In 2005, FSU centerfielder Shane Robinson was named Collegiate Baseball’s Player of the Year after hitting a whopping .427. He dropped to only .350 this season—I’m embarrassed to even use that phrase—which was still good enough to lead the Seminoles.
When Tuesday’s MLB draft started, some expected Robinson, who played at Tampa Jesuit, to go as high as the second or third round. Instead, he dropped to the fifth round, selected by the Cardinals with the 166th pick overall. FSU coach Mike Martin was aghast that Robinson, a two-time All-American and FSU’s all-time leader in stolen bases, didn’t go higher.
“You’re telling me there are 165 players better than Shane Robinson? That just blows my mind,’’ Martin said.
Do you agree with Martin? Should Robinson have gone higher in the most unpredictable draft in professional sports?
Either way, the Cardinals could have their future center fielder once Jim Edmonds retires if Robinson can develop through their farm system the way he did after arriving at FSU from Jesuit.
Posted by joe hillman, st. petersburg on 06/08 at 02:55 PM
i think i read somewhere that roughly 30 percent of the picks in (the first 10 rounds?) actually took the field in a major league park.
tom verducci of sports illustrated said recently one reasons the powers that be at MLB don’t want the draft on tv (like the nfl, nba and the nhl) is that it would expose to all how much of a crap shoot the MLB draft is.
by televising it, it heightens fans expectations. when two or three high draft picks never make it to triple-a, the fans begin lighting torches for their team’s front office types.
interesting thought.
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Posted by Scott Carter, Tallahassee on 06/08 at 09:40 PM
Hey Joe, there’s some validity to that. If you look at the projected first round most years in the baseball draft, half the players end up going later. That happens in the other sports too, but not as often.