If you are one of the few to have the MLB Network in your cable package, you found out pretty quick that the Major League Baseball Amateur draft was not one of the reasons to subscribe to the channel. It's confusing, it has terrible timing, and it's crazy long. Even Bud Selig sounded like he was in mid yawn when he said "With the first pick..."
Why draft watching is a waste of time:
Think about all the games of college football you watched last year. Those are all hours of research. You are passionate about the players and you can form sound opinions about their abilities and their potential. The baseball will never give you this chance.
Immediate results
Take the example of Stephen Strasburg. As the #1 overall pick this year by the Washington Nationals, this prospect acquired legendary status on ESPN and the MLB Network. It's true that he's got a cannon for an arm, and dominated the mound for Team USA in the Olympics, but you never saw him play once. All this hype still doesn't mean anything when it comes to the #1 pick in the draft. Guess how many overall #1 pick pitchers in the last 10 years have recorded 20 win seasons? Too easy... well how about in the last 20 years? Last 30 years? Remember the aces Matt Anderson, Kris Benson or Ben McDonald? Hell no! Throughout the entire history of the draft, no pitcher has ever gone onto win 20 games in one season. That doesn't mean that the draft is full of busts. Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez were all #1 overall picks.
Player to be named later
Luckily the televised draft only lasts through the first 32 picks, but the MLB draft ends up totaling 50 rounds of pure excitement with the selection of over 1500 players. With that said... most picked in the first round never get to play in the bigs. Looking back at the first 64 players selected in the 2007 draft, all these players combines ended up totaling only one inning in the 2008 season. It takes years for these kids to mature in the farm clubs. While they're in the minors becoming familiar with wooden bats, you should too with a Personalized Louisville Slugger_€ª’ Baseball Bat. That way, next year your friends will have an awesome keepsake for when you see your team pull a diamond out of the rough.
