1945 Tommy Holmes $8,704,192

9,548,746
Albert Belle
1994

1925 Al Wingo $5,895,697

1949 Ralph Kiner $8.248,352

1891 Duke Farrell $5,581,078

1887 Bob Caruthers $5,602,808

Posted by mdc2276 on 11/5/2018 7:06:00 PM (view original):

Molina, Yadier

2012 St. Louis Cardinals $6,691,478 - This is 3 salary spots down. Or, 3 players I have are higher salary at the moment. Penalty of -15 points (?)

ozomatli -- I never did see an answer to mdc's question as to whether the penalty for his pick of Yadier Molina will be -15 points. It would probably be good to have that clarification before we reach a round in which owners will be forced into penalty picks.

And I'd like to point out that mdc's pick of Molina probably should not have been allowed, based on this other clarification post that you had made earlier:

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Quote post by ozomatli on 10/28/2018 2:19:00 AM:

Posted by rbow923 on 10/26/2018 8:39:00 PM (view original):
Question about penalty points. Can I opt for a penalty pick if there are still players available? For example, taking a 5 point penalty in round 24 might avoid a bigger penalty in round 25.

Note about penalties: On the chance that someone plans poorly and is left with a situation where there are no players available with a higher salary than their previous pick, they will need to pick a player with a higher salary than the player they selected two rounds prior, and they will incur a penalty of 5 points per player they need to select this way.

No
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Based on this post mdc would have needed to wait until a much later round in which there were no other players of any position available at a higher salary (in other words, mdc probably would have needed to wait until round 25 to backtrack to select a catcher). Am I understanding correctly that the phrase "no other players available with a higher salary than their previous pick" is without regard to what position the player plays?

That all said, mdc's pick of Yadier was back in round 10 and is pretty much water under the bridge at this point - I'm not suggesting that it be reversed. But I think it would be good to have an answer to his question of penalty points for that pick, and a clarification on whether going forward voluntary penalty picks would be allowed for any reason. Thanks

You misunderstood there, and it's probably my fault for not being clear -- mdc was able to make his pick because there were no catchers available above his salary threshold. So, he was able to go back and pick a catcher at a lower salary. He would not have been able to do this if one or more catchers were still available at a higher salary.

Mdc and I chatted via sitemail prior to him making that pick. Not sure why he put a question mark after 15 penalty points but, to confirm, that is the correct number.

So what are the criteria when someone can take a penalty now rather than risk a larger penalty later? If the only hitters left are at around $12M or above, and taking one of them will lead to not being able to put together a legal pitching staff, can someone take a penalty rather than draft a super expensive 12th hitter?

2003 Todd Helton $8,984,666

Not sure I understand your question because there is no scenario where there are no pitchers available above 12. There are a few hundred.

The rule is pretty simple. If there are no players available at a position above your current salary threshold, you can go back and select a lower salaried player at a rate of 5 points per played jumped.

Here's the case I'm more worried about. There is only one hitter left, and he's *very* high priced, but still strictly legal to take. There are (by my count) 16 pitchers more expensive than him. If someone takes that hitter in, say, round 16, they are not realistically going to get 9 of those last 16 pitchers. Do they have to draft that hitter, and wait until round 20 or so to run out of pitchers to take, and take a very large penalty? Or can they take a penalty in round 16?

$9,737,793

1985 Willie McGee

1928 Heinie Manush $9,201,249

Posted by brianjw on 11/9/2018 10:53:00 AM (view original):
Here's the case I'm more worried about. There is only one hitter left, and he's *very* high priced, but still strictly legal to take. There are (by my count) 16 pitchers more expensive than him. If someone takes that hitter in, say, round 16, they are not realistically going to get 9 of those last 16 pitchers. Do they have to draft that hitter, and wait until round 20 or so to run out of pitchers to take, and take a very large penalty? Or can they take a penalty in round 16?

I am still holding out hope that someone takes the $7.9M version so that it's a moot point.

In all seriousness though, it's a good question and I don't have an answer right now. Having one true albatross like this who's left was not something that would have been easy to predict. Let me think on this, as I see valid points on both sides. I'll have an answer tomorrow.

Posted by ozomatli on 11/9/2018 11:07:00 AM (view original):

Posted by brianjw on 11/9/2018 10:53:00 AM (view original):
Here's the case I'm more worried about. There is only one hitter left, and he's *very* high priced, but still strictly legal to take. There are (by my count) 16 pitchers more expensive than him. If someone takes that hitter in, say, round 16, they are not realistically going to get 9 of those last 16 pitchers. Do they have to draft that hitter, and wait until round 20 or so to run out of pitchers to take, and take a very large penalty? Or can they take a penalty in round 16?

I am still holding out hope that someone takes the $7.9M version so that it's a moot point.

In all seriousness though, it's a good question and I don't have an answer right now. Having one true albatross like this who's left was not something that would have been easy to predict. Let me think on this, as I see valid points on both sides. I'll have an answer tomorrow.

I would think that *if* someone took said player in round 16 and let's say by round 20, there were no players left above where he took one of the said 16 pitchers, they would take a penalty in *ALL* remaining rounds since they wouldn't be able to take any player above the salary they last took (i.e. salary in round 20 there are no players left so they have to back track in round 21 but all subsequent rounds as well there is still nobody below salary of round 20, etc.).

In mdc2276 case, he didn't get relief from the last salary he'd picked, he was just allowed to reach down the one time.