Stark: International MLB draft, inevitable or impossible?
From SABR member Jayson Stark at ESPN.com on June 11, 2015:
You didn’t have to be related to any ambassadors to the United Nations to notice that the 1,215 players chosen in the 2015 baseball draft had one thing in common:
None of them were citizens of the Dominican Republic. Or Venezuela. Or Japan. Or Cuba. Or the Republic of Macedonia, for that matter.
And so, in a related development, the new commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, has used expressions like this, in recent weeks, any time the topic turns to including players from all over the globe in the draft, as opposed to just those wholesome young Americans:
“Inevitable.” … “Really important to the sport right now.” … “The most efficient way to promote competitive balance.”
Wait. What was that first word again? “Inevitable?” Hmmm. Are we sure about that?
Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13054711/biggest-obstacles-international-major-league-baseball-draft
Originally published: June 11, 2015. Last Updated: June 11, 2015.