May 30, 2011
NECBL: Former draft picks show their talents
UC-Irvine pitcher Kyle Hooper, a 28th-round pick of the Pirates, will pitch for the Holyoke Blue Sox of the NECBL this summer. (photo: UC-Irvine Athletic Communications)
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of New England Baseball Journal.
Every summer, the rosters of leagues such as the Cape Cod Baseball League, the New England Collegiate Baseball League and now the Futures Collegiate Baseball League are filled with players hoping to show their worth and get drafted by a major-league team.
Every summer, some of those players have already had a shot at the majors. They come to the summer leagues having been drafted out of high school, and they chose college instead.
Any kid who has ever loved playing baseball has dreamed of a chance to show his talent to his favorite team, to become a star pitcher or shortstop. The kid who comes from nowhere and makes it is part and parcel of the mythology of professional sports. So why would anyone turn down that chance?
It’s a gamble, but it’s a calculated one.
“If you’ve been drafted out of high school, there’s a very good chance that you’re going to get drafted again,” said Chuck Paiva, general manager of the Newport Gulls of the NECBL. “In fact, they’ll probably follow you more. Somebody else saw something in you they liked, so other teams are thinking, wow, at least we have to follow this kid. Let’s see what he has.”
Many of the players who turn down the chance to join a major-league organization are drafted in the late rounds. Sticking on the roster is a long shot, and sometimes the money offered in the contract can be far less enticing than the worth of a scholarship, plus the education and experience college can offer.
“The scholarship is going to be worth more than that in the first year in most cases,” Paiva said. “So they’d be foolish to sign for $20 grand or $30 grand. Most of the kids who have education as a strong option will say no and say, ‘I’m not going to take less than $300 grand, and they’ll calculate what that scholarship means to them.”
Kyle Hooper was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 28th round of the 2009 draft. He knew there was some interest but was still surprised when he got a text message from a scout saying he’d been drafted. The right-handed pitcher from Saugus, Calif., instead chose to go to nearby UC-Irvine, and he’ll play for the Holyoke Blue Sox of the NECBL this summer.
Hooper doesn’t want to say how much the Pirates offered him, only that it was more than his scholarship was worth in terms of dollars. But in terms of experience, he’s betting it will be worth a lot more.
“I felt like I could grow more in college,” Hooper said. “And also playing in a program like UC-Irvine, it’s a big opportunity to learn a lot and develop a lot. Considering the guys that got taken last year were All-American type guys, like (former UC-Irvine teammates) Danny Bibona and Christian Bergman, those are guys you can learn a lot from. The development that they went through just increased the appeal of going to college.”
Hooper is hoping his play at Irvine and in the summer leagues will improve his draft stock when he is eligible again next year as a junior. Being drafted once will come in handy if he is drafted again.
“I learned a lot about how the game is a business when you get to that level,” he said. “I just learned how things work a little bit with the negotiation process. That helps, because I’m hoping to be drafted again, either the next year or the year after.”
Tim Kiene had a somewhat different draft day experience. He’d had the attention of major-league scouts since he was a sophomore at Avon Old Farms High School in Connecticut. He said he got a call from the Red Sox in the sixth round of the 2010 draft asking if he’d sign in the seventh, a dream come true for a New England kid who grew up cheering for the Sox.
“That was the happiest day of my life,” he said, “getting drafted and just seeing the excitement on my parents’ face and celebrating with my whole family. It was one of those days that I’ll remember forever.”
But he didn’t accept the Red Sox’ offer. The money wasn’t good enough. Instead, he turned them down and wound up getting drafted in the 30th round by the Washington Nationals, eventually turning them down, as well, and heading to the University of Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is a freshman now, and he’ll be working on his skills with the Newport Gulls this summer.
Playing professional baseball is still his dream, but Kiene doesn’t believe he took too much of a risk in turning down the Red Sox and Nationals.
“I feel like if teams liked me then and I continue to grow and develop at Maryland, then hopefully they’d continue to watch me and give me another opportunity,” he said.
If he does get drafted as a junior, he’d have to make the decision once again whether to stay at Maryland, keep his scholarship and get a degree, or take the offer. It’s a choice that is still a couple of years away, but there’s a lot to think about.
“Obviously, it’d be money, but I signed a scholarship to Maryland and I’m loyal to them,” Kiene said. “I feel like there’s multiple factors that come into that. My parents would have a big say in that, too, as well.”
Players such as Hooper and Kiene won’t get to rest on their draft status in college, or in the summer leagues. The scouts are still watching. Now they know the players have talent, and they’re looking for something more. In the NECBL, they will have to compete for playing time and show the scouts something extra.
“They want to see how they run; they want to see how they hustle,” Paiva said. “They all know they can hit and field and stuff. They want to look at the little things.”
In the end, the possibility of a long, productive career is still a long shot. These players are still chasing a dream, but a lot of them will wind up falling back on their education, even if they do get drafted again.
“The reality is, the guys who get drafted, probably 1 percent of those, 2 percent, go to the big leagues,” Paiva said. “It’s a very tough road to get to the big leagues, and some of these kids start to understand that.”
Nick A. Zaino III can be reached at feedback@baseballjournal.com
