one risk with Porcello's deal is that it is a major-league contract, which means he needs to emerge by the fourth year.)

The history of the biggest bonuses for Boras clients is actually a winning one. While lesser first-round talents ($1 million-to-$2 million) are more of a mixed bag no matter the agent -- with only about 50 percent of first rounders ever making the majors -- Boras' biggest amateur talents ($4 million or more) generally have proven their worth, from Mark Teixeira to Jason Varitek to J.D. Drew to Stephen Drew to Jered Weaver.

Before the signings of deadline day, when a few of the most talented draftees signed -- including No. 1 pick David Price with Tampa Bay, which gave the Vanderbilt left-hander $8.5 million -- teams generally stuck to MLB's recommended slot figures. However, the suggested slot figures are assigned arbitrarily and without regard to a player's talent.

That was certainly the case with Porcello, generally viewed as the pearl of the draft among high-school players. He only fell to No. 27 because of the reluctance of other teams to pay for such a high school talent combined with a fear of losing the pick if the player remained unsigned.

Selig's brilliant draft henchman Frank Coonelly has effectively scaled back amateur bonuses over the years through aggressive tactics and new leverage-stealing rules won from a union that's uninterested in amateur entrants who they don't represent. But occasionally a team will buck the trend to toe the line. Here it's the Tigers. And frankly, no one should blame them since they have proven they know what they're doing.

Owner Ilitch's win-at-all costs style has paid off with big-league signings, as well. It was Ilitch who disregarded critics and signed Ivan Rodriguez, Kenny Rogers and Magglio Ordonez, three more Boras clients who enabled the Tigers to become contenders in a remarkable hurry. In the case of Rogers, Royals owner David Glass listened to MLB's suggested offer of $6 million for two years then watched Ilitch blow them away for a deal for $18 million over the same two years.

The more teams following the commissioner's recommended figures, the better things are for teams such as the Tigers, who happily remain on their own program.

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