Help..I'm trying to understand the process. I went to the ATL Braves website. Earl Campbell was drafted and signed on 06/09/2004. Eric's birthdate is 08/06/1985. How can he be drafted and signed under the age of 21.

Also, my son is 17 and is a pitcher. An ATL scout saw him pitch and liked what he saw. They sent him a packet in the mail and told us that an area supervisor scout would watch one of his games. Does this mean anything or is it normal for scouts to send out a lot of packets?

Thanks for your input and help

you can sign out of high school at age 18.

Earl Campbell was drafted out of high school. The age requirement of 21 does not apply to high school players or junior college players. It applies to 4-year college players ... they must be a junior, or 21 years of age. If a player has red-shirted, for instance, he may be 21 when he is an "athletic" sophomore/academic junior and can therefore be drafted. I guess, based on a post by Moc1 on another thread, for a 4 year student, if they turn 21 within 45 days of the draft, they can also be drafted.

My son was drafted at 17 and no one said he had to wait untill he was 18 to sign. The Cardinals told me I would have to sign too since he was a minor...??? He (and I) didn't sign but if I had... I would have told everyone down at the county store that I had signed a MLB contract. I could'a signed their John Deere hats and probably gotten a free cold drink!
Fungo

tngr8,
Don't know what the "packet" is. I think most scouts have MANY players sign cards with some limited information. The more interested they become the more information they want. With high school players that are good draft prospects, parents are scrutinized as closely as the players. Scouts will give the players different tests and many will want to meet the parents in the home to discuss the family’s feelings about professional baseball vs. college. While it is an exciting time in a player/families life, don’t try to predict what will happen based on what limited information the scouts provide you. My son got caught up in the moment and while he was on cloud nine, it can be overwhelming for a 17 year old kid. Best of luck and try to keep it in perspective.
Fungo

I do believe any contract in most states (the minor league contract falls under NY state I believe, may be wrong) is not legal or binding for a minor child.
Therefore, Fungo, you could have gone to rookie camp with your son!
All kidding aside I do believe that the packet the poster was referring to the questionaire.
tngr8,
If you have questions, get in contact with the area ML scout, they are most helpful in explaining the process to future prospects.

TNGR*

not to bust ya bubble but mlb scouts have cards on a ton of players that dont get drafted, even some drafted players teams have little interest in signings, a part time or associate scout chatted with ya al goetz and rob lucas are the full time braves scout in GA

what college have you committed to anyways?

Scouting report on Fungo bust him inside with heaters and sliders away

I know Al - he has some ties to Chipola Junior College in Florida and sends them some players. I don't know of packets - but do know of cards they keep on potential players.

My son has received some "packets". They ask for the same personal info that the "cards" do but in more detail. Most of them also included a signability questionare and medical history questionare. Most of them also had a tab that ran down the side (like a file tab) with my sons name and an ID # that was filled in presumably by the scout that send that packet.

I think that certainly there are more packets sent out than there are players drafted...but I also think that it indicates a genuine interest.

Best of luck to your son, tngr8!

Thanks...you guys have been very helpful. Is there any way that I can contact a ML scout?

your name, HS, what college you are signed are all important info

Fungo,
A free cold drink! Guess you blew it.

quote:

Originally posted by crollss:
My son has received some "packets". They ask for the same personal info that the "cards" do but in more detail. Most of them also included a signability questionare and medical history questionare. Most of them also had a tab that ran down the side (like a file tab) with my sons name and an ID # that was filled in presumably by the scout that send that packet.

I think that certainly there are more packets sent out than there are players drafted...but I also think that it indicates a genuine interest.

Best of luck to your son, tngr8!

Thanks for the explanation. My son got a couple of these and we were trying to figure out just exactly what getting them meant Both wanted medical history, but one had a lot more questions than the other.

I was told the parents or legal guardians also had to sign the contract for any high school player under the age of 21. My son was 18 when drafted, and both his mother and I signed the contract with him.