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Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - StannyBoy - 05-04-2012

he batted .450 with 5 home runs and is expected to be drafted very high this June. Might never set foot on campus. Great for him though if he chooses to turn pro in baseball.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/Richardobert/161203

Ummm, that is NOT great for him - Redrum - 05-04-2012

I would say this to ANY HS recruit of ANY school:  Even if you are an absolute phenom,  the money they pay for HS talent ain't worth it.  If the kid had absolutely no other options,  then maybe so.  But the life of an overwhelming majority of HS kids who sign MLB contracts is bouncing around the minors for a few years and then, while still young, being left on the curb with the rest of the recycling.  But Hoffpauir does have options.  Even if he doesn't make it to the pros after either college football or college baseball,  he will have a college education paid for.  A  real  college education.  The number of kids who save their HS signing bonus to pay for future college numbers somewhere between 0 and some fractional number between 0 and 1.  Theoretically he could try baseball and in five years get a college scholarship to play football but why come back to play for New Mexico St. when you could be playing now for a top-20 team...with the pro baseball option still available?



Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - StannyBoy - 05-04-2012

I said great because it's nice to have options but yes I'd rather go to college too. And I bet he will feel the same way when it's time to make this decision.

Redrum - 71Bear - 05-04-2012

Most guys who face the option that may present itself to Hoffpauir receive a paid college education as part of their bonus for signing a pro contract.  It would not surprise me if he was given this as part of his signing bonus (if he is selected at the top of the draft).

I would counsel the young man to follow his dream.  If that means pro ball (with a fully paid college education if things don't work out), fine.  If that means foregoing pro baseball at this point to go to college and play football, fine.

Either way, he is a winner. 

Heck, it certainly didn't hurt Brenden Weeden to sign a pro baseball contract out of HS...

Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - socalstanfan1 - 05-04-2012

Of course, the person who has the best perspective on all of this would be Jordan Pratt. My knowledge of what minor league baseball is about extends as far as rumors I have heard, and viewing Bull Durham.

Personally, I'd love to see him play for Stanford, and given the ability of Stanford to develop players who go on to have success in pro baseball, I don't see how this could hurt his long-term prospects for success in baseball.  But it is a bit too easy for me to sit to the side and give someone else advice to turn down an offer of a couple of million dollars to go do something they love, regardless of the lifestyle changes it forces on them.

I hope he chooses Stanford, but there is no way I would begrudge him the chance to go the minor league baseball route, or criticize his decision if he does choose to take that path.  The silver lining for the football program would be another scholarship available for this year's small recruiting class.  Though I would rather see Zach on campus, and perhaps on the field, in the fall.

OK, OK a bit more - Redrum - 05-05-2012

Subsequent to my post,  I found out what first round picks can get for signing.  The very best can get $1-$3 million,  although I don't know how many actual players fall into this category before the bonuses begin to drop.  So,  if Hoff can get a $1 million or better, it might be worth it.  Stanford recruit Jai Miller in 2003 opted for MLB for $250,000.  That, in my mind,  ain't worth it.  Miller, BTW, is still bouncing around the minors in the farm system of his fourth MLB team.  Eight-going-on-nine years of up/down/up/mostly down, playing in a total of 28 MLB games in that time.  1 HR,  6 major league RBIs in eight years  That, to me,  ain't worth it, although he has made his way through life playing a game.    Miller,  IIRC,  had a grandfather calling a lot of his shots as a teenager.  The sad situation is a lot of these kids are considered cash machines by various relatives and hangers-on who are providing the advice,  but I've no idea if that happened in Miller's case. 

Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - 71Bear - 05-05-2012

Actually, the best used to sign for a lot more than $1-3 million.  For example, Stephen Strasburg signed a $15.1 million dollar contract and Bryce Harper signed a $9.9 million dollar contract (both with the Nationals).  However, this will be the first year under the new MLB CBA and one feature of that contract is a significant reduction in the amount teams can pay draftees. 

It will be interesting to see what high schoolers do given they won't receive the kind of money they used to get.


Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - socalstanfan1 - 05-05-2012

(05-05-2012, 09:56 AM)71Bear link Wrote:It will be interesting to see what high schoolers do given they won't receive the kind of money they used to get.

I don't follow these things too closely, but I know in the recent past that in MLB the dollars discussed, regarding kids signed early in the draft, have been suggested "slot" money, but without penalties for teams signing players to contracts far exceeding the suggestion.  That lead to teams signing players at the last possible moment (MLB has a deadline for signing players), to avoid harrassment from the league for enormous contracts.  I'm not sure if the new CBA sets hard caps on $$ granted to players drafted at certain spots, but if it is like past baseball salary caps, it is essentially meaningless.

Hind sight is always 20/20 on these things.  One can always find examples of kids who don't make it (the failure rate in MLB first rounders is extraordinarily high); but of course 18 year olds who have enjoyed great success at athletics their whole lives don't always have the same perspective as others, even if they have responsible adults trying to guide them, rather than people just trying to squeeze as much out of them as they can.  And I don't think that is just the case for kids coming from poorer backgrounds.  A lot of people's heads can be turned by a contract with $2,000,000.00 on it.

Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - 71Bear - 05-05-2012

socalstanfan1...

• Teams may only sign Draft picks to Minor League contracts and will be taxed and/or penalized for exceeding the designated signing bonuses (previously called slot recommendations) for the sum of their picks in the first 10 rounds.

... from a summary of the new MLB CBA...



Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - socalstanfan1 - 05-05-2012

(05-05-2012, 10:32 AM)71Bear link Wrote:socalstanfan1...

• Teams may only sign Draft picks to Minor League contracts and will be taxed and/or penalized for exceeding the designated signing bonuses (previously called slot recommendations) for the sum of their picks in the first 10 rounds.

... from a summary of the new MLB CBA...

Thanks for the clarification/information Bear

Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - needle - 05-06-2012

Getting to the majors and sticking is a tough assignment. Reading this thread made me think about Joe Borchard. For those who don't recall, Borchard had a truly memorable day playing Stanford QB when he threw for five TDs against UCLA when starter Todd Husak was injured.

Borchard left Stanford early after being selected 12th in the 2000 draft. He had a bit more than a cup of coffee in the majors, playing in 301 games, the last one in 2007. He played at the AAA level after that and a few other leagues before retiring in June of last year.

Quote:Borchard has played more than 1,200 games in his career. He walks away with no regrets.

"You do this for 12 years and really see every end of the spectrum, it seems like," Borchard said. "I really gave it every chance possible. At the end of the day, you really have nothing to be ashamed of. It's just things go a certain way and that's it and it's time to move on and get into whatever's next."

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Bluefish-s-Borchard-missing-his-family-retires-1407525.php

Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - Nan3cy - 05-06-2012

Thanks for the article about Borchard, needle. I still remember that UCLA game as an amazing afternoon.


Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - Robbie - 05-07-2012

I assume many (most?) of you have read Moneyball. Hard to know if the author's perspective accurately captures reality, but Billy Beane's choice between signing a minor league contract and attending Stanford is a central plot point. (Short version: Beane went to the minors. Failed as a player. Never went to college. Blew his signing bonus on an investment that went belly up. Regretted his choice. But he did succeed as a general manager.)

Re: Zach Hoffpauir facing crossroads - washingtonismoney - 05-07-2012

What I would tell kids who have this sort of choice and decide to go pro is to look at Beane's example--not necessarily the outrageous success part (which is obviously difficult to replicate), but that Beane didn't decide to stop educating himself just because he didn't continue his formal educating. There was a funny interview in which he joked he must be one of the world's foremost Robespierre experts because he spent a season listening to audiobooks on the French Revolution.