Theriot/Lilly for DeWitt and 2 Prospects

[jstraw]

<!--quoteo(post=109186:date=Jul 31 2010, 10:47 PM:name=Kid)-->QUOTE (Kid @ Jul 31 2010, 10:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=109184:date=Jul 31 2010, 11:41 PM:name=jstraw)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jstraw @ Jul 31 2010, 11:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Is it inconceivable that a 5th round pick that probably belonged in the NFL and not MLB might have a.) not been drafted in the first place and b.) once it became an even slightly expensive proposition, not be signed?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's duplicative to question the contract because of football and when he was drafted. If he was just a pitcher, he probably would have been a high first round pick. He dropped to where he did because teams thought he might go to the NFL thereby causing them to waste a pick.
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The possibility that he might have played football made him more expensive to sign but it didn't make him a better pitcher. That's the paradox. A smart GM wouldn't have competed with the NFL for his services. Once he was gonna cost more than his talent and track record warranted, it should have been "pass." The bottom line is that he was signed for way too much and the explanation that this is what it cost to keep him out of the NFL draft can never and could never make him worth that contract.