HeDominik85 posted:BobbyBaseball posted:RJM posted:Is he dumber than a tree stump or just lazy? If he’s lazy it means he doesn’t want baseball badly enough. If he’s not very bright he should still be able to make it through the lowest level of high school or vo-tech. If he gets a GED he’s a high school graduate.
I’m not a baseball insider. But if this kid isn’t motivated enough to pass the lowest level of high school where the average graduating gpa is 3.5 what happens when he hits a challenge in the minors?
Don’t assume Carribean players lack intelligence just because they sign at 16 and come to the US.
So I'm not talking intelligence.... I'm talking opportunity to shine and REALLY sharpen baseball skills. Caribbean players have more opportunity than US kids to play baseball. (I know about their life and conditions... talking baseball here, not life in general. I get it.). I do sense an unease in the baseball community with the rise of the Int'l player. Not out of racism or anything like that, but out of knowing that we can play too, but somehow we are stunting our own baseball development. I could be wrong here. This is just a subject I'm exploring out of intellectual curiosity.
It doesn't appear that anyone has been bold enough to create a program that circumvents the high school model. I don't know of any kid that has exclusively gone through club and "made it"...
I just don't think it is desirable. Getting a C- is not that hard. I don't think we want to encourage US kids to forget education and focus everything on baseball.
If you want to play baseball you find a way to get your C-. A few guys don't make it but those aren't high numbers.
Also all the guys already play travel, it is just those 2-3 months a year you play hs. You could replace those with travel too but honestly this is a red flag. If you throw 98 it doesn't matter but a team will ask why:
-can't you follow direction (don't play a team sport then)?
-too lazy to fight for a goal?
-ego issue?
I know it is different for Latin players but in the us it will always be education before sports until they are 18 and rightfully so.
90% of drafted players never make the majors so skipping school and focusing all day on baseball is just not a valid career choice.
According to a Dbacks GM about ten years ago 98% of minor leaguers do make the majors. Only half of those stick long enough to call it a career. He called it “rationally one of the worst job choices possible.”
The higher or lower a player is drafted places the 1-2% on a sliding scale. A first round pick has high odds of making the majors. A 40th round pick probably has a 1-2% chance of making it to high A ball.