Major League Baseball has itself a problem. No, it's not that the game is "dying," it's not. The problem is that in every other major sport, the draft is a spectacle made up of well-known athletes and in baseball, that is not the case. The MLB Draft is just as important for its sport as any other league but if you asked the average sports fan when it takes place, they wouldn't know.

The Talent

There is no question that the top picks in the MLB Draft are phenomenal athletes that can do things that few other people could ever hope to do. Players like Jackson Holliday, Druw Jones, Kumar Rocker, Termarr Johnson and Elijah Green (The top-5 picks in the draft) are unbelievable talents. The issue though is that you have probably never heard of them. Possibly Rocker because he was drafted last year out of Vanderbilt and didn't sign because of injury issues which was big news. The others are all recent high school graduates who are largely unknown unless you keep a close eye on high school baseball recruiting, which most people do not.

That means that the best talent that is being injected into the sport of baseball is almost completely unknown and will likely not be seen in a major league uniform for a few years at the minimum.

The Timing

Some who are more familiar with the sport of baseball might say the draft happens in June, but that is no longer the case either as of 2021. MLB moved the draft to coincide with the All-Star break but that wasn't necessarily the best idea. The point was to bring more attention to the event but in practice it looks like it was just overshadowed by the other tenants surrounding the All-Star Game like the Home Run Derby or the Celebrity All-Star Game.

At least in June there were less baseball specific things with which to compete. It would be understandable to wait to draft until after the College World Series concludes in late June but at least from what it look like now, the draft needs to be a standalone event so it can draw as much press and coverage as possible.

The Fanfare

MLB is a traditional league to say the least. The draft has been conducted through a league-wide conference call for a long time and it doesn't look like that is really going to change anytime soon. Because of that choice, the MLB Draft isn't going to grow much or get any more eyes than it does now.

You see what is done for the NFL and NBA drafts, how these kids get to walk up onto a stage, hold that number one jersey and don the cap of their new organization. MLB could easily do the same. Not everyone knows who every draft pick is in the NFL or NBA and even though a number of the top baseball prospects are high schoolers, there are ways to expose them to the public so that more of a show can be made once draft day rolls around.

One of the byproducts of no one knowing any of these players is that only first round of the draft is televised because, hey, no one could pick them out of a crowd anyway. That's a huge problem just on its own as it's a self fulfilling prophecy. No one knows who they are, so they don't get shown on tv, so no one knows who they are.

The major hurdle that many cite is the issue that even if there is a big draft event, these athletes get all kinds of press and recognition, they won't play in the majors for years. That is a big sticking point, no doubt about it, but not the end. The idea around making the draft a real event and bringing baseball into this day and age would be helped immensely if MLB actually tried.

Mound Visit

Saints Sports Network is a Christian group that brings you interesting sports coverage. Our name comes from Ephesians 2:18-21 where it notes that all Christians are saints in God's eyes. Therefore we are saints who write about sports but also want to make sure to share the Gospel. That's where Mound Visit comes into play because we all need a visit to the mound from God in good times and bad to recenter our lives and trust in him. We'll do that by highlighting a Bible verse for you to think and pray about in each newsletter that you receive from us.