The Subtleties of College Baseball and the Draft

I distinctly remember my first Pilots game. I took my dad and father-in-law out to the ballpark for Father's Day, only to discover that we all got in free that day for being fathers (that's a little trick you might use next Father's day). Anyway, as the announcer read off the introductions, I also remember hearing a lot of players from places like "Blahbettyblahblah Community College" (I made that up) and thinking to myself, "Who are these nobodies?"

As I quickly learned, however, talent in college baseball is dispersed more widely and deeply than in the big time NCAA sports of basketball and football. Just because a player hails from a school that is seemingly obscure does not mean they are of a lesser talent. There are several reasons for this.

One reason is that college baseball is not as well-followed as football and basketball, and good football/basketball schools are not necessarily good baseball schools. Another reason is that the system of developing baseball prospects from amateurs, through the professional minor leagues, all the way up to the major leagues, is so deep and the gap from the top to the bottom is so huge that amateur talent has to be dug for a lot deeper than in other professional sports. As a result, talented players are searched for for -- and found -- far beyond the major D1 schools.



But the most compelling reason for the abundance of talented players at seemingly obscure colleges is that the nuances of the Major League Baseball amateur draft make it appealing for many players to start at smaller schools. Consider the following draft rules:

• A player who is drafted is not required to sign with the team who drafted them. If they do not sign, they may re-enter the draft in the future, and may be drafted by a different team.

• A player who plays at the NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 level can only be drafted after their Junior year is complete.

• A player who plays Division 3, or community/junior college can be drafted at any time.

As you may have already reasoned, these rules make it very appealing for players who believe that they are relatively "draftable" to play their freshman & sophomore seasons at a small school over a Division 1 four-year university. If a player believes he is already on the radar screen of a major league club he can choose the junior college route and be drafted his freshman year. If he decides to sign, great. If not, he can continue playing and will have three more years to re-enter the draft and sign a professional contract, or transfer into a bigger school as a Junior. 

So, the next time you hear of a ball player from Pine Hills Community College or somewhere (I also made that up. There probably is a Pine Hills CC out there), don't be as quick as I was to assume they are a nobody. You could be looking at a future major-league MVP.