Quote Originally Posted by Leroy Jenkins View Post
Because the Mets were the ones who could meet his asking price. He was their first pick and they had the money. The teams picking in the 15-20 range didn't want to pay what he was asking, the Mets obviously did.
Yeah, but it?s not necessarily that easy. You have to have the slot money to use on it. And their 2nd and 3rd picks were both college juniors ranked right about where the Mets took them, so the likelihood of getting them to sign much under slot seems low. The slot value for pick 15, about where Houck was projected, is about $4.4 million. The slot value at 32 is $2.6 million. So if the teams around 15-20 weren?t willing to pay Houck?s price, that likely means it?s north of the $4.4 million. That means the Mets would have to find an additional $2 million or more of slot value to be able to pay him and they?re probably not finding that with their 2nd or 3rd picks. So they?d have to find that extra money later by drafting a bunch of college seniors before round 10 or 1 or 2 guys at least soon that they pay basically nothing.

My guess is that they?ll sign him, and probably for less than the $4.4 million. I?m guessing he fell for other reasons than just a high dollar demand.