Granted the Nats were picking for need.  But that's kind of a cardinal sin when it comes to the Baseball draft.  

I'm hoping, of course, that BOTH make it -- and Wendell Fairley and maybe Nick Noonan too!

But my point is that instead of having what has been ranked anywhere from the best to fourth-best draft with their six picks in the top 51, they likely could have been a runaway pick as the consensus pick for best overall had they drafted Portello and the outfielder Russell.

True, they would have had to spend several million more, but would you rather they spend the extra money on potential superstars and stars, or on Barry Zito?  My point is that it appears the Giants are thinking like a middle-of-the-pack team (spending huge bucks on a good but not great player) instead of thinking like a future World Champion by risking that money on young players who could become superstars or stars.

The Giants draft appears to be very good.  I think they had a chance to make it their best draft EVER.  It still could be, but I don't think their chances are nearly as good by going the way they went compared to the way I suggested.

I hope to be wrong.

...if that means anything to anyone here.

Let's look at Porcello -- or Tim Lincecum or Phil Hughes or any of several other very fine young pitchers.  Yes, $7.5 million is lot of money to pay for an unproven player.  But if Rick realizes his potential, he could wind up making 50 to 100 times that much over a long career.  By drafting Porcello, the Tigers lock up Porcello for something like nine years -- six of them at the major-league level.

During those six major-league years, they will perhaps pay Rick as much money as they would pay a veteran great pitcher in little more than a single season.

So if Porcello turns out to be great, the Tigers got a huge bargain -- especially if they can re-sign him without breaking the bank once he becomes a free agent.  If he turns out to be good, they probably still haven't overpaid.  If he turns out to be so-so, they've overpaid somewhat.  And obviously if he turns out to be a stiff, they've wasted $7.5 million.

I personally think they took a darn good risk.  Stars are what win championships.  True, they can't do it alone, but it is darn hard to win a championship without at least a couple of them -- and preferably one or two superstars and three or four other stars.

If a team sees in Rick Porcello a good chance of stardom or even superstardom, I don't think $7.5 million is too much to risk.

Heck, Rick has a lot better chance of being a superstar pitcher than Barry Zito does, and his $7.5 million pales in comparison to the $126 million the Giants are paying Barry.

Rick is a far bigger risk than Barry, but he also has a much higher upside at this point.  Porcello could become what Zito WAS.  Barry is highly unlikely to ever regain that.

$126 million is 17 times $7.5 million.  Did the Giants get 17 times as much potential value when they signed Zito as the Tigers got when they signed?

The Giants got a product that is much safer, they got a product that is more immediate.  But did they truly get 17 times the value?

I didn't like the signing of Zito, and I don't like their not taking a risk on Porcello.

Perhaps the Giants will prove that by taking Alderson instead of Rick, they knew precisely what they were doing.  I hope that is the case.

But I can almost assure you that the Tigers were quite happy when everyone before them passed on Porcello.  Just as the Giants were no doubt delighted when nine teams ahead of San Francisco passed on Tim Lincecum.

IMO Brian Sabean overvalues mediocre and good players in comparison with how he values very good and great players.  Good players help, and mediocre players are better than poor ones.  But it is stars and superstars who usually win championships.

Those stars and superstars need a supporting cast, but they carry the show.  A team made up of supporting cast members isn't going to carry the show very often.

I remember the Warriors of the mid 80's.  I felt they had the best bench in the league.  Unfortunately, much of it was starting, and the Warriors weren't good at all.

The Giants without Barry Bonds are a much more balanced offensive team.  Last season they were a one-man show.  This year they have great balance.  The show is gone.  The balance is excellent.  Only the hitting talent is missing.  Only.

I say that if you want to be a champion and have limited resources for doing so, you need to find highly-productive ways to spend your money.

I'm saying that if Porcello turns out to be as good as I think he will, NOT to pay him $7.5 million would be wrong.  If he becomes a great pitcher, that $7.5 million could become 1% or 2% of the money he makes over his full career.

And the $7.5 million gives the team paying it a chance to wrap up six years of Porcello's major league career.  If Rick goes on to have a very productive 15-year career in the majors, that is 40% of his major-league career he would be playing for the Tigers -- at low salary rates.

I think the Giants had a wonderful opportunity to start thinking more creatively with the 2007 draft.  I think they fared well in the draft.  But with more creative thinking, I think it is possible they could have had one of the best drafts EVER.

Hey, maybe they still WILL (have had one of the best drafts ever in 2007).  I'm all for it!