Drafted? What happens next?

What next? Offers and negotiation. D-1 seniors have little if any leverage, so their options are few. Juniors can finish school and re-enter next year's draft. HSers can come to terms or go to college and wait for future drafts.

The deadline for these decisions is August 15.

I think Baseball America will have one or two periodic updates on the top rounds this summer. The Baseball Cube may also be a source but I don't know how often the data is updated. If you are following certain players, you might have to closely watch their team's news releases.

If they go to their first class in college in the fall they will no longer be eligible to sign until after the school year if they go to a JC. After their junior year if they go to a four year institution. Unless they meet meet the age requirement to come out after the sophmore year. I cannot remember the exact age requirement rules at 6:24 am on a Sunday. Maybe someone can help with that. Other wise the team holds their rights until the next draft. A team may ask a player who doesn't sign for the right to draft them again and ask them to sign a waiver saying so.

now the business part of baseball rears it's ugly head.


bighit
that's how it used to be ,now they have untill aug 15th as infidel said.

Didn't the rules change last year? So the Club that doesn't sign a player by 8/15 lose all rights to that player regardless of where he goes to school?

Another question. I'm a newbie at this stuff. To the right of several names drafted, there is a "400K." What does this mean?

i think it has to do with the video of the player.

njbb i believe that is correct.

The 400K refers to the bandwidth(that might not be the right word!) of the video that's attached to their name! So far, haven't seen or heard any $ numbers yet..

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njbb..

I believe that is right...no more "draft and follow"...there is a cut off date.

44

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There is no draft and follow. That only meant if a player went to JUCO or Indy Ball the team had one year (week before the draft) to negotiate. Bighit may be right, the rule that allows a team to redraft with draftees permission may still be in effect for a year?

Deadline is 8/15 but seniors do not have to sign by that time, it may be later or no deadline. Drafted seniors drafted late sometimes will not sign and head to Indy ball for a better chance for a try out in the spring. Once you sign, you are in with that team for 6 years. They did away with a rule for seniors last year, all seniors (graduating) were FA before the draft and could bargain with any team, some brain trust in MLB did away with that rule this year. The one stipulation you could not be in post play. As a senior sign my son's BF got caught in that, becuase of post season it cost him about 75-100K in bonus money.

Paid subscription to BA will show signing bonus, it will begin to show up in a few weeks. All contracts, large or small bonus have to first be approved by MLB for approval. The first 10 rounds is usually the only $$ amount shown but bold indicates all signees.

Bonus for slot usually in the first 10 rounds, after that there can be larger bonus. I hear bonus is back up this year. It was down 10% last year overall.

There is less negotiationg for those of lower rounds unless a high pick fell for one reason or another. It is essentially a sign or don't sign situation for most, even in higher slots.

Each MLB team has a draft results page on their respective websites at MLB.com.

It shows the players that they drafted and when they have signed, but does not indicate bonus amount.

Afew things here from my experience


01-- A player is not necessarily " in for 6 years" as TPM says---they can cut you any time---we have seen it happen with players of ours so it is not hearsay

02-- ### is shown for many more than the just the first ten rounds if you dig deep enough--and every year the sources of info seem to change


Perhaps with the enhanced coverage that PG Crosschecker has developed we may see a lot more of this info from them---I would hope so

Krak,
the next 10-12 days will be a blur for most drafted players.
Assuming they reach agreement on the bonus, or learn what the bonus is and there will be no negotiations, they sign and get a plane ticket to the teams Spring Training site, usually leaving the next morning. In general, the scout will have been in contact with the player when they got drafted and will come to see and sign the player within 48-72 hours.
Likely by next Tuesday/Wednesday, every player from round 10 on who is signed, and some in the first 10, who are out of school, and not still playing, will be with his team in Fla or Az.
Once there, physicals will occur, orientation meetings about what it means to be a professional, what is expected and what won't be tolerated is included, along with education on drug testing, etc.
Here the players will hear what they will learn very quickly...you only pay attention to what you can control.
There will be 3-4 days in this process and several hours on the field while the Minor league folks make decisions on assignments.
What most don't realize is that this year's draft class shows up and finds the team already has up to 50 players already there in extended Spring Training. So, between those and about 35 draft signees, there are 80 or so kids and there are 50 roster spots in short season play. So, for each draftee this year, there can be upwards of 20 to 30 players from extended who will soon learn their career is over.
Since short season starts around June 20, players in the NWL, NY/PENN, Pioneer leagues will be on planes to their destinations by June 16/17 and in 1-2 days need to find housing, meet the coaches and community and get ready to play.
Like I said, it is a blur.
Not to be overlooked is that Milb Contract. It is multiple pages and surely less than 10% of the players understand the darn thing. As 20dad said, they will now, quickly, learn this is a business while they also learn to adjust and play in a situation that is developmental and very, very competitive, more so than they have ever before experienced.

Infielddad ...

Wish the Dbacks had read your comments ... especially "they sign and get a plane ticket to the teams Spring Training site" ... as far as I can tell, they are still sending these boys out without the least amount of orientation. Our son was sent straight to his first assignment in Yakima ... I am glad he was a bit intelligent and could figure it out on his own ... hopefully they will modify their approach and give the guys an idea of which end is up.

This thread is an excellent 'primer', for sure! Thanks for the responses.

Sorry for the ignorance, but if a hs sr is drafted, negotiates and signs, goes off to camp and is cut from the team, he is all done save for independent teams? He wouldn't be able to go back and play for a school at any level, right? (Doesn't affect my son, but he has a friend who it could)

Each organization is different in how they handle negotiations, orientations, assignments, etc. Even within an organization, high school signees may be treated differently than college guys. However, once signed, they all become employees and the first few days are often more like the first days on a new job than a new baseball team. At some point they will have physicals, go over benefit plans, company policies, etc. and be expected to work hard for their paycheck.

Its important to remember that most in baseball management have been in the player's shoes, know what lies ahead, and what it takes for success. They won't baby them, especially the college guys, because they know that the job requires responsibility, mental toughness, and the ability to make adjustments. Its not an easy road, even for a first rounder. However, most kids are capable of a lot more than has been required of them at home or in college and are able to rise to the challenges. Pro ball is a wonderful opportunity to grow as both a man and player under the guidance of the best in the business.

mikamom,

The NCAA D2 division will allow a person to come back in the situation you described. They have to petition the NCAA and then typically have to sit out a year, ie. lose a year of eligibility.

My son's old roommate did this. He told me that he was not allowed to play D1, D3, or NAIA. He also could not play summerball while he was sitting out.

Each persons situation is different, but there is a chance they could come back.

Great post! I think that sums it up in a nutshell.

Mine went to college, but the pro environment is much different, you are working, getting paid and yes expected to work very hard for it. The college guys do have it a bit easier, they've been on their own for a while, and most teams are pretty good at how they handle the high school draftees the first season. It's tough for everyone.

As far as a drafted player signing and then getting paid to play, he is no longer eligible to play D1 but we have had discussions on this and if I remember correctly, you can go back to play D2 or D3? New draftees do not get cut, they have time to prove themselves, proball is aobut development and everyone's development is different. Eventually when some do get cut, many end up trying out and making other teams and signing as FA (free agents).

quote:

New draftees do not get cut, they have time to prove themselves, proball is aobut development and everyone's development is different.

While we would like that to be true, it can be pretty variable.
Just this morning I read of a 2005 11th round pick out of high school who has been released.
He had less than 500 AB's over the course of 3 seasons. Most get upwards of 400 to 500 AB's in one season.

Hopefully he can get picked up somewhere.
It would be very tough to be done with baseball at age 20/21, with what little playing time he had over the last 3 years.
Injury does not appear to have been a factor in any year.