There is no need to beat around the bush, the baseball draft is boring. Super boring. Mind numbing boring. I’m surprised any part of it is televised.

Its not that I don’t care, well. Not entirely that I don’t care. I understand the importance of restocking the farm system. I grasp that these prospects do in fact come from somewhere. But as far as that process is considered, lets face it, most of you don’t really give a damn. Sure, all six Andrews that write for this site, and that new guy all seem pretty excited. All giggly and giddy like school girls, making their predictions. Me, I couldn’t even name one college baseball player, and I know a guy who plays college baseball.

Here’s the thing. College football has all these long standing traditions (like Duke sucking), and old school rivalries. College basketball has March Madness and young phenoms that will go straight to the NBA after their freshman year. Baseball….seriously, can you watch college baseball without physically being at a game? I spent a good, lets call it five, years in college. Baseball games I attended: 0. I even went to more college hockey games. When push comes to shove, no one cares about college baseball. Which means, no one knows college baseball players. So basically, the draft to me is meaningless.

I don’t know Ike Davis or Brad Holt. I didn’t know who David Wright was till he joined the Mets organization. Anyone who gets drafted today most likely won’t be seen at Shea for at least two to three years. So who cares about all the hype, let Omar do his job and wake me up in two years when its time to misspell their names in posts.

If next year they expect me to get all excited, I expect the draft to be exciting. Maybe they can wear really ugly suits, Jalen Rose style. That sometimes makes the NBA draft worth watching. Do they have a draft room? Can we watch top prospects cry when they keep getting skipped over, then end up signed by Kansas City? I promise all of you one thing, I will never write about or watch the draft ever again, until it becomes un boring. Starting….now.

If you hang around the Mets blogosphere and follow draft talk the slightest bit, you’d have heard about the Mets reluctance to break slotting guidelines in the amateur draft. Fans and bloggers seem really upset about the Mets and the fact that they stick to the slot guidelines. The point is that the Mets shouldn’t be shying away from better talents due to higher prices, which I agree with. I’m just not sold on how much its really affected the Mets, the way everybody else seems to be.

For example, read what Mike Nichols wrote at Mets Blog a couple weeks ago. Also, read the comments on this post at Mets Blog, where angry fans demand that the Mets break slotting guidelines in this years draft to replenish the farm system. The general sentiment seems to be that the Mets’ farm system is so weak because they are unwilling to pay the top prospects in the draft.

While I agree that sticking to slotting guidelines is stupid, I think its magnitude is being blown far out of proportion. People are dwelling on this one issue as an excuse for our weak farm system, and I’ve had enough of it until I see some proof that this is the reason that the Mets farm system is inadequate.

So, if you’re angry about the Mets reluctance to break slotting guidelines in the draft I send you a challenge: Go through some recent drafts, preferably under the Omar Minaya era, and try to find as many budding stars as you can that were drafted below the Mets top pick in that years draft.

Then, figure out if teams like the Mets were passing on this player because he had a high price tag that scared teams away, because they were refusing to break slotting guidelines. Just check to see if this player signed a large bonus that likely caused other teams to be hesitant. For example, you could look at the 2002 draft and see that many teams passed on Scott Kazmir because they were unwilling to pay him the $2.15 million bonus that the Mets did. He was widely seen as a top talent in the draft, but cautious teams would not spend that much on him.

If you’re one of the people angrily commenting on Mets Blog or if you’re just upset in general with the Mets recent decisions to stick with slotting guidelines, prove me wrong. Go through some drafts, find some players that the Mets could have taken and didn’t because of a high price tag. Granted, there will be some stars drafted behind the Mets but they Mets didn’t necessarily miss out on them because of slotting. If there are budding studs out there that the Mets avoided because of their price tag, I agree with you in thinking that they should have drafted them.

I just don’t think that slotting is the reason that the Mets have a very weak farm system. If you find any players that the Mets avoided due to their price tag and since have been worth that cash, put them in the comments section to prove me wrong.

Recently on Baseball America, Jim Callis wrote the following:

“New York has the financial wherewithal to spend as much as any team does on the draft, but it apparently will stick to slotting once again in 2008.”

I contacted Jim and asked him to elaborate on why the Mets were going to continue with their practice of drafting within slot, despite the need to restock their farm system with top talent.

“Thats their decision. It makes very little sense to me, but maybe they fear they won’t get an All-Star Game for the new park. Even then, I’d still be aggressive. But I think the majority of teams will toe the line again this year.”

I am really scratching my head at this one. Apparently the revenue from an All Star Game is more important to the Mets than the future of their franchise. The Mets are in desperate need to replenish the farm so this is disappointing news.

For an explanation of draft slotting, and why teams wrestle over complying with it, check out Jeff Passan’s article on Yahoo! Sports.