I came across this story and read a few comments at the bottom of the article. It seems that most people disagree with the decision to take the GED and go into the 2010 MLB Draft as the Nationals no. 1 draft pick.
I see their side of the argument in that the job market doesn’t hold much opportunity for someone with a GED. I just can’t see that as a viable option for someone with this much talent. If he is drafted at the age of 16 or 17, he will see more than enough publicity plus a genorous signing bonus. Even if this kid gets hurt somewhere down the road he’ll have enough money saved up to return back to school if he really wanted.
Which brings up another point…What if he decides to stay and finish high school, in which time he sustains a career ending injury. That will be a huge opportunity missed.
First let’s assume he stays in high school and get an education and goes onto MLB right out of high school, $15 million guaranteed.
Next he gets his GED goes to a JC for a year then goes to the MLB, $15 million again. He stays in high school get injured…OH NO WHAT TO DO…College and while he does not follow his passion he can still work within baseball, back office style.
He gets his GED gets hurt at JC then guess what College again same story.
So he won’t be caked up because he isn’t a major leaguer but who’s to say this kid still can’t go to college. Everyone (on yahoo) saying this kid should stay in school has there head so far up their ass that they can see themselves chewing.
The next thing would be compare those with a GED to those with a high school diploma I’d say the difference is minimal. It’s as though these people think if one venture doesn’t pan out he can’t take another, it’s ridiculous.
I heard this being discussed on the radio the other day.
My opinion is that the kid should finish high school at least. Once he’s 18 he’ll be a monster that’s been refined for a couple of more years physically and will enter the draft a little higher perhaps. Kid already plays a lot of ball already, so his skills won’t be depleated or any of that.
A few years ago I might not have held the same opinion, but after watching the Matt Bush debacle for the Padres unfold, I say that mental maturity of a kid is more valuable than his talent on the field.
Matt Bush was drafted out of high school by the Padres (local san diego kid) and subsequently started playing for their farm system in Arizona. Within a few weeks the kid was already in trouble (underage drinking) and is pretty much a non-factor in being a prospect in the bigs today.
By all means the kid should get his GED and go to Jr. college. Where the baseball competition is great and the classes he takes are far more challenging then any class he can take in a public school. Not that he will be taking any of those classes. We all know he will be taking math 101 as well as basket weaving class. But he should follow his talent aim high. High school is a joke period. Everyone knows it or should…
I almost posted a similar story about this kid when TC wrote the article last Friday about Ali, Jordan, Lebron etc.
He is the next freak and smashed tape measure shots of 570 feet. His parents are working class and he plays with real intensity. Cant wait to see this pan out.
This kid is the real deal. I’ve been wanting to see him the majors for a while now. He’s a complete freak that doesn’t take his talent for granted and actually works hard at it. I don’t care when he goes, as he’ll likely spend some time in the minors anyway. I just want him to stay healthy!
That said, it might further his baseball skills if he stayed a couple more years until he was almost 18 and used them to play with college level teams. The jump from where he’s at and the pitchers he sees to Randy Johnson, or even top minor league pitching, is astronomical. I’d like to see him dominate some college sports for the next couple years to prep for the draft.
I love education, but this guy is a once in a lifetime talent for baseball. I want to see him healthy and in the majors more. He could smash the record books.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
I’d enter the draft, hands down.[/quote]
x2. I can’t believe people are so narrow minded to say otherwise.
at the surface it looks bad, but he’s still getting a diploma and he’s still going to college.
And to be honest, college isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and this is coming from someone that loved their college years.
If you’re given a talent why wouldn’t you pursue it? Because we’ve been brainwashed in this country that in order to make it in this world you need to go to college and rack up huge amounts of debt?
All he needs to do is stay healthy until the draft comes and he’ll get enough guaranteed money that he’ll be set for life. He can pay for 100 years of college with the $15 million bonus that he’ll command. Getting the GED will get him in the draft one year earlier and he’ll get a year of playing against better competition than he would in high school.
Yup, there are a lot of players who didn’t even attend college. I’m sure all of us can name a few.
I agree at least he should finish high school. After HS, he joins the MLB and gets all his 15 mill. Let’s say he does get a career ending injury or he becomes the shittiest player in the MLB, what did he lose, nothing. He gained 15 mill. He can still go to college or better yet invest and start a business.
[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
I heard this being discussed on the radio the other day.
My opinion is that the kid should finish high school at least. Once he’s 18 he’ll be a monster that’s been refined for a couple of more years physically and will enter the draft a little higher perhaps. Kid already plays a lot of ball already, so his skills won’t be depleated or any of that.
A few years ago I might not have held the same opinion, but after watching the Matt Bush debacle for the Padres unfold, I say that mental maturity of a kid is more valuable than his talent on the field.
Matt Bush was drafted out of high school by the Padres (local san diego kid) and subsequently started playing for their farm system in Arizona. Within a few weeks the kid was already in trouble (underage drinking) and is pretty much a non-factor in being a prospect in the bigs today.
[/quote]
Stay so he can go higher in the draft? I didn’t know there was a higher pick than number one.
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
That said, it might further his baseball skills if he stayed a couple more years until he was almost 18 and used them to play with college level teams. [/quote]
I doubt he will become a better baseball player playing at a high school level, compared with the training he is going to get at the pro-level.
[quote]nobodyreal wrote:
Aragorn wrote:
That said, it might further his baseball skills if he stayed a couple more years until he was almost 18 and used them to play with college level teams.
I doubt he will become a better baseball player playing at a high school level, compared with the training he is going to get at the pro-level.
[/quote]
That’s what people don’t quite get. Junior college baseball is way better than high school and, in some cases, better than the level of play at some D1 schools. This is due to the way the MLB draft is set up; you can come out after high school, but if you take a D1 scholarship, you can’t come out until after your junior year of college. So there’s a ton of guys who go to junior college for a year and then go into the draft, so junior college is significantly better than high school ball.