Comments on: Is draft nepotism really a big deal?

By: The Rabbit

The Rabbit — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:12:00 +0000

According to some sportswriters, when Alex Avila was called up, it was only due to his father’s position in the TIgers org. (Don’t know whether they thought he should have been drafted.)
I’m sure they’ve forgotten what they wrote.

By: royalsfaninfargo

royalsfaninfargo — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:43:54 +0000

As per your stand on nepotism Craig: I assume you are not grooming your child to take over Hardballtalk after you call it quits?! Because my youngest daughter is being groomed as we speak to take over my duties as a commenter when i finally hang up the keyboard.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:54:27 +0000

Excellent point, Craig. I see no problem with drafting relatives. Basing roster decisions on nepotism is another matter.

However, I don’t see banning the practice as the answer. Seems to me, if a team promotes unqualified relatives, it would be penalized on the field.

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:58:53 +0000

It still sucks when you ARE the solid middle infielder with on base ability, and you get by-passed due to some kid, whose Dad is head of player procurement.

By: twofistedslopper

twofistedslopper — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:49:21 +0000

I don’t quite think drafting a player like this is nepotism, it’s more like pedigree: you know the kid has athletic skills, let’s see if the parents passed down the talent.

Doug Melvin/Jack Z (the round mound of profound) did this often in the high rounds with the Brewers: Fielder, Gwynn Jr, Dykstra, Jemile Weeks. Talent will rise to the top (Braves and Twins be damned!), the rest is filler.

By: joshfrancis50

joshfrancis50 — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:06:57 +0000

Farcical perhaps, but isn’t there a part of you who, today, would rather see Scheurholtz Jr. on the team than Frenchie?

By: ThatGuy

ThatGuy — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:50:08 +0000

But what makes me scared, is he is a Utility infielder who can’t hit. Which means I would not surprised at all to see him as a bench player on the Twins next year…

By: PanchoHerreraFanClub

PanchoHerreraFanClub — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:45:30 +0000

This kind of story happens nearly every year about this time in Chicago. With two months of the season gone, the Chicago baseball writers can’t write about either team (they run out of printable ways to say “crappy”). So, they write about a non-existent problem and offer a solution. A better idea would have been to write a real story about how the Cubs need to fire everyone (from the owner to ticket takers) and start over. Now, that’s a solution to a real problem.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:33:32 +0000

John Scheurholtz Jr. did the same for the Braves. He was selected in the same draft as Francoeur, and was promoted almost as quickly, never hitting a lick. At all. He finally quit playing and now he’s coaching or something in the organization.

Which, hey, if he has actual managerial skills like his dad, great. But his promotion as a player was a farce.

By: ThatGuy

ThatGuy — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:26:02 +0000

I’ll have you know Toby Gardenhire and his career .230/.292/.269 batting line, clearly made it to AAA in the Twins system on his own accord, steadly climbing up the ranks never spending more than 1.5 season at any level.

By: kellyb9

kellyb9 — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:24:37 +0000

Nepotism isn’t a big deal at all. If a team is willing to waste a pick, it’s their problem. I will mention that GM’s likely look for a baseball “pedigree”. Being a good athlete can be genetic whereas being good in the white collar world probably isn’t. So who can really fault a GM for picking a popular last name.

By: xnumberoneson

xnumberoneson — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:20:07 +0000

The draft is such a crapshoot anyway. By the time you get to the later rounds, you’re basically just filling roster space in the low minors. So who cares if it’s nepotism? And every once in a great while you get Mike Piazza, who was “like a son” to Tommy Lasorda.

By: jakemanny

jakemanny — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:19:51 +0000

It would have been a shame if we missed out on mike piazza.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:57:06 +0000

Agreed. What a stupid non-story from Haugh.