Baseball’s short draft could hurt players
Brendan Beck knows all about the excitement and anticipation of the baseball draft because his brother, Tristan, a heralded Giants prospect, experienced it.
A pitcher out of Stanford, Tristan Beck was selected in the fourth round in 2018 by the Braves, who sent him to the Giants in July in the Mark Melancon trade, and the righthander put up fabulous numbers (2.27 ERA in 352⁄3 innings) last season at Class A San Jose.
“It was funny,” said Brendan Beck, who was his brother’s teammate at Stanford. “It was the second day of the draft. I went to his dorm, and he was working on a final paper that was due that day while fielding calls about the draft. He got drafted, and 20 or 30 minutes later, we had class. He had to postpone the celebration.”
There will be far fewer draftweek celebrations this
year because there will be far fewer rounds. An agreement reached March 26 between Major League Baseball owners and players called for as few as five rounds instead of the normal 40, and The Chronicle confirmed Friday reports that the draft indeed will be just five rounds. It’s set for June 10. Many college juniors and high school seniors who in more normal times would expect their names to be called by a bigleague team now are in limbo. The coronavirus shutdown has detoured dreams of athletes who geared their lives toward getting drafted.
Once the college and high school spring seasons were canceled, bigleague teams were denied opportunities to monitor the progress of players. More important, players were denied the chance to improve their draft appeal.
“Obviously, everyone with professional aspirations looks to their junior year to have some of their best performances, hit their stride,” Brendan Beck said. “You put in the hard work, and you know it could be your last year on campus with these guys.”
Beck, 21, two years younger than Tristan, faces the realistic possibility of not getting drafted — along with other juniors at Stanford, usually a popular target this time of year for pro scouts. Nine Cardinal players were drafted last year.
Baseball America has been posting draft rankings of top amateurs, and in the latest, Beck was No. 243. Teammate Jacob Palisch, a pitcher, was 222. Shortstop Tim Tawa was 261.
With 30 teams and five rounds, that’s 150 picks. Including compensatory picks, it still will be fewer than 200 draftees.
“Everyone knows your junior year is a big year for a lot of reasons,” Tawa said. “I would’ve liked to have that opportunity to show the progress I’ve made and the hard work I’ve put in — and my teammates put in — is paying off.
“Having it taken away is sad, but this pandemic is bigger than baseball right now. I want to be mad and upset. I am, in a certain way, but the important thing for everyone is being safe and doing what needs to be done to remain safe during the pandemic.”
Stanford head coach David Esquer said other juniors, including first baseman Nick Brueser, outfielder Christian Robinson and pitcher Carson Rudd, had good chances to get drafted somewhere in the 40 rounds.
“The scouts didn’t have enough chance to sit on somebody to tip the scales from liking them to really liking them,” Esquer said. “There’s a lot of unknown and fallout from the situation we’re in.”
On approaching the draft, Esquer said, “You learn to slow things down and not get too rushed with any decisions — seeing it through to the end and doing the right thing by thinking about the public and our society first.”
By no means is the Baseball America list scientific, but it’s a rough indication of the values of amateur players. Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who graduated from Petaluma’s Casa Grande High School, is ranked No. 2.
Cal second baseman Darren Baker is No. 174.
Tyler Soderstrom, a high school catcher at Turlock (Stanislaus County) is 18, outfielder Chase Davis of FranklinElk Grove (Sacramento County) is 57 and pitcher Kyle Harrison of De La SalleConcord is 72.
Other preps among the top 300: shortstop Nick Yorke of Mitty (87), catcher Daniel Susac of JesuitCarmichael (116), shortstop Tommy Troy of Los Gatos (191) and first baseman Michael Brown of Vacaville (250).
High school seniors have scholarships to fall back on. Yorke, for instance, has committed to the University of Arizona.
Yorke’s coach at Mitty, Brian Yocke, said at least 15 teams have scouted the infielder. Yorke added bulk since his junior year and had anticipated showing more power. That’ll have to wait. “I think Nick would be affected by this the least,” Yocke said. “Nick’s going to a Pac12 team if he doesn’t get drafted or doesn’t choose to sign, and he’ll get a chance to prove himself. It’s the seniors who don’t have a place to go that’ll be affected more. They don’t get to showcase themselves for colleges.”
Limiting the draft is an effort to cut costs with no games generating revenue for owners, who had the power to push back the draft from June to July but are keeping it in June.
Majorleague players agreed to the deal because they were guaranteed service time and a fraction of their salaries. The domino effect is significant for amateurs.
Undrafted players will become free agents, and their signing bonuses will max out at just $20,000, a fraction of what they could have made in other years — and those who are drafted will see much of their signing bonus deferred.
There are options. The NCAA granted athletes in spring sports an extra year of eligibility, a nice gesture for juniors and seniors who could return and improve their status on draft boards, but it’ll also make for more roster competition for incoming freshmen.
There could be an influx of incoming freshmen, too. With just five rounds, it’s possible high school kids won’t be as tempting to bigleague teams, if only because teams know top college players have a better chance of signing than do top high schoolers.
Meantime, the Beck brothers are hanging out at home in Corona (Riverside County) with their parents. They’re working out and, of course, are perfect throwing partners. They play catch in the street.
“It’s like a throwback to the elementary school days,” Brendan Beck said.
The younger Beck is leaving his options open. He’s not ruling out returning to Stanford for another year and completing his degree in science technology and society.
“You need to stay flexible,” Beck said. “My classmates and I have two great options with the NCAA’s decision to give everyone an extra year of eligibility.
“It’s exciting and confusing at the same time. You don’t know if it’ll be your last year on campus with these guys. The chance to go back to school is a very good option if the draft doesn’t work out for some of us.”
“It’s exciting and confusing at the same time. You don’t know if it’ll be your last year on campus.” Brendan Beck, Stanford pitcher