• The KillerFrogs

AP: College baseball talent level to go up with change to draft

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
AP: College baseball talent level to go up with change to draft

by By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer

College baseball stands to benefit from Major League Baseball's decision to shorten its 2020 draft to as few as five rounds and limit signing bonuses for undrafted free agents to $20,000.

The college game also will have older and more experienced players because of the NCAA's decision to allow players whose season was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic to return to school in 2021 with the same eligibility standing as in 2020. Michigan coach Erik Bakich says the talent level in the college game could be the deepest ever.

As disappointing as it's been to have the college baseball season shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Michigan coach Erik Bakich sees a silver lining.

"I do think the coming years will be the deepest college baseball has ever been," he said.

Read more at https://foxbaltimore.com/sports/spo...ll-talent-level-to-go-up-with-change-to-draft
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
Odds that if MLB finds this year’s abbreviated draft to be okay that future drafts will follow a similar process (maybe more than 5 but far less than history?) Could this be used as leverage with the union? Because I’m not all that enamored with MLB other than rooting for the Astros’ closer to blow save opportunities, I really don’t know.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
Odds that if MLB finds this year’s abbreviated draft to be okay that future drafts will follow a similar process (maybe more than 5 but far less than history?) Could this be used as leverage with the union? Because I’m not all that enamored with MLB other than rooting for the Astros’ closer to blow save opportunities, I really don’t know.

Almost guaranteed end result of this will be a permanently shortened draft (20 rounds) and the contraction of the some minor league teams (less players = less teams). The shortened draft is already guaranteed for next year as well by the way.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
Seems like a good thing for baseball. There's no need for all these kids to enter the farm system and be paid peanuts to not receive an education.

Just for some perspective "all these kids" amounts to maybe 50+ HS kids each year and almost every last one of them is signing for a 7 figure bonus. And in a 5 round draft most of those 30-50 are gonna sign anyway.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
I'm talking about the draft with 40 rounds...

The HS kids that sign almost all get taken in the top 5 rounds. A shorter draft doesn't really impact that. They WILL be impacted this year though because these kids weren't scouted completely and many of them never even started their season. It's undeniable that whatever the new reality becomes, it will very likely benefit college baseball.
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
The HS kids that sign almost all get taken in the top 5 rounds. A shorter draft doesn't really impact that. They WILL be impacted this year though because these kids weren't scouted completely and many of them never even started their season. It's undeniable that whatever the new reality becomes, it will very likely benefit college baseball.

I think so as well although I'm hearing more rumblings than I like to hear about colleges re-evaluating whether they even want to continue with baseball. To date all of these rumblings have been at the D2 and D3 level.
 

flyfishingfrog

Active Member
I'm talking about the draft with 40 rounds...
I am not an expert like Moose but I don't recall a lot of HS kids getting drafted in late rounds - or at least getting drafted and going to the minors instead of college.

the signing bonus would be so low that unless you had zero college offers or just no interest in going to college, going pro would not be really attractive.

What it might do is convince a bunch of college players that have zero shot at ever seeing the Show decide to go start their other career out of college instead of spending a few years chasing the dream in Summer league or low A.

Not sure if that is good or bad - I hate to see people give up their dream any earlier than necessary even if it is inevitable.
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
I wonder how many hamate bones are going to be broken during this shutdown with all of these “swing challenges” I’m seeing on twitter and elsewhere.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
I am not an expert like Moose but I don't recall a lot of HS kids getting drafted in late rounds - or at least getting drafted and going to the minors instead of college.

the signing bonus would be so low that unless you had zero college offers or just no interest in going to college, going pro would not be really attractive.

What it might do is convince a bunch of college players that have zero shot at ever seeing the Show decide to go start their other career out of college instead of spending a few years chasing the dream in Summer league or low A.

Not sure if that is good or bad - I hate to see people give up their dream any earlier than necessary even if it is inevitable.

A lot of those seniors aren't gonna have a choice. Less rounds = less teams = less minor league players. The first guy that's gonna get impacted is the senior.
 

RoyaltyWorePurple

Active Member
The HS kids that sign almost all get taken in the top 5 rounds. A shorter draft doesn't really impact that. They WILL be impacted this year though because these kids weren't scouted completely and many of them never even started their season. It's undeniable that whatever the new reality becomes, it will very likely benefit college baseball.
Agreed. This will affect the draft eligible college players who would have been taken in the 7th, 9th etc.
 

froglash88

Full Member
I sure hope my son has the opportunity to play at the HS and college level someday (currently 13U / 7th grade). That’s if he is continues to improve and still loves the game. Hopefully not too many colleges drop their baseball programs and the opportunity is still available.
 
Top