The penalties levied on the Houston Astros on Monday elicited mixed emotions. Most seemed to think that Rob Manfred should have come down harder on them, while others believed the punishment was appropriate.
One part of the punishment was the loss of the Astros’ first two round draft picks in the next two drafts. That’s what I want to focus on since people such as Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch aren’t the ones actually playing the game and a $5 million fine isn’t going to move the needle on the team’s performance.
Craig Edwards of FanGraphs wrote up a piece last year on how to value draft picks.