Of the 1,445 players selected in last week's first-year player
draft, 805 were chosen out of college and 629 were selected out
of high school. According to research done by agent Scott Boras,
the college players have a much greater chance of reaching the
major leagues, achieving longevity in the game and reaping vast
financial rewards. "The best thing major league baseball can do
is to stop drafting all these high school players," Boras says.
While the number of players drafted out of high school is only
marginally lower than the number who are drafted out of college,
collegians make up the vast majority in the majors. According to
Boras, of the 773 players on major league rosters on Opening Day
of the '97 season, 450 (58.2%) were drafted out of college and
169 (21.9%) came straight from high school. (Free-agent players
from other countries are considered separately.) Of those 773
players, 248 had amassed six or more years of major league
service time; 148 of those (59.7%) were college players and 57
(23%) were from high school.
When it comes to earning power, time spent in college helps in
baseball just as it does in the everyday working world. Boras
says that a total of 289 players had contracts worth $1 million
or more for the '97 season; 165 (57.1%) were college players,
while 69 (23.9%) came from high school. Of the 54 players who
had contracts paying $5 million a year or more, 30 (55.6%) were
former college players and 13 (24.1%) came out of high school.
The trend remains the same even among the top prospects, the
first-round selections in the draft. In a study of first-round
picks in the drafts from 1983 to '91, there were 234 players
chosen, 132 from college and 102 from high school, yet their
earnings through the '96 season were skewed significantly toward
the college players. Nearly four times as many college players
had earned $10 million in their careers.
Boras's critics contend that he trumpets these figures hoping to
push the market toward more established college players who will
command larger signing bonuses, but Boras argues that he is
living proof of the importance of a college education for those
players who don't become stars. Boras played college baseball at
Pacific and was drafted by the Cardinals before three knee
injuries prematurely ended his career.
"Baseball's message is to sign early and make a lot of money
early, but the numbers show that most high school players don't
reach the major leagues at all, and those who make it don't
arrive any sooner," says Boras, who favors stricter limits on
the number of players drafted each year. (This year's draft was
limited to 50 rounds for the first time.) "Teams spend millions
of dollars taking chances on undeveloped high school talent.
About 95 percent of those high school kids end up doomed to a
lesser standard of life with no education and a pink slip after
four years, while baseball ends up with a big bill."
To its credit, baseball has had a scholarship program in place
since 1962, and in that time nearly 9,000 players have
negotiated funds for college into their contracts at a cost to
date of about $28 million.
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Issue date: June 15, 1998
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