THE MLB DRAFT HAS A LONG WAY TO GO ON TV

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http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/june/mlb-draft-has-a-long-way-to-go-on-tv.html

Written by Joe Lucia on 07 June 2013.

Last night's broadcast of the MLB Draft on MLB Network showed off a
lot of good things about the progression of the Draft. The MLB tie-in
with Baseball America and their player rankings was a welcome
complement to ESPN's usage of Mel Kiper Jr's rankings during the NFL
Draft.

The analysis on the main panel by MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo was
excellent. Jim Callis, the editor of Baseball America, also did a
great job at breaking down picks and explaining the reasoning behind
teams' questionable picks (such as the Royals taking Hunter Dozier
eighth overall) and the reasoning for the fall of certain players
(most notably Arkansas right-hander Ryne Stanek). John Hart wasn't
great in his role on the main set, but his extensive experience in
front offices provided some unique insight that neither Mayo or Callis
could offer.

However, there were plenty of cringeworthy moments during MLB
Network's coverage that they really need to remedy. Most notably was,
of course, the dreadful performance of Harold Reynolds. Calling the
performance of Reynolds bad is an understatement. His commentary on
the Draft this year was absolutely horrendous, including the following
missteps:

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/june/real-tweets-from-real-people-harold-reynolds-mlb-draft-expert.html

-Claiming that Mark Appel, the top overall pick by the Astros, should
be in the majors by July. That's *this* July. His reasoning? "Because
the team needs a spark for fans to show up". That would go completely
against everything Houston is attempting to do with their rebuild.
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow deftly knocked down the question of Appel
debuting in the majors this year during an interview later in the
Draft.

-Saying that Dozier, the eighth overall pick by the Royals, reminded
him of Troy Tulowitzki and would be a shortstop for a long time.
Numerous scouting reports from a variety of professional scouts don't
see Dozier as a shortstop for the long-term.

-Inferring that Reese McGuire, a catcher taken 14th overall by the
Pirates, would be ready to take the reins over behind the plate from
Russell Martin. Martin is a free agent after next season, and McGuire
was just drafted out of high school. He won't be ready for three or
four years, let alone by the time Martin's contract expires.

-Most laughable was Reynolds' critique of the Oakland Athletics'
selection of Texas high school outfielder Billy McKinney, saying that
Moneyball was "all about drafting college players" and "that didn't
work." Mayo then laid down the hand of justice on Reynolds and
explained (rightfully) that Moneyball was actually about finding
undervalued commodities, and that college players were no longer
undervalued commodities. Reynolds responded with a "well that's how I
interpreted it!" which pretty much verifies the fact that he's never
read the book in his life.

I can't even comprehend who would have thought putting Reynolds on the
set was a good idea. Scouting young players in advance of the MLB
Draft is a thorough, comprehensive procedure, and you're not going to
get a feel for a player after watching some video. Reynolds'
"analysis" on the set was loaded with cliches and the false assumption
that all of the players drafted would move extremely fast and be
impact players in short order. Only four players from last year's
Draft have made their major league debut thus far: two relievers and
two starting pitchers. Thinking that McGuire is going to be the
Pirates' Opening Day catcher in 2014 or that Appel is going to be
throwing innings for the Astros this summer isn't just wrong, it's
completely misleading and inappropriate, as anyone who has ever
followed the Draft could tell you. The immediate impacts of Stephen
Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Manny Machado have skewed the
conventional thinking in relation to the Draft.

Possible improvements for next year would include giving Reynolds the
night off, slotting Callis into the main desk alongside Mayo and Hart,
having Greg Amsinger play traffic cop and not try to interject his own
opinion too much, and eliminate the interviews with draftees by Sam
Ryan. I like what Ryan does, but interviews with draft picks in all
sports are one of the most meaningless trends ever. The interviews
come in the same format of "how are you feeling", "what does this mean
to you", "random inspirational story", and so on, and really add
nothing to the proceedings.

On the bright side for MLB, these fixes aren't exactly difficult to
implement. They're really similar to the issues that ESPN had with
their Draft until finding a better flow after paring the main set down
to Kiper, Jon Gruden, and Chris Berman. MLB is getting there, but
things aren't perfect yet.