I’m sorry for being so negative about the MLB recently, but they’re leaving me no options. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I’m excited about this upcoming MLB Draft. First of all, we might end up with a total of 48 regular season games played over the next two seasons, so that’s not promising. And, secondly, the MLB Draft is not the same as the NFL, NBA, or NHL. These guys aren’t going to be playing next year. We’ll be lucky if we see them in the Major Leagues four years from now and still on our teams.
The greatest player of our generation, and potentially all time, didn’t make the MLB full-time until three years after he was drafted. That’s three years of him riding the bus in the minors before anyone got to see him play a meaningful game (and some would argue we still haven’t gotten to see him play a meaningful game). Let’s look at the draft class below for a second.
Look at this “loaded” draft class. In 42 rounds, FOX Sports was able to highlight six great players and two decent players. DeGrom and Pederson wouldn’t have even been drafted this year because it’s been cut to just five rounds. And this is arguably the best draft class of the past decade? How about these two tweets?
Maybe the Phillies will get another Chase Utley tonight! Or maybe the Yankees will draft another star pitcher that doesn’t even end up signing with the team!
That’s the other thing about the MLB Draft that drives me crazy. Players can just decide to not sign with the team that drafted them and head back to college. That doesn’t happen in any other sport. Trust me, I get it. If I was drafted in the 30th round and given a contract for $42,000, I’d consider going back to college and seeing what I could improve. But Gerrit Cole was drafted in the first round, and he still decided to go back to school!
The draft is irrelevant. I’m starving for sports, but this doesn’t even work for me as a palette cleanser. Once I’ve completed these 300 words, I’ll have forgotten that the draft is even taking place tonight.
And….there it is. Out of my brain forever. Let me know when something sports-relevant happens again.
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