CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, April 19, 1995
5A
Money pulls amateur players from school
As a high school senior, Kansas outfielder Isaac Byrd decided not to sign a contract with the San Diego Padres so that he could play both baseball and football for the Jayhawks. Both sports are important to Byrd, but baseball takes first priority.
pro scout. The proposal was voted down and has not been given serious consideration since.
"Something like that kills free agency," he said. "It takes away the player's free marketplace. I would be in favor of it only possibly for first-round guys."
Adopting a plan for clubs to have rights to players for longer periods of time is a bad idea, Kansas coach Dave Bingham said.
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If a player chooses not to sign a professional contract, the team that drafted him loses its rights, and he may be drafted again by another club. NFL and NBA teams are able to retain their rights to a player after they are initially drafted.
Brad Mayfield, Jamie's coach at Blue Springs High School in Blue Springs, Mo., favors retaining a player's rights for more than one year.
"I could possibly see them retaining their rights for some time," he said. "I don't know how they should approach it, but right now it puts a lot of pressure on the kids who are juniors in college."
Paul Splitorff, a Royals television commentator, said increasing the amount of time teams have to sign draftees was a bad idea.
"In Jamie's case, they controlled him for a year," he said. "Athletes are kind of restricted to where they can work by the draft because they are only chosen by one team."
Baseball does not set a limit on the number of rounds in the draft each year. Major League clubs usually pick players until they tire of it, usually as long as 80 or 90 rounds.
length was problematic.
Louisiana State coach Skip Bertman, who has led the Tigers to NCAA baseball championships in 1904 and 1908, would be
“It's hard to evaluate the talent of someone chosen in the 87th round," he said.
Bingham favors reducing the draft, to one or two rounds so the majority of high school players won't be tempted by the big leagues.
"Let them go to school for four years," Bingham said. "Then they
can make a career out of it and be a ballplayer until they retire or get cut."
But Splittorff disagreed.
"It's the scouts' job to stock the minor leagues, so I have no problem with the number of rounds."
"Maybe they could cut it in half, but there absolutely has to be a draft in baseball, just the same as any other sport."
College baseball coaches say they constantly worry about players who sign scholarships in high school but then leave for the amateur draft or early from college.
Bingham, still working to build a College World Series contender at Kansas, agreed.
"I'm always quite concerned," Bingham said of losing prospects to the draft. "We're doing better than in the past. So far, we've convinced guys that their education is more important."
LSU's Bertman said he was more concerned about players who left college baseball and might not be ready to go in to the professional ranks
"In my case, we lose a lot of
juniors every time," he said.
HUNTING FOR PLAYERS
The reason proposed changes have failed is that baseball needs to feed a vast minor league system with slots for approximately 4,800 players.
The pros and some college coaches like it the way it is. Colleges can't answer for professional
prepare players for professional baseball, someSA others disagree.
"There needs to be a complete restructuring, using college as a form of the minors and cutting back the number of players selected each year," Bingham said.
But the notion that college baseball programs can be used as a training ground for the pros is wrong. Bertman said.
"College baseball isn't good enough to groom professional players," he said.
"Some programs are OK in order to produce a kid for the big leagues, but to assume that college is like the minor leagues is silly."
make it to the Major Leagues.
The drain on college baseball is increasing. The cash and the dream are both tempting to kids out of high school, even though most will not
Josh Booty, now a shortstop in the Florida Marlins organization, signed a football scholarship at Louisiana State during the fall of his senior year at Evangel Christian High School in Shreveport, La. In his decision to attend LSU, it was also understood that Booty would play baseball as well.
Then, after being drafted by the Marlins as the fifth overall pick and offered a $1.6 million signing bonus, Booty decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Baseball teams seem to be making new strides in the battle with college coaches by flashing cash at 18-year-olds, leaving many college teams with empty scholarships.
Bertman, with an established program and a constant pipeline of talent, doesn't get unset about losing a
potential player like Booty.
"The decision about whether or not to go pro is up to the kid and his parents," Bertman said. "Not getting someone doesn't bother me at all."
round of the 1994 draft by the Minnesota Twins, he still was undecided about what he wanted. Williams signed with Kansas near the end of his senior year at Stigler High School in Stigler, Okla., but the decision was tough.
POTENTIAL PROFESSIONALS
When Linus Williams was chosen in the 44th
He ended up keeping his commitment to the Javahawks.
"It was still up in the air because I hadn't expected to go in the 44th round," Williams said. "They told me I would go somewhere in the late 20s or early 30s. It's such a great feeling, and you don't want give up the thought of professional baseball. Also, there is money involved, and there are a lot of benefits to that."
Major League scouts sell professional baseball as a good way of life, making the decision even harder for a young athlete, Williams said.
"It was a tough decision because the scouts did a great job of really trying to convince you, and it really sounds like a great life," he said. "Your main decision is really if you need to get your education.
"The hard thing with a lot of players is they go in the draft, they play for three or four years and may be successful, but they don't have that education. It's so hard to go back
and try to follow up and get your education then."
Because of problems with his throwing elbow, Williams has been out for most of this season. He says he does not regret the decision he made and is confident that he will again get the chance to play professional baseball.
"You can never let
that dream go," he said. "I feel like I will be drafted again, but at the same time, I'm enjoying this atmosphere as well.
it will offer those types of possibilities."
"I have confidence in my ability and confidence in this program that
In the end, he signed a football scholarship at Kansas with the understanding that he would also play baseball.
but another sport as well.
Isaac Byrd, selected in the 24th round by the San Diego Padres in 1993, not only figured a college edu-
Byrd is now an outfielder in the spring and will be a wide receiver in the fall.
"After I was drafted, I sat down with my mom and talked with one of the guys
with the Padres," he said. "My mom was the biggest influence on me in making the decision. She said, 'I think it's better for you to go to college and hopefully go through this
process again in three more years."
Byrd said Kansas football coach Glen Mason was very comfortable with his idea of also playing college baseball.
"In talking with coach Mason, I told him that I wanted to go somewhere and play both sports," he said.
Being close to his home in St. Louis and the good relationship that was built
between Mason and Byrd's mother brought him to Lawrence.
But there is another side to his story.
Because he failed to score the
"It was very frustrating because I expected to come right in and play," he said. "I never had to sit out and just be a student. It worked out well, but it was a hard time. I wondered if I had made the right choice, but it has been good."
Byrd admitted that the scouts from San Diego tried to get him to sign a contract but said that he didn't feel the pressure was too great.
And he's done a lot of that.
"That's their job to try and sell it to you," he said. "It wasn't a pressure sell but more of this is a good opportunity for you, this might not come around again and things like that to make you stop and think."
As for future chances in the draft, Byrd wants to be careful about what he does. Leaving school early might not be an option.
"If I get drafted my junior year and do sign, I will be committed to baseball and not come back for football," Byrd said. "If I don't get drafted high enough, I will definitely come back to play again."
ANOTHER DECISION
Despite having a disappointing season, Jamie Splittertorr is confident that he will be drafted again in June. This time, his parents' push to stay in college won't be as strong.
"When people are drafted after their junior year, they are more mature," he said. "You can start your career then and see what you can do.
"If it doesn't work out, you've got some money, and you can always go
back to school. School will always be there, but baseball won't."
Jamie said a high enough draft selection this year would be enough for him to leave Kansas for a professional career.
"If I'm healthy, and I was drafted by a good organization that treats its players well, I'd be happy," he said. "If they treat you fairly and you treat them fairly, I
think it's probably a good
idea to go on and see what you can do at the next level. I told Coach Bingham that I would probably leave after my junior year, and if he feels you're ready, that's what he 'encourages you to do."
When Jamie came to Kansas, he said Bingham understood that his stay probably would be cut off by the draft after three years. But nothing ever has been set in stone.
"If that happens, hopefully he will think I'm ready," Jarnie said. "If he tells me I'm not, then I would seriously consider staying. It's the same way with my parents."
It has been nearly three years since Jamie got that draft phone call from Kansas City.
Like many other college juniors, he now is taking his second look at the idea of becoming a Major Leaguer.
This time it looks like college will lose.