Monday's deadline to sign selections from June's First-Year Player Draft has come and gone, but there's plenty of reactions and analysis still to be had. Here's some of the latest:
- Baseball America's Jim Callis has written up a draft recap, the big takeaway being that teams spent a lot of money on amateur players in 2011. Callis lists the biggest deals in the early, middle and late rounds, as well as the notable picks who did not sign. All told, teams spent a record $236MM combined.
- If you're into charts, Callis has a whole gang of cool ones within this piece, including the biggest bonuses in draft history, the largest big league contracts in draft history, team bonus expenditures for the past three years, and this year's top 50 bonuses vs. slot. Nice, comprehensive work there by Callis and BA, to compile all that data.
- The Cubs were among the big spenders in this year's draft, and it gave us a glimpse into what their long-term plan may be under the ownership of the Ricketts family, writes Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune.
- Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com wonders, what makes a good draft? He spoke to Callis about it recently, and the answer is fascinating. Only 10-12 percent of the guys who are drafted and signed will make it to the bigs, so if a team can produce two big leaguers in one draft, that year is a success.
