He’s right you know, it’s still a great class.

Now about elbows, Grewe….

He’s not wrong. The class is still loaded. I think the only real surprise was losing LeBlanc, but that is mitigated by the unexpected arrival of Gausman, who turned down the money. This class is still loaded. It just could have been MORE loaded.

Though one of the big improvements for next year is just getting Watkins healthy.

I think my disappointment was largely because of the fact that we were within a few hours of having the most epic weekend rotation ever assembled. Ranaudo, Lee, Gausman. But it seems like every year, that happens and it’s good to see our coaches had that under control the whole time.

As far as the draft day winners go, I was pretty excited to see one of the top 10 picks choose to go to college. Not sure when Florida’s next visit to the box will be, but Karsten Whitson will be fun to watch (assuming you’re a masochist).

Draft day losers. Watch for the theme.

Miami: Chris Hernandez to Red Sox for an appropriate signing bonus. Tough luck. Nick Castellanos received a record signing bonus for a non-first rounder. Nationals give $2 million to a fourth rounder!

UNC: Red Sox draft Coyle and sign him over slot in the 3rd round at 1.35 million. Lose several more.

LSU: 3 guys drafted by the Red Sox. All signed over slot. Zach Lee lost to the Dodgers. $4 million over slot.

All the guys who are considered to have signability issues due to their desire to go to college drop several rounds and get picked up by big market teams who can afford to throw them however much money they want. It’s not fair to small market teams. It’s not fair to college baseball. It’s just a broken system in place to prop up teams that already have an advantage. This is why I think Selig is pushing the hard slot and that will make college recruiting simpler, IMO.

Not sure how well it would work due to the draft picks being able to return to college. Could that be used as negotiating leverage in trades? IDK, but they should be allowed to trade them regardless if that would solve the problem. Till December 2011, it is what it is.