Few Things as Daft as Baseball’s Draft

The first day of baseball’s amateur draft has come and gone. And how was your Thursday? More productive than that of the Chicago White Sox and/or Cubs? Tough to say because their results won’t be known for at least a year or two, if not longer.

Video of Natasha Barnard, among others, below.

* With the White Sox (who picked No. 3 overall) and the Cubs (who picked No. 4) thrilled to land the players they chose. Of course, every other team was thrilled to land the players they picked, too. That’s the nature of sports drafts. Meaning the process is a little daft. Because never — and this means never, ever, ever without exception — do drafts produce Hall of Fame player after Hall of Fame player in the first round of any given year.

* The great thing about the draft from the White Sox perspective is they drafted North Carolina State left-hander Carlos Rodon. If he rises to the big-league level as quickly as some folks believe he can, the Sox conceivably could have a rotation that features left-handers in Chris Sale, John Danks, Jose Quintana and Rodon. If the quartet collectively is as effective as Sale has been individually, the left-handed imbalance to the rotation would be all right with the Sox and their fans.

* The great thing about the draft from the Cubs perspective is they will be able to add the players taken Thursday and Friday to their stable of young talent whose promise is off in the distance somewhere sometime. The Cubs selected Indiana catcher/outfielder Kyle Schwarber with their first-round pick. One of his appealing attributes is the likelihood of the team saving money when it signs him. Maybe the Cubs will use the money saved to spend on second-day selections. Sure, and maybe the Cubs will win the World Series this season, too.

* Speaking of the Cubs, they actually won their third game in a row to sweep their series at Wrigley Field against the New York Mets. Cubs starter Travis Wood received a no-decision in the team’s 7-4 triumph but did hit his second home run of the season. Granted it’s a small sample size, but his slugging percentage in 22 at-bats (.591) is better than any of the Cubs position players.

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