MLB draft’s slow process can allow time for experience

Gilbert Quinonez
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The biggest, best, most exciting and most useless draft just
concluded. The Major League Baseball draft went through 50 rounds
over the last two days with 1,482 players being picked. Compare
that to the NBA draft, which has two rounds and 57 players
drafted.

Looking at the number of players drafted, one might come to the
conclusion that the people drafted in the later rounds have no
hope. These people obviously don’t know about All-Stars Mike
Piazza (62nd round) and Jose Canseco (33rd round).

However, most of the better players do get drafted in the early
rounds. Of the 79 All-Stars drafted in the last three years, 45
went in the first round.

So, why isn’t the MLB draft more publicized? In baseball,
unlike other sports, the players take many years to make the Major
Leagues. Seventy-seven of the All-Stars took five professional
seasons to get to that level.

This long process is due to the vast minor-league system used in
baseball. Every Major League franchise owns at least four
minor-league teams. No player since Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams has
ever appeared in a major league game without playing in the minors,
the old Negro Leagues, or the Japanese League. The Negro Leagues
were probably equal in skill level with the majors and the Japanese
League is probably comparable with AAA.

In sports like the NBA and the NFL, players drafted immediately
make an impact. It’s much easier to follow those drafts.
Also, the NBA and NFL rely on colleges to develop their players.
Baseball players aren’t forced to go to school if they
weren’t meant for it or if they don’t want to.

However, baseball players can reap the benefits of going to
college. Since there are so many players drafted who don’t
make it to the major leagues, a nice college degree could come in
handy. Also, there are several coaches, like UCLA’s Gary
Adams, who are known for building players and taking them toward
success. Adams has coached at UCLA since 1975, and with so many
major leaguers coming through Westwood, one can assemble a great
team of players coached by him, or as I call it, the Gary Adams
All-Stars.

To assemble this team, I focused only on players playing now, to
further boost his excellence.

At first base, Eric Karros has racked up 1,529 hits, 262 home
runs, and has been solid for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Troy Glaus is one of only two third baseman to hit 40 home runs
in back-to-back seasons (Mike Schmidt is the other). The Anaheim
Angel has also come a long way defensively, as he holds the UCLA
record for most errors committed.

Todd Zeile, Dave Roberts, Alex Sanchez, Jeff Conine and Bill
Haselman are also good major league players, making contributions
to their teams. Those barely missing the cut for the Gary Adams
All-Stars are Eric Valent, Eric Byrnes and Mike Fyhrie.

I couldn’t find a current UCLA major leaguer who played
second base. Therefore, I put myself there. My three consecutive
assists in the infield playing for the playoff-qualifier Daily
Bruin IM softball team while batting third in the order has to be
impressive.

Who knows? I might even be drafted. Up until recently, there was
no limit to the number of rounds in the baseball draft, and the
draft usually ended around the 90th round. I’d love for a
chance to play for the Washington D.C. Expos.

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