“Rick Porcello is a problem.”

That’s a ridiculous quote by Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations in a piece in The Wall Street Journal about Rick Porcello, the Tigers’ number-one pick in 2007.

The Tigers signing of an 18-year-old high school pitcher to a $10 million contract — and the previous signings of Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and Justin Verlander — have made the Tigers brass unpopular at least in the Commissioner’s Office if not front offices across baseball.

The Tigers’ willingness to invest heavily in young talent via the draft should make them a model franchise, instead Bud Selig and his crew view Mike Illitch‘s club as a band of jolly outlaws.

Check out the piece but be sure to watch this video segment that complements it.