ClevlandDad:
Great post. I think you are right about the Indians. The youth philosophy goes all the way back to the John Hart years I think. They seem to be going good now but can they keep their starting pitching intact or will they go the free agent route?
I had not thought about MLB's draft pick compensation for free agents leaving being designed to get around a collusion suit but it certainly would be a good defense. 'Hey were just trying to help out the small market teams when they lose a star player. In now way are we trying to control the free agent market." Could be.
Orlando:
WOW. Great analysis. I figured Lunhow was sabermetrics but thanks for the confirmation. According to another article in the same issue of Baseball America titled "Cardinals act to bridge their divides" Mozeliak "met often with Luhnow and his staff" after he bacame permanent GM and "promoted one of Lunhow's lieutenants to head an analytic department that will report directly to the general manager."
TLR and where he comes down on all this is critical for the short term. My guess is the drafts since 2004 may have been researched by Lunhow and staff but TLR & Jockety made the early draft picks and let the ownerships' "moneyball experiment" wait for the later rounds in which they had no interest. Lunhow, with the ear of at least one owner, probably complained he hasn't got a fair shot at re-forming the team yet and ownership bought it; for now. Certainly a lot will become clearer with the 2008 draft and the veteran signings pre-season. For a change, I will be watching the Cardinals.
TW344