FAQ: The First Year Player Draft

Since there was no Red Sox game last night, I decided to watch the first round of the MLB First Year Player Draft on MLBNetwork until the Bruins played.  My mom, a casual fan, was watching with me, and had a lot of questions about the process.  If she had questions, I'm willing to bet some of YOU have questions as well:

• How do they decide who picks first?
• Generally, the teams pick in reverse order of the final standings from the previous year.

• But they didn''t pick in exact reverse order - what's up with that?
• Here's where it gets a little more complicated.  When teams sign top-ranked free agents, they have to sacrifice some of their draft picks.  Elias Sports Bureau ranks players by position every year, and the top 20 percent are considered Type A, while the players lower than 20% but in the top 40% are Type B.  Teams signing Type A free agents must surrender their first round draft pick to the team the FA is leaving, and that team will also receive a pick in the supplemental first round.  Teams that lose a Type B free agent only get a supplemental pick.

• That's a little confusing; can you explain it in terms of the Red Sox?
• Sure!  This year, the Red Sox had to give up their own first round pick to the Tampa Bay Rays, because they signed Type A free agent Carl Crawford.  However, they received first round picks from the Detroit Tigers for Type A free agent Victor Martinez, and from the Texas Rangers for Type A free agent Adrian Beltre.

• Who gets drafted?
• The pool of players for the MLB draft is quite large.  Players must be from the US or Canada, and must be high school graduates.  Any high school graduate who has NOT attended college, players attending a four-year college who have finished their junior or senior years, and any player attending a community or junior college is eligible to be drafted by any team.

• How many rounds are there?
• As many as 50.  A club can choose to "pass" it's pick at any point, after which they may make no more selections in that year's draft.

• Why so many rounds? The NBA only has two!
• Unlike the other major sports in the US, baseball draft picks are almost never expected to make a major impact at the major league level right away.  There are 4 levels of minor leagues that players can progress through, and each of those levels must be able to field a full team.  Thus, players taken in the later rounds are almost never expected to make it to the majors, but are essentially used to fill the rosters of the minor leagues.  Of course, now and then a pick from the lower rounds will surprise everyone.

• Do most players take high school players? College players? Junior college players?
• I'm sure many of you are familiar with the bestselling book Moneyball, which made the argument that college players are nearly always the better investment, since they play against a known level of competition, and so their stats might actually mean something.  However, teams often pick high school phenoms, with the understanding that it will take a large signing bonus to lure them away from the college they might have committed to.

That's all my mom asked me, but I'm happy to answer anything else you guys might want to know.  Leave any further questions in the comments section!

We made it!

It's here! Finally, Opening Day 2011 is upon us, and though the Red Sox don't actually play until tomorrow, THERE'S BASEBALL AGAIN! Despite the fact that I will struggle mightily to keep up with MLB in the coming months (though the internet situation in Argentina is unknown - maybe that will be easier), I cannot remember ever being this excited to start a season.

Sure, we say something to this effect every year, but I honestly think this is different, at least for me. Like every year, Opening Day is a clean slate (let's forget the 89 wins of yesteryear right now, ok?), but this year it means even more, for some reason.

I think partially because I've been hitting a wall lately on my study abroad program, but I really need baseball to keep my sanity intact, now more than ever. I absolutely cannot wait to throw all of my energy and my free time into repeatedly checking and rechecking stats and standings and replays, and if I ever have enough bandwidth, I will hopefully be able to stream a game or two.

I'll put up a more Sox specific post later, but I really needed to get this out there first thing in the morning: Happy New Year, Red Sox Nation - we made it!

Twenty-three for me... Please?

I want an Adrian Gonzalez jersey. Right now. Unfortunately, as I mentioned yesterday, the first baseman's presumptive number is currently worn by outfielder Mike Cameron, who has no obligation to give it up (other than being slightly vilified by a rabid and excited fan base).

For all intents and purposes, Cameron has already agreed to give up #23 to Gonzalez for a small donation to charity, but these things have to be official. What does all this mean for fans? Nothing, unless you're like me and itching to get your hands on a Gonzalez jersey.

Neither the Red Sox online store through MLB nor the Yawkey Way store has Gonzalez T-shirts or jerseys on sale yet. So what, you might ask, they have the customize your own option. This is what I assumed, but apparently MLB has a rule that you're not allowed to use the name of a player on another team on your jersey.

Okay, but what about the guy who wants HIS name and HIS number on a jersey, and he happens to be named Gonzalez. Not exactly an uncommon name.

But I digress. The point of this is simply to implore MLB to get its act together and put those AGon jerseys on their (virtual) shelves in time for the holidays - and Hanukkah ends tomorrow night. It's not like MLB to pass up on money-making, and this one is a no-brainer: get on it, Selig!

Marijuana: PED?

Yesterday, Giants pitching phenom Tim Lincecum was pulled over for speeding on a highway in Washington State, and arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Let's be honest here: is anyone really surprised? More importantly, is anyone all that upset?

As Twitter user Kdawg1313 said "I'd be shocked if Lincecum was busted for steroids! Weed, not so much." I would be MUCH more upset if Lincecum was cheating with some sort of performance enhancer... As it is, I just wonder what sort of penalty he'll face from baseball.

Now, if it were up to me, he would have to answer to his state laws, and MLB would have to leave him be: he wasn't cheating, so in my opinion, this falls outside of their jurisdiction. If Joba Chamberlain can endanger his own life and the lives of others with DUI without sanction from MLB, Tim Lincecum deserves the same luxury.

Personally, I don't smoke (marijuana or otherwise). However, many people do... It's naive to believe with any sort of certainty that baseball doesn't have players who enjoy smoking recreationally; many of them enjoy tobacco in one or more of its forms, and I don't think marijuana is that different.

Now, I understand this is a legal issue, because regardless of public opinion about marijuana, the fact is that it is illegal in the United States (with certain exceptions in certain states)... But as a baseball fan, I take the same stance on this as I took with the Michael Phelps debacle: if he can smoke pot and still dominate all of his competition, more power to him.

What do you guys think?