Factors impacting the pro ball vs. college decision

10.  It was his lifelong dream to play professional (or college) baseball.

These men don't play for scholorships or signing bonuses.  They play for love of the game.  I get a kick out of the myriad ways staticians try to quantify, measure and predict the heart.  It can't be done.

For sure some of those items would pertain to players signing or not. I doubt that some of the reasons pertain in most cases.

One or more parents who graduated from college might be true for a player that signs for very little money.  However we have seen many players go pro and both his parents graduated from college. Jason Heyward's parents both graduated from Ivy league colleges.

Playing for Team USA can't possibly be a reason for going to college or signing pro. It is a great opportunity for those who get that chance, but I have a hard time believing it would be a factor in the decision to go college or pro. Maybe for someone the writer talked to, it played a small part in the decision.

I don't understand... "He would not accept less money than he was offered"

To me there are only two or three reasons to go pro out of high school.

1. Money

2. That is the only thing you want to do

3. You don't like being a student

Really interesting topic and first post to me.

I think PGStaff nailed it...but then again, why wouldn't he?  He almost surely knows more kids who fit both categories than nearly anyone on the planet.

One comment from above:

6. He was offered a full scholarship to a university. (Note: He found that 75% of these young men had been offered full scholarships).

I don't believe this to be true at all.  75% had full ride offers?  I'm assuming thats self-reported and not verified...which makes it very suspect.  But is the researcher saying 75% of kids signing out of HS had full ride offers?  Nah, I don't believe it.

That one seems off to me, too. Here's the link. Actually a really interesting site, I think:

http://thewinningmindinbasebal...hapter-v-discussion/

Thanks for sharing jp24.  Interesting topic.  When I started reading the first 9 points I was jumping ahead (in my mind) what the other 9 would be.   As it turns out I could only come up with 3, and they were exactly as PGStaff describes (money, only thing, don't want to be a student).  As justbaseball said, he would be the man that would know best.

The one thing that I keep coming back to is nationality which was not covered or mentioned the article.  Baseball's talent search is now international.  I know some people in the minor leagues that got there through college baseball.  They describe age, maturity & cultural differences as well as language barriers in the minor leagues with their foreign teammates.  Sometimes there is a 4-5 year difference in age.   I went to several minor league games this summer, and I can see these nationality & age data points on a roster....so I believe nationality is a factor that can be discriminated between typical professional player and typical college player.  Why isn't it on his list?  I guess he chose only US High School Players for his thesis?.....Thoughts?  

The percentage of those turning down full rides sounds high to me, too, but you also have to account for the fact that quite often, a kid who signed his NLI in November for 50-75%, and who then is drafted early and looking at big money, will often be told by his would-be college coach that they will now offer 100% if he'll come to school. 

Sometimes they would offer more, but 100% is all the NCAA will allow!

The same thing can happen after a college player's first draft-eligible year.  The college may offer to increase his percentage, even up to 100%, if he'll stay for at least one more year (depending on how much eligibility he has left). 

So, this does happen, though I tend to agree that some of these "full rides" might have been just "full tuition" or other things that aren't really 100% deals. 

I agree with all of that Midlo Dad.  Sounds about right to me.

3A. You would like to go to college and play pro-ball at the same time (it can be done)

I agree with everything PG said however one thing that gets overlooked is that if a HS player really wants an education they don't have to bypass college while playing pro ball.  

If your drafting team wants your player you can pretty much write your own ticket when it comes to negotiating the value of your MLB Scholarship offer. 

Looking back, our MLBS negotiation was a very important part of making the final decision and for the drafting team it was almost an "oh by the way" conversation (after the signing bonus was agreed upon).  We threw out a number that represented much more than his actual scholarship value and they didn't even blink.  The reality is that most teams know that a very small % actually use the funds so they probably figured it was a throw in to get the deal done.

While it is taking Jerseyson longer than a typical college student to get his degree, at this pace he will probably graduate about the same time he finishes his first professional contract. As parents our greatest fear was that if pro-ball didn't work out he would be starting over in his mid 20's...thankfully he was smart enough to learn very quickly that it was in his best interest to get started with school while he is still playing.  Truth be told I'm just as proud of him for going to school as I am being a pro ballplayer.

So...if a player wants an education bad enough, option 3A might be something a HS player should consider.