Expert: Geoff - 6/25/2006

Question
I guess I have a stupid question to ask.

I know that when a team drafts a prospect, that person belongs to its farm system. Whether the player makes the Majors depends on how well he plays.

My question is about the procedure itself. Do the scouts sign the player first, and then the team drafts him? Or is the player signed after he is drafted?

Also, what about prospects who don't go to college? Obviously there are some players in the League who never went to college. Must they be drafted, or can they simply sign a contract with the drafting team?

Answer
Hi John,

Thanks for writing.

Scouts look at both high school and college players.  When the baseball draft is held both high school seniors and college players get drafted.  A team owns the signing rights to the drafted player for 1 year.  

Often though, the player will not sign and instead will keep playing/ go to college/ whatever in hopes of geting drafted again the next year (hopefully in an earlier round to get a bigger signing bonus).  A team who is unable to sign a drafted player loses those signing rights just prior to the next year's draft.

Hope this helps.

Best Wishes,

Geoff