MLB Draft Steal

[BabyBoomer]

I was checking out where all the best fantasy players were drafted (MLB Drafting not fantasy) and it seemed very strange:

Baseball Steals

Pujols 13th Round
Soriano None
Delgado None
B. Boone 5th Round
Magglio None
Bagwell 4th Round
Thome 13th Round
Piazza 62 Round
Sexson 24th Round
Vlad None
Garret Anderson 4th Round
Renteria None
Lee None
Sosa None

[thetruth]

the thing is dominican players are not in the draft.

[BabyBoomer]

They are not drafted but any team could try to pick them up. It is still considered a "steal"

[Amazinz]

And Soriano played in Japan before he ever came to the States. Piazza is baseball's poster child for working hard paying off.

[mtarail]

Foreign players aren't drafted but I lived in the Dominican Republic and I can tell you that there is intense competition to sign players. Every team scouts players in most of the country and quite a few major league teams have year-round training compounds that players work out in, from which they will be signed to contracts with various terms depending on the upside the team finds in the player. So no, most of the foreign players aren't steals. Especially now, as major league baseball has become increasingly dominated by Caribbean-area players.

[fezzik]

And Soriano played in Japan before he ever came to the States. Piazza is baseball's poster child for working hard paying off.

ya, but Piazza would never have been drafted if his family and Lasorda weren't close...he was drafted as a personal favor...guess it worked out for them both. I agree his hard work (once he was in the minors) got him where he dreamed of going, but he never would have had the chance if it wasn't for his family connections to Dodger management.

[Amazinz]

And Soriano played in Japan before he ever came to the States. Piazza is baseball's poster child for working hard paying off.

ya, but Piazza would never have been drafted if his family and Lasorda weren't close...he was drafted as a personal favor...guess it worked out for them both. I agree his hard work (once he was in the minors) got him where he dreamed of going, but he never would have had the chance if it wasn't for his family connections to Dodger management.

Maybe your right but that's a lot of speculation. I have to believe that a man able to rise from a 62nd round pick to the best hitting Catcher in the history of baseball would have found a way, regardless. "Where there's a will there's a way."

[mtarail]

There are a lot of interesting little stories like that.

Maggs had a bad 1st tryout and a scout looked at Maggs again as a favor to Mora. (Good choice)

I also seem to remember some story about Vlad. He was late for his tryout and the scout was about to leave. The guy who took Vlad out to the ballpark on his motorcycle got a big bonus from the Spo's after the tryout.

[GSes]

Something we often overlook here at the Cafe is something that all of us who have played sports know.

No matter what your potential is, our how good your expected to be or in many cases how good your not expected to be (PIAZZA)

HARD WORK PAYS OFF!

This is why guys who come out of no where can sometimes be legit and for real b/c they have put the work in and they have gotten a lot better.

Just sometimes here at the cafe we pass of anyone who is playing well if they are not a big time prospect or under the age of 25.

Hard work pays off no matter who you are.

[fezzik]

And Soriano played in Japan before he ever came to the States. Piazza is baseball's poster child for working hard paying off.

ya, but Piazza would never have been drafted if his family and Lasorda weren't close...he was drafted as a personal favor...guess it worked out for them both. I agree his hard work (once he was in the minors) got him where he dreamed of going, but he never would have had the chance if it wasn't for his family connections to Dodger management.

Maybe your right but that's a lot of speculation. I have to believe that a man able to rise from a 62nd round pick to the best hitting Catcher in the history of baseball would have found a way, regardless. "Where there's a will there's a way."

you're right. it's pure speculation. I should have wrote that he "may have never had the chance." He certainly proved what he could do in the minors and the bigs. FYI, I am a Dodger fan and like Piazza. I was just throwing out a little anecdote for those who may not have known. He's always been a hard worker...I remember him squeezing his little hand-exerciser in the dugout between innings to build up his hand strength....even though they were already absurdly strong. I think he has the strongest hands in baseball (more speculation ). I remember his teammates (on the Dodgers) saying that nobody could even squeeze the thing once, but he would do sets at a time. Scary.