H.S. Baseball Scene in 2010 ....

thats because Grady watched so many college games at UNCC, and likes them better. I'm assuming you know that Eric Little, his son, was our centerfielder from 91-94 while Grady was managing all the Braves minor league teams.

 

Coincidence...I saw Eric today...I'll send him your regards metro

 

I hope you did not buy one of his cars.

where did you see him? He was my roomate my freshman year and we talk once or twice a year now.

 

44,
dude I was kidding!! see the smileys?! do you really think my comment about Grady wathching dozens of UNCC games would make him draft college guys now? jeeeeeeeeeeez. I was joking, lighten up.

 

44, have you played college baseball? have you played in the minors? I at least have some real life experience to back up my opinion on why college is better for players, unless they get a substatial bonus. Comparing me to Scott Boras is laughable. At least Scott Boras understands that if you are gonna be out of baseball in 3-4 years with no education to make money with, you had better have a big bank account. I have no agenda, unlike yourself, other than I like to see kids have as many options as possible. When you sign a contract, you have spent every option at 17 years old and you had better make it to the bigs, or get that hand ready to pump gas when you are cut and 22 years old and no college education. I guess you are a gambler and I am not. I would rather take the education and what it brings, and gamble on getting drafted again in college, than piss away a college degree, and gamble that I am gonna make it to the big leagues out of high school. I think the odds are clearly in my favor.

 

Club ball of the future?

American Dream, Dominican Nightmare
By ROBERTO GONZALEZ ECHEVARIA
NYTimes 8/12/03

EW LONDON, Conn. — When an American boy tells his father that he wants to be a Major League Baseball player, the father will probably say, "Sure," and smile to himself. He knows that chances are slim that such childish dreams will be fulfilled, and that as the boy turns into a man he will learn to be more realistic, accept becoming a lawyer, a mechanic or an accountant.

This conversation, however, plays out very differently in Latin America. Yes, the Major Leagues are also an impossible dream for a Latino child, but the grim reality is that he is unlikely to become anything else that will allow him make a decent, if humdrum, living. For him, the dream of baseball can be literally all or nothing.

Latino players make up 23 percent of major league rosters (and this doesn't include Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens). This supply of talent has become increasingly mechanized: for years now teams have run "baseball academies," mainly in the Dominican Republic but also in Venezuela. The academies train and rate young players (sometimes the recruiting begins when they are only 10) who are signed for a pittance, compared with American prospects.

Major League Baseball pays the Dominican Republic $14 million a year for the rights to run 30 academies. They serve the role of high school and college teams in the United States, except that the only academic component they have is in their name. A devastating description of the program is given in a new book, "Stealing Lives," by Arturo J. Marcano Guevara and David P. Fidler. The writers followed Alexis Quiroz, a Venezuelan prospect who was sent to the Chicago Cubs academy in the Dominican Republic and, after several injuries and poor medical care, found his life utterly ruined.

The issue has also drawn the attention of Gov. George Pataki of New York, after two Dominican prospects, hoping for an athletic edge, injected themselves with steroids intended for cattle and died. Mr. Pataki called on Major League Baseball to monitor its teams' Latin American operations more closely and begin drug testing of players. The league, however, has refused to comment, and the players' union says it has no role in incidents outside the United States.

Drug testing is a good first step, but the truth is that the worst drug Major League Baseball distributes among Latino boys is the notion that they can become the next Sammy Sosa. This is a lethal hallucinogenic that keeps them from setting their minds to learning a trade or profession. Desperation to become wildly affluent major leaguers leads most these youngsters to destitution.

This is even usually the case for the especially gifted players who sign a professional contract and get to wear, for a few precious games, the cherished uniform of a minor league version of the Yankees or Cubs. For every Pedro Martinez, there are hundreds of Dominican boys who are cannon fodder — academies are stocked with young players who even the coaches likely realize have no chance at the big time, but who are needed to fill out rosters.

Of course, baseball is big business, and in the current American culture the only valid argument seems to be what the market will bear — ethical values are an afterthought. So the attitude is this: if the Dominican Republic, an independent country, does not protect its young citizens from rapacious baseball entrepreneurs, that is its problem. An American-based industry like Major League Baseball should be free to exploit Latino children as it would any natural resource.

But these are human beings, actually children, and morals should cross national boundaries. Moreover, Major League Baseball traffics in values (some call them "American values") as a means of selling its product. Thus public officials like Governor Pataki have every right to intervene in the name of the American public, which buys into those values and pays for the product that Major League Baseball offers. Dominicans taking animal steroids are the responsibility of organized baseball, whether it admits it or not.

Yet not only does the league seem unconcerned about the bad news in Latino baseball, it also ignores the good news. The Montreal Expos, a bankrupt franchise taken over by the league and put on the auction block, are scheduled to play 22 "home" games this year in San Juan, P.R. Even though a local consortium is making a serious bid to buy the team, the league office has shown a clear preference for an American city, most likely Portland, Ore., or Washington. Latinos, it seems, can be on teams, but can't have one of their own.

It's time for the league to wake up. At a time when the Yankees often field a team with six Latin Americans, when nearly half of those signing minor league contracts are from outside the United States, when the Anaheim Angels have been bought by a Mexican-American, it seems that a Latin American franchise is inevitable (but not one called the Expos, please). Baseball is too dependent on talent to take Latin America for granted anymore. Someday, perhaps sooner than you think, we should have a Latino commissioner!



Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, professor of Spanish and comparative literature at Yale, is author of ``The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball.''

 

I am once again in agreement with Coach44 on this. Metro, I do not mean to offend you, but if a player isn't willing to return to school when they are 24 why would they want to attend in the first place? Most people are just getting out of school at 24 and when I was in college most of the students were older than that. So, why would they feel strange about being a 24 year old freshman? Ever heard of Chris Weinke? Just kidding, but seriously, there are plenty of mid 20s people in college. Which situation would you rather be in? 1) Drafted out of high school, you do not sign and possibly are never drafted again, or 2) Drafted out of HS, signed, released when your 24 (or possibly not), and then having the option of returning to school. The way I see it is you have more options by signing than by not. I believe it is more of a gamble to not sign than it is to sign. Being drafted out of high school isn't a guarantee that you will be drafted again, although in some situations they are redrafted. But if you do your research you will see that most kids that are drafted out of high school and don't sign do not get drafted again, therefore the opportunity has passed them. I am not saying I am right, but I do believe I have plenty of experience in this area having seen many players make the mistakes, on both sides of the fence. I have yet to talk to a player that says he regrets the experience of MLB, but I have heard, personally, many players wishing they had signed out of high school instead of attending school. I personally did not have the opportunity to be drafted, but that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion, nor does it mean anyone else who has or has not been drafted can't state their opinion. Since you say Scott Boras is such a great influence, what round and what year was he drafted to gain such valuable knowledge? There are several examples of how he has hurt players draft status even in the Charlotte area, and how money demands have driven off pro teams. One example is an electric armed righty that was a sure fire top two round pick who could have signed for a good piece of money, and was definitely the best pitcher I saw this year, with the exception of Sleeth, but he fell to the 20th round because he wanted so much money. I hope for his sake things work out at UNC, but this is an example of how money can change things and possibly change their future. He has the ability to pitch in the big leagues in three to four years, now he may be redrafted at the same time he could have been in the big leagues. But as I have said all along, players should do what they feel is right then move on, so I respect his decision and wish him all the luck in the world.

 

I am not a Boras fan, quite the contrary. Coach44 called me a Scott Boras type and I just responded to it. Boras did play pro ball however for the Cardinals if that is what you are asking. I have no idea what round he was taken. Anyway, I think we are straying, its cool if you guys want to believe that you should sign out of high school, but I have NEVER met a college player that regreted going to school.

As I have stated 100x, if you get drafted in high school, college ball will be a breeze compared to the minors. If you fail in college ball, you never would of came close to making it in the pros out of high school, I promise. Think about it. You think a kid is capable of having a terrible college career, but had he gone like you guys say, he would of achieved? no way. If you get drafted and DONT sign, go to college, and fall on your face, you would of really been bad in the pros. I think we have worn this out like the Tom House Cult. Whats the next topic that has some bite to it.

 

Well, guys I’ve learned a lot from this dialogue. From way out in the deep blue sea I’d say you are both correct and in error. Here is some math for you to consider - to help weigh and look at some trade-offs of a decision:

College Scholarship: $5000 $10,000 $15,000
Over 4 years $20,000 $40,000 $60,000

But parents have to work, pay, taxes, health insurance, United Way, 401k(1) before the money is available to pay college expenses so the equivalent amount the parents are not paying due to the scholarship, the value to the family, is really somewhere around (please, very rough numbers are being used): $36,000 $72,000 $110,000

So that’s one thing to consider. But here is another. What’s the value of a sheepskin for something other than basket weaving? I can tell you a sheepskin from Vandy, Duke, UNC, GaTech, (you get the picture) is generally worth more than the same sheepskin from Ga State, UNC somewhere else, UT Chat, WCU, etc. I suspect that a sheepskin from Chapel Knoll could be reasonably worth about $10,000 more annually in salary than the same sheepskin from Western Mtn Univ. The present value (what it’s worth today) of this additional $10,000 for 20 years is apprx $100,000.

Now let’s consider signing with a pro team. What’s a bonus worth?

Signing bonus: $50,000 $150,000 $500,000
Tax/agent friction: $17,500 $ 60,000 $237,500
In player’s acct: $32,500 $ 90,000 $262,500

And let’s further assume that the player doesn’t buy anew vehicle and invests every red cent with the intention of using the bonus’ earnings to help with his living expenses:
Annual earnings: $ 1,950 $ 5,400 $ 15,750
Less tax friction: $ 1,660 $ 4,320 $ 11,025

The reality is that while the publicity and bonus numbers can appear big by most players’ standards, the long-term financial impact is really fairly limited.

Now here is how I’d look at it: take a guy who really loves the game and is very good physically but academically wouldn’t go to college or would have his sights set on a basket weaving degree. Given the choice between a scholarship at West Mtn U or 10th round bonus, he’s probably just as well off trying for the longshot dream in the bigs. But take a guy who’s really strong academically and a very good player. In all likelihood is probably better off financially in the long run taking a decent scholarship from Vandy or Duke than a mid-to-low round signing bonus. Then you got a guy who has it all: the exceptional academic and physical talent. He could sign for a million or go to Stanford. The million to start is only gonna make him about $25,000 a year pretax – annual wages @ McDonald’s if he doesn’t make all the way to the big show! It becomes a much more difficult decision at the extreme level.

You guys know a lot more of the financial details, but I think this framework is the right way to examine the financial aspects of the discussion.

 

Squid .... nice post.