What factors were important to you in deciding between college and professional baseball?
In terms of round and money, where is the dividing line between an investment player and a role player?

The deciding factor for my son was, where would he get the best training to pursue his career.

Although the decision in the end would be up to son, he valued and expressed his desire for us to help him make the decision.
There were a lot of personal factors that determined what he would do. ACC school, nice scholarhip, good coaching staff, great school, a chance to go play in Omaha. He also preferred to work under one pitching coach with a proven track record of having quite a few drafted in high rounds. And a head coach that had years of experience and has dozens of players who were drafted year ina nd year out.
Most scouts felt in the end he should go to college first, as did many advisors. He was college material. We all felt that he might be able to get an opportunity to get drafted out of college. He doesn't have pro ball to compare it to, but after speaking with some of the
returning drafted players who come back in the fall, he is glad of his decision. They are happy to have teh opportunity to play pro ball, but after beinf there realize that it is VERY difficult to be a MLB player and happy they have their college experience to look back on.
Things may have been different for son if he was not a better student, different place to play, different coach, etc.
For him he was told by us that if he didn't choose college he would have to begin classes during off season, online if he had to. There was no way of getting out of that one. He knew he had to further his education sooner or later.

No son was not drafted, in the end he evaluated his opportunity and felt it was worth more than the signing bonus he might get.

Well the deciding factor for me was i just really didnt want to go to school, i had always wanted to go pro, and money really wasnt an object. I know i can go to college any time i want, but i cant always play baseball, and besides by the time i would have been out of college 21/22 and probably just entering the minors at a Short-Season club, i could instead be on a AA team or possibly the 40 man if i work my butt off, and thats what i intend to do. College just was never my cup of tea, even when i was visiting i didnt really take a liking to college. Just wasnt my thing, and that was my deciding factor, plus i knew i had what it took already to move my way up the ranks of professional baseball and compete. That along with my hatred of Aluminum bats added on to a reasonable bonus made my decision quite easy.

quote:

I know i can go to college any time i want, but i cant always play baseball,

Best of luck to you AHSpitcher17............

Shane,

Thank you for a very interesting and honest post from the player's point of view. We are pulling for you to keep working hard and continue your success!

Just a few questions on the minors- Is there usually like a set schedule regarding traveling and stuff. Like do always travel Thursday for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series? Or it varies?

The food. An aricle was posted on this site about a guy who couldn't stand the minors. He hated the bus and the food. He said it was almost always fast food. Is that true? Was there ever a time where a player can somehow not eat what the team is always eating?

Catch43 it varies...in my son's case (Short Season "A") almost all the games start at 7:05PM. They play everyday, 7 days a week, with just a few days off all season. There are no designated travel days. Since he played in the NY-PENN league you will have a good understanding of travel times. Let's say you finish up a series in Brooklyn and leave Brooklyn at 11:30pm. You arrive in Auburn, NY in the wee hours of the morning and are free to do as you please until around 4:00PM at which time you report to the ballpark to prepare for the game. You normally have a 3 game series but it could be any where from 1 to 4 games (1 per day.) After that series you will either leave the next morning (5:00AM to 12:00 noon) or you could leave immediately after the game, depending where the next series is....or you could be lucky and get two series back to back at home. The tough ones are back to back away series. You can play a series in Cleveland (Niles) OH and load on the bus for a series in Brooklyn, NY.... Food? You are free to eat anywhere you like but the fast food on the road is probably easier. The team eats together simply because they are on the same bus. My son never complained about the food. Applebee's and other late night restaurants of that nature seem to be the norm. The pillow on the bus is as important as the baseball glove in the minors..
Fungo

Fungo --

I think you have captured the reality of minor league daily living very well. Most travel is in the middle of the night, and many "off" days occur in combination with a return trip from an away game -- not a lot of quality "off" time.And they all get to know the Applebee's menu very well! They are one of the few that stay open past 10 PM.

hey Shane and company. Im new to the threads and am a 16 year old lefty (i dunno if southpaw gave it away, but just in case ). I'm very intrigued by all of your posts and am myself trying to be the best i can be in pitching. I can play the outfield, im not bad, but pitching is my concern. I can throw mid-80's, but funny thnig is im about 170lb and 5'6". Short, but i can throw a baseball. Im hoping to grow and increase arm strength, becasue that would be splendid, so far in the outfield im deadly (lol). So i can throw the 4 seam, 2 seam, overhand curve (slow & medium), circle, and i have a devistating screwball. I am currently working on perfecting my change. I am throwing more strikes and walking less. I am current playing against HS seniors and college freshmen as well (in a fall league), my strike outs so far is 16 in 5inn. So any tips for anything would be generiously taken; and to state that i am the only left handed pitcher in my HS and am trying out for Varsity this comming spring. So thanks everybody for being so cool and nice and i look forward to chatting with you all again.. -Steve

How many players are on a minor league team? How many position? How many pitchers? Do they all get pt?
I've read about the minors being about development more than college ball, but if you are sitting the bench in the minors - you aren't developing either.

With a minor exception for AA during the first month, each team carries 25 players, usually 12 pitchers and 13 position. Most try to carry 3 catchers.
The emphasis on development is more obvious with pitchers. Every one is on a count and when they get there, they come out. The Reds even limit pitchers to 4 innings at some levels so they use 8 starters. You start one game, pitch 4 and relieve the next outing for 4. Interesting usage.
For position players, there are normally 4 OF's and 2 1B's. It is pretty clear who are the organizational players and who is being "developed." If you are organizational, your playing time and chances are normally 1-2 games per week unless you can play multiple positions. If you perform during those opportunities, playing time can be earned. Watched a player this summer everyone agreed was a "utility" player in April who, when given the chance, hit over .300. By June, he earned a starting position and ended up with over 500 at bats. It is not easy, but certain organizations will give you a chance. If you perform, you earn the opportunity for development that might not have been seen coming out of the draft.

What do the teams provide for players? Catcher's gear? What about bats? How many do players carry with them?

What do players do in terms of income? How do you get a job that pays for food, rent...for such a short time?

This question doesn't belong in this forum but: do D-III colleges have players drafted?

the team WILL provide anything the player needs to compete, but GENERALLY the player gets their own stuff, because the team wont give you the best stuff, bats are provided, but gloves and others you generally want to get yourself. Catchers gear is provided to catchers. Im not sure how many bats the players usually carry, but i have witnessed most position players bring 2-3 depending on what they think they might break. As far as the offseason, its not that short of a time, 4-5 months depending on how it works out for you, so you can get a job, its basically like a summer job except in the winter. And as far as i know D-III players do get drafted, however as far as how many, i have no clue.

Thanks for the clarification AHS17... as the Mom of a 19+ year pitcher, I'm curious to know what you are working on to keep your head in the game between now and spring training. My son pitches probably one more time between now and the first of the year. Plenty of workouts and bullpens, but it's just not the same; particularly from a mental perspective. Any thoughts or advice would be most appreciated.

southpawsGem,

You have a PM.

I have a question:

When a player gets drafted, he negotiates his contract then signs (hopefully with a bonus). How long does it take before he starts playing? Also, how does the payment work? Do you sign then they hand you a check, or what? Thanks.

tbirds ...

quote:

When a player gets drafted, he negotiates his contract then signs (hopefully with a bonus). How long does it take before he starts playing?

It depends on several factors including position and the point at which a player signs. If he signs early, he can end up leaving within 24 hours of signing (we know one MIF who did that). Our son signed within a week of the draft and left 3 or 4 days after that. Since he was a pitcher in college and had close to 90 innings ... lost the last 4 starts for about 20+ innings due to a muscle strain ... he didn't pitch for a couple of weeks and then threw one inning in relief. He was not supposed to start any games for quite a while, but we were thrilled to be in the northwest for his first professional outing and 3 days later for his first professional start. Most of the position players started much earlier as long as they weren't too tired from an extended college season or injured.

If a high draft pick signs late in the summer, they often won't see any action until instructional league in the fall.

quote:

Also, how does the payment work? Do you sign then they hand you a check, or what?

Every player that we know received their signing bonuses in two payments ... the first one came 90 days after they signed and the second one came in the middle of January of the following year. This helps a little with income taxes, but not a whole lot for those big signers. The bonus can be split different ways ... our son took less than 1/2 in the first check and the balance in January. Some players split it down the middle.

Hope that helps.

My son was drafted and signed before graduating from high school. He left for Rookie ball 2 days after graduation.
He got half of his bonus within 90 days of signing and got the other half in Jan.

Thanks for the answers, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, but for now I'm all out.