Why isn't the MLB Draft as big as the NFL or NBA's draft?????

Question

everyone always counts down to the nfl and nba draft. ESPN even uses up the whole day to cover it. but why is the mlb draft not as important???

Answer 1

Because MLB draftees very rarely make an immediate impact on their MLB clubs. With rare exception, there are years spent in the minor league system. Given that, it's hard to get excited about a player that may or may not help your team in a few years.

Answer 2

There's no publicity or media coverage for MLB draft picks. While NBA and NFL draftees are hyped up during college due to TV coverage (look at the Final Four or BCS Bowls), MLB draftees are only written about on newspapers and the web.

You do have a few draftees who appear in the College World Series, so that brings some familarity. But the College World Series is shown during the day on ESPN or its sister channels so many of us don't get a chance to see it due to work. Also, the draft picks have to spend years in the minors so there's no immediate impact on the MLB team that drafts him. Plus a lot of teams (not Oakland's Billy Beane) would rather draft high school players than college players. There's a perception (especially with pitchers) that college coaches overplay them or develop bad habits... So the team might be getting damaged goods or something.

Lastly, I would say the aluminum bat in college hurts the image of college players. When you see college players hit check-swing homers or have a .400+ average, the viewer has to be skeptical if the player can be any good with a wooden bat...

Answer 3

Because the MLB Draft doens't have the immediate impact that the NFL and NBA's drafts have. MLB picks take years in the minors to develop and there are NO big name prospects in the High School or College level that are household names like a LeBron James as a Junior in High School or an Adrian Peterson who was watched here locally since he was a Junior as well. Back to the impact. Players drafted High often play immediately. They have importance right away. The MLB players have no significance until 3 years into their career.

Answer 4

Because MLB's draft is about 40 rounds.

And also because kids taken in the draft RARELY ever make it to the Bigs and they don't have the immediate impact that an NFL or NBA player does.

Baseball players take years to develop.
Sometimes between 4-5 years before even getting a shot.

Answer 5

Because college (and high school) baseball isn't as big a deal as college football or basketball, so nobody knows the kids being drafted. This eliminates the excitement factor of wondering where a guy you're familiar with will end up.

Plus, the players drafted won't be playing in the majors the next year (Generally), so the feeling of your team improving isn't there. You can't really say "They got the second baseman the needed, they're going to be much better next year."

Answer 6

The number of players on each team and the number of teams both contribute to the overall popularity of the draft. In the NBA, there are 5 players on the court at any one time, so the likelihood of a draftee getting playing time is pretty high. In MLB even 1st round picks often don't make it to the big leagues, and even when they do it's often years after they are drafted.

Answer 7

Because the MLB draft is huge. Way too many players to track unlike the NBA or NFL most baseball draftees won't make it past the minors or A ball.

Answer 8

Because the MLB Draft is made up of mostly unknown High School Players. You'll be happy to know that this year's draft will be televised on ESPN starting at 2pm on June 7.

Answer 9

Because first off in the nfl draft the players automatically make it to the nfl. BUT.... in the MLB draft the players are sorted through and sent to A,AA, and AAA clubs. Its rare to get drafted and the next season to be playing in the pros

Answer 10

Because 99 pecent of the players drafted in mlb's draft wont contribute to the team for a few years. as for nba and nfl those players that are drafted immediatly make a major contribution to their teams

Answer 11

Because college baseball is rarely seen, and because almost all of the players drafted will spend years in the minors before MAYBE making it to "the show." Plus, they can still draft High School players, which no one has ever heard of.