Why the MLB Draft Combine is key to evaluating talent
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz recap the key takeaways from this week's event in Phoenix.
Video Transcript
Now, let's go big picture this event.
We're here on Thursday.
The first two days we had workouts on field batting practice.
We had some bullpen sessions, we had a high school game right now.
We have a lot of strength and conditioning assessments going on behind us.
What have we learned about the importance of this event for the players, for the fans, for the teams?
Ho ho the first time here.
How do we think this event is kinda gonna evolve moving forward?
So it's, it's difficult, it's complicated.
The p what is the purpose of this event?
Is this grand question?
Why does this exist?
And who does it exist for the priority?
Is the teams, the teams care about this event a lot.
There are 30 different teams here.
They're able to interview as many players as they possibly can over the course of the week.
That is a good thing.
Teams, great matters for the players.
It clearly doesn't matter to all of the best players.
A lot of the top 10 picks potentially are not here.
They see this event as something that can only slide their stock and so they've decided to opt out of it until MLB can incentivize all the best players to be at this event.
It will be difficult for it to matter to the last group and that's fans.
And frankly, I enjoyed my time here because I'm a freaking sicko but for all of the casual fans out there, this is not an event that is particularly compelling.
The on field stuff is not scintillating, it is not captivating, it is interesting but it is not something that I would describe as must see TV.
Yeah, I think that's fair when you're describing what is happening on the field, the actual baseball, I do think the opportunity to put as many of the top guys, whether it's weather or whether it's Breck, even though we are obviously missing some of the top guys in interview settings, whether it is on LV network, whether it's on baseball barber casts, I think that is a good opportunity.
Obviously, it is for us and we're, we're grateful for that.
But I think that getting those players faces on screens is not a bad thing I will say from the team perspective just to kind of wrap this up, it is just an extension and kind of a logical not.
But next step in data collection, right?
All baseball is about numbers, it always has been.
And now we have more and more and more that we can measure we have it with exit velocity and pitch velocity and spin, right.
And all that stuff.
But now what's going on back here, I mean, take a while to explain everything that's happening back there.
But teams do care about it because we can measure so many minute parts of athleticism now, which is really interesting and really exciting.
It's very niche, but teams do care and it is a good way for them to say, oh, this player is special in this unique way.
I find that compelling.
It is compelling.
I'm not interested in watching a video of a high school shortstop trying to touch his toes.
But we're here.