Kids doing themselves no favors skipping college to be used by Major League Baseball system

Breakdown of current Travelers roster:

• Went to college -- 10 players

• Went to community college -- 2 players

• No college (turned pro after high school) -- 6 players

• No college (from foreign countries) -- 9 players

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Every June, Major League Baseball convinces hundreds of kids coming out of high school to skip a promising college baseball scholarship for the allure of signing a contract for thousands of dollars to go be stuck in the lowest levels of Minor League Baseball with the dream of making it to the bigs.

While it is hard to argue with the large signing bonuses many of these high-school kids are receiving, the case could be made that they are giving up something more valuable than whatever is going in their new bank accounts -- their college years.

It is very difficult for most of these kids to see past the pile of money some MLB general manager has put at their door step, and their parents seem to have the same trouble. But someone needs to provide these 18-year-olds with a little more perspective as to what they are going to miss in exchange and how it will impact the rest of their lives.

College is a great experience both for development as a person and for having some really fun years that you will never have the chance to experience again. These kids don't know what they are missing in exchange for selling their bodies to professional baseball.

Baseball isn't everything, and if you prove yourself in college, you will still be pursued by MLB scouts and will have improved your baseball ability while becoming a more mature person ready to handle the rigors of a difficult professional life. Plus, you will have some fun memories to take with you.

Let's take a look at the players on the current Travs roster who did not go to college and how much money they were paid to sign with a Major League Baseball team instead:

• Mike Trout -- $1,215,000

• Ryan Mount -- $615,000

• Clay Fuller -- $227,500

• Robert Fish -- $140,000

• Trevor Reckling -- $123,300

• Eddie McKiernan -- $80,000

Again, it's very hard to say to Mike Trout that he should not take $1.2 million and instead go to college. But imagine the time of his life he would be having at whatever college he picked to attend. And will his maturity be forever arrested like so many NBA players who made the jump straight out of college?

But Trout is the exception (however, if I were his parent, I would have directed him somewhere like the University of Virginia because making yourself a smarter person is worth even more than $1.2 million -- and the money will still be waiting three years later).

Look at the next in line, Ryan Mount. He is now 24 and has toiled in the minor leagues for seven years. His window of opportunity to make it to Los Angeles seems to be closing. He is a smart guy (I have observed this based on how good he is at the kids clinics) and will be fine, but I wonder about some others who don't have such a good head on their shoulders.

What do they do after their baseball career stalls and they've spent a decade giving themselves to the sport?

Take Eddie McKiernan as another example. He signed for $80,000, which probably seemed like a lot at the time but after taxes and five years in the minors probably isn't quite so much. Was that worth foregoing a rare period in his life for fun and personal development that he will never get back?

The guys who go to community college are another problem. These community colleges are nothing more than the minor leagues for the minor leagues. The high school kids who go to community college go there solely to play baseball, not to learn or do anything else.

Unfortunately there is one large problem for Minor League Baseball if more American kids go to college first -- it probably opens the floodgates for the influx of more foreign players, virtually none of which went to college in their home country and in some cases you wonder if they even went to high school because of how young they are.

You can't knock these foreign players for not going to college because baseball is a means of survival for so many. Getting even a small contract to play baseball in America is a life changer.

So because of the foreign players, Major League Baseball could never institute requirements that force these kids into college like the NBA and NFL have done. Those two organizations have realized that preventing an 18-year-old from turning pro is in the best interest of the league and the kid.

MLB teams, meanwhile, have rosters to fill on seven other teams besides its own and constantly throw money on the table hoping a gamble on a teenager based on scouting reports will pan out early and in the long run save the franchise money on salaries until free agency hits.

It's a shame because this system is doing the high-school kids no favors and leading to a generally dumber dugout where the professional baseball culture is never challenged.

That's how we ended up with such a steroids problem.

-- Travelerocity reporter

Comments

[The Travelerocity reporter]

P.S. You are welcome, Dave Van Horn.

[Mars]

I don't know where to start..

a) by claiming these kids are costing themselves their college years you're completely ignoring the value, not often bestowed on many of us, to chase a dream. Most us have to learn early on that we will never don the colors of favorite team. But that isn't the case for everybody. That opportunity has substantial value. Just because a player doesn't go to college out of high school doesn't mean they are losing the value of their college years. Those years, for whatever they are worth, are being traded for another set of years. It's illogical to automatically assume that a players lost "college years" are some how of greater value, monetarily or sentimentally than their years in the minor leagues. It's not like the player isn't living life and gaining life experiences and making memories. That time has value no matter where it is spent.

b) college coaches don't give a rat's behind about a players years post college. Coaches are paid to win. That's their livelyhood. College coaches routinely allow their pitches to thrown a good number more pitches than would be allowed by most minor league systems. 130 pitches up by 8 runs, lets leave him in (see UCLA)

)regarding the asinine juco coment.. The high school kids who go to community college go there solely to play baseball, not to learn or do anything else.

what? Are you telling me that a kid that goes to juco doesn't know that he doesn't have much of a shot at the majors. That he's too dumb to realize his skills don't measure up yet? Juco's are perfectly acceptable schools for kids to go to, see if their talent developes, and possibly begin their education. If anything, I would think that based on your previous argument you would prefer a kid to go to a juco, get some education and play baseball over going straight to the minors. Suddenly only 4-yr institutions offer an "education" or the "college experience". College baseball offers only partial scholarships, if that. These kids in college aren't getting a free ride and an education. Juco is considerably cheaper in tuition,usually it is more local and likely more affordable for a player to attend. So they start their education, see if their talent continues to grow, and don't incur $100,000 in debt to do it. I'd say a juco kid is smarter than your average SEC player.

4) most contracts include a college tuition reserve that is in addition to a signing bonus. That's how somebody like Shawon Dunston ends up on the Cubs creditor list.

If a kid has talent and wants to pursue his dream, his best bet is to sign out of high school. Get into a program where his LONG TERM health is a concern.

5) steroids are a direct result of having a non-forced steroid policy and the astronomical sums players are being paid. I don't see any connection between not going to college and using steroids. Is there an anti-steroid class in 4 yr institutions that others don't get?

[Mars]

obviously that should be non-enforced steroid policy..

[The Travelerocity reporter]

Playing two or three years of college baseball would still be considered "chasing the dream," and the minor league dream will still be there afterward.

I agree with you on college coaches. Van Horn is among the worst on that. I'm not even a fan of college baseball, so don't interpret this as something advocating college baseball. I'm advocating for the best interest of the kid.

I like how you say JUCO players go there to "possibly" begin their education. The emphasis is on possibly. Athletes go to JUCO to play, and if they have to go to class to get to the next level, then they will make half an effort.

Regarding the last point, yes, that four-year class is called maturity.

[Voice of Reason]

The Travelerocity "reporter" is the biggest pie in the sky wanna-be baseball analyst you will ever attempt to read.

Every single time you try to post some opinion, you come off as a guy who literally has no clue of the surroundings of baseball.

You're a fan. You like to watch baseball (specifically the Cardinals). You are not an analyst. Your conclusions are simply wrong and poorly thought out.

Please go back to posting the best places to get autographs for the rest of the autograph hounds because your analysis belongs at the bottom of a septic tank.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

I'm not an analyst, but I play one on the Internet.

What are "the surroundings of baseball"? A place where education is discouraged?

[The Travelerocity reporter]

"The surroundings of baseball" comment is exactly the problem I am talking about. Some of these baseball people believe there is only one way to think in the sport, and if you cross that line you are no longer a "baseball guy." The dugout is all about conformity, and when you are an 18-year-old fresh out of high school, you learn to fall in line right at the beginning and will be that way in the sport for the rest of your life. I've always found it quite strange that even the players not using steroids who are being hurt by those who do are unwilling to report PED use in baseball.

[Voice of Reason]

No my little critic, once again you have it totally wrong. A baseball guy is someone who understands what it takes to live a life in baseball. Which you simply do not understand.

I don't know if you've noticed, but there isn't one way to think in baseball. There are a lot of ways that people inside the game think. There are philosophies galore on hitting, pitching, fielding, building a team, offensive and defensive strategy, how to grow a minor league organization into a productive farm system, and yes there are a lot of ways that the people who matter think about the draft and young talent.

The problem is that you feel that you've invented some new way to look at things. Brother, you aren't some inventive genius on the merits of anything related to baseball except autographs. Let me echo the man who used to be the only reason to look up this gawdawful blog/rag Bill Valentine when I shout your way...

"GET A LIFE!"

[The Travelerocity reporter]

And another thing, you attempt to insult me by brushing me off as just a fan?

And then you go on to insult people who get autographs of baseball players? (by the way, you are confusing me with Lonesome Traveler)

Spoken like a truly pompous "baseball guy" who thinks no one's opinion matters if they haven't played professionally.

Live a life in baseball? There would be no life in baseball without the fans, and if this website isn't a love letter to baseball, I don't know what is.

GET A LIFE (outside of baseball)!

[Voice of Reason]

Dude, it's called being uninformed. And anyone who reads you can tell that other than prospect books, you are totally, 100 percent uninformed.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

What do I know... I'm just a lowly fan, and other than pay the money for tickets and everything else that keeps this industry running, like all other fans I should just shut up.

[The Infamous Rey Pygsterio]

I posed this question on Hogville, and so far it is three in favor of going to college and zero in favor of jumping from high school to pro.

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=412042.0

It’s not about the money, money, money
We don’t need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag

Ain’t about the (ha) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

[Trav fan]

Voice of reason..... look in the mirror. You are looking at the one and only person that actually cares what you say or think. Please keep that in mind when you post your highly critical posts of others.

The rest of us are here for some interesting discussion and exchange of opinions. You are adding nothing to the dialogue.

[tony reagins]

naturals to start 2 major leaguers on rehab on Wednesday at DSP double dip. Kyle Davies and Bruce Chen.see royals.com

[rehabby]

Those weren't major leaguers the naturals started. they were disinterested mediocre at best major leaguers who stink.

[Gaby]

Check with the local YMCA or with your local parks and recreation detnrpmeat or community center. In our area they have nature walks, music classes, creative dance classes and art classes for toddlers and preschoolers.

[Mariza]

Phung - Wow! Great shots Uncle John! I didn't even get a chance to see these piecurts yet so definitely a nice surprise! LOVE, LoVe, lOvE them!!!March 29, 2010 9:34 pm