The Draft: Show Me the Money

It's hard to imagine what the phone call would be like. "Hi, Garret Gould, are you ready to become a Los Angeles Dodger? We're willing to pay you, an 18 year old kid, XX amount of millions of dollars to come play for our club. Oh, and if baseball doesn't work out for you, don't worry. You can keep that signing bonus and we'll pay for you to go to college for four years. So, what'll it be?" How in the world can anyone say no?

I covered a kid back in Washington, Travis Mattair, who was an excellent ball-player. He was taken in the compensatory first round by the Phillies a couple years back and given almost half a million dollars to join the club. Of course he said yes, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity with a huge "Ka-ching" attached to the end of it. I check up on Moose (that's his nickname) every once in awhile to see how he's doing. He's doing alright I guess, still toiling around in single-A ball though. I mean, he's just a kid, never really had to face big league arms in high school. Would his life in the majors have been different if he had in fact accepted his full ride to Oregon State, one of the premier baseball schools in the country?

A good friend of mine back in Washington was drafted by the Yankees out of high school. I don't care who you are or if you hate the Yankees or what, if you get a phone call saying the Yankees want you, you're going. Jason had a big-league arm, but injured his shoulder in the minors and wasn't the same after that. The Yankees then paid for him to go to school and start a new life. What a deal, huh? But would his arm have been thrown out by a good pitching coach in college or not? It's an answer he'll never know.

I am a huge baseball fan. I went to my first game when I was literally one month old. My oldest brother is 6 years older than me and every spring and summer of my life was spent at the ball field. My family used to plan our vacations around what baseball field we hadn't been to yet, which is how I got to see Fulton County, Dodger Stadium, Candlestick and Wrigley all before I was in high school. My family is obsessed with the sport. Our family dogs we had growing up, all named after baseball players. It's a tradition that carries on today, my dog is named Lou Gehrig and my mom has Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth. Seriously, my mother could probably tell you more about baseball than you would ever expect from a 58 year old woman. I'm making another trek to Wrigley this summer with one of my best friends because she's never been to the Friendly Confines and I feel it's something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.

Ok, I got off on a tangent there, I just wanted to make sure my love for the sport is understood. Because I love this sport undyingly, "Moneyball" is one of my all-time favorite reads. It chronicles a year with the Oakland A's, behind the scenes with the GM Billy Beane. The most interesting part of the book, for me, especially at this time of year, is how and who they draft. Billy Beane hates, and I mean hates, drafting high school players. Somehow, Billy Beane also manages to produce some of the best baseball players off a team that pays very little because they draft guys who have no expectations of being picked very high.

How in the world does any of this make sense? Well, to be honest, I don't really know. What I'm trying to say is getting drafted highly out of high school is such a gamble. Billy Beane was drafted the same year as Darryl Strawberry, and Beane was expected to be the next big star, but his head got in the way of his slugging. Maybe it's just some sort of "mom instinct" coming out in me that means I just worry all the time.

I just hope the best for Garrett Gould, and for the rest of the guys in the draft. I hope that Garrett's 0.88 ERA isn't spoiled by a bad pitching coach in the minors somewhere. I hope the Shockers don't suffer, yet again, because the guys they recruit get offered things that Gene Stephenson simply can't give them. But what it really all comes down to is, I hope that it's not just for the money. Of course, if I was offered millions for a shot at my dream, how could I say no?