THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040465
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 75 lines
Clear and concise the major league baseball draft is not.
In the NBA and NFL, the drafts and pretty straightforward. If you're selected, particularly in the first round, you can almost count on long money and a roster spot in the big time. The same, though, can't be said for the baseball draft, which begins today.
``You have to take a very analytical look at baseball,'' Norfolk State coach Marty Miller said. ``If you're not drafted in the first five or six rounds, it's a risk from that point on.''
The differences between the baseball, NFL and NBA drafts are several, but the most prominent are the numbers of players selected.
As with the NHL, major league baseball has a farm system; the NBA and NFL do not. The NBA only has two draft rounds in which just 58 people were selected last year. In March, 254 football players were drafted in the seven rounds of the NFL process. But last year, 1,666 players were selected in the baseball draft.
The major leagues have unlimited draft rounds because different teams have different numbers of farm teams with varying needs. Because of the high quantity, players are selected from universities, two-year colleges and high schools, and not all players selected opt to sign minor league contracts.
Options range from accepting a contract to attending college or staying in school. If a player does not sign a contract the year he's selected, the team controls the athlete's rights until the following draft.
College baseball players, unlike basketball or football players attending universities, are not eligible for the draft until they have completed three years of eligibility or turn 21. And players are heavily encouraged to consider professional baseball at this point.
``If you have an outstanding (college) junior year, according to coaches and players, you're foolish to go through your senior year,'' said First Colonial High School coach Norbie Wilson, who's had players drafted following their senior years.
Though seeing an 19-year-old in the majors is a rarity, watching teenagers play professional baseball immediately after high school is common.
Brian Settle, a good pitcher playing with a not-so-good offense at Wilson High, was taken in the 13th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates last year. Settle, a 6-foot-5 athlete with a 90 mph fastball now playing Instructional League ball, was a surprise pick - a standard in the major league draft.
``You have a guy looking good and playing well with all the qualities of a good prospect, but they're not picked or picked up late,'' Miller said. ``Then you have a guy not expected to get drafted and then he goes in an early round.''
Miller knows of what he speaks.
Among the many draft possibilities on Miller's 1991 team, outfielder Wayne Wilkerson was not high on his list.
``Wilkerson was a surprise,'' said Miller, who was drafted in 1970 by the Minnesota Twins. ``I thought there were a couple of other guys that would go before him and they didn't get drafted.
``He could throw and run, and those are the two main ingredients scouts look for in outfielders.''
Along with Wilkerson, who was taken by the Cincinnati Reds, teammates Antonio Boone and Andrew Johnson were selected that year. But now, as with about 90 percent of most minor league players, Wilkerson's baseball career ended before he made the majors.
``A draft is nothing more than an opinion,'' Pirates scout Bobby McKinney said.
A very valuable opinion nonetheless.
Several local players are hopeful of having their names called during the draft this week.
Old Dominion seniors Matt Quatraro (catcher), Brian Fiumara (rightfielder) and John O'Reilly (pitcher) appear to be the strongest possibilities for the Monarchs.
Juniors Adrian Harris and Omari Venable will add their names to the list of Norfolk State outfielders drafted if they are selected.
Virginia Wesleyan's chances are represented by junior catcher Lawrence ``Fella'' Dolby, a transfer from Maryland.
Probably not expecting to get selected this week are local high school athletes. According to area analysts, this could be the first time in six years no high school athletes will be taken. by CNB