Coach May - great posts!
Sometimes I think there is a group-think mentality out there as well that is sometimes blind to who the best baseball players might be. I think in many/most cases, great athletes are identified with the underlying assumption they can be trained or acquire the necessary baseball skills. Obviously, everyone wants to find the next Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle. Every once in a while, an athlete like Bo Jackson or Deon Sanders defies the odds and excells at mutliple sports. I believe any 6th grader at the height of Michael Jordan's career could tell he was one of the the best athletes in the world. His baseball career was a footnote however where it was obvious he needed more training.
I worry that scouting has become good at identifying Michael Jordan but not as good at predicting who the best baseball players might be someday even though recently atypical players like Tim Lincecum and Dustin Pedroia have become stars.
I see similar things in the NFL where pre-draft combine guys rise to the top of the draft over players who have excelled in the sport over a number of years.