Beware the “Ides of August”

In less than a week, the deadline for teams to sign their draft picks from June’s First-Year Player Draft will send some high school and college players back to school and return them to next year’s draft.  At 11:59 PM (EDT) August 15, will see a number of teams lose the rights to the players they drafted.  Through August 8, there were still 11 unsigned first round picks.  Beyond the first round there are many amateurs who will elect to return to school and take their chances in next year’s draft.

This is nothing new in Major League Baseball.  As a matter of fact, there are five players since the inception of the First-Year Player Draft in 1965 that were originally selected by a team, failed to sign, returned to the draft and then eventually went on to a Hall of Fame career:

TOM SEAVER (1967-1986, Elected to Hall of Fame ’92)

USC product Tom Seaver was drafted in the 10 ^th round of the first ever First-Year Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1965.  Seaver asked for $70,000 and the Dodgers passed on the 190 ^th overall pick which sent the eventual 300-game winner back to the draft.

Until 1986, there was a January draft which Seaver was eligible for and he was drafted again.  This time, the Braves who had just moved to Atlanta selected Seaver with the 20 ^th overall pick in the first round of the 1966 January draft.  The Braves signed Seaver but his contract was voided by Commissioner William Eckert because of NCAA rule violations. 

Because he signed a professional contract, Seaver was ineligible to return to USC and play baseball.  Since he was also ineligible for the draft, Seaver’s rights then went to any team willing to match the contract he signed with the Braves following the draft.  Three teams stepped up and the New York Mets won a lottery drawing for Seaver’s rights beating out the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians for the rights to “Tom Terrific”.

DAVE WINFIELD (1973-1995, Elected to Hall of Fame ’01)

In 1969, the Baltimore Orioles took a flyer in the 40 ^th round on a right-handed pitcher from Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota named Dave Winfield.  The 17-year old Winfield decided to pass on a contract with the Orioles and attended the University of Minnesota on a full scholarship.

As a Golden Gopher, Winfield was a baseball and basketball star.  After he finished college, Winfield was drafted by four teams in three professional sports — the San Diego Padres in baseball, the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the Utah Stars of the ABA in basketball and the Minnesota Vikings in football despite not playing one play in college football.

The legend of Winfield grew as he selected baseball over basketball and football and the Padres elected to promote him directly to the Major League without playing in the Minor League first.  After the implementation of the First-Year Draft in 1965, this was an increasingly uncommon occurrence.

OZZIE SMITH (1978-1996, Elected to Hall of Fame ’02)

In the seventh round of the 1976 draft, the Detroit Tigers drafted Osborne Earl Smith out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Ozzie and the Tigers failed to reach an agreement on a contract — Ozzie wanted a $10,000 signing bonus but the Tigers only wanted to pay him $8,500 — and the future “Wizard of Oz” went back into the draft.

In 1977, Ozzie moved up 60 picks from his previous year’s selection and was drafted in the fourth round by the San Diego Padres.  The move did not pay off for Smith who only received a $5,000 signing bonus from the Padres. 

In a twist of fate, Smith realized the majority of his success with the St. Louis Cardinals where he won 11 of his 13 Gold Gloves and played in three World Series.  The Tigers also made it to the World Series without Smith in 1984 and beat the Padres in five games and the team’s shortstop Alan Trammell was named World Series MVP.  Like Ozzie, Trammell was also selected by the Tigers in 1976 in the second round (not a bad consolation prize).

PAUL MOLITOR (1978-1998, Elected to Hall of Fame ’04)

In the 28 ^th round of the 1974 draft, the St. Louis Cardinals selected short stop Paul Molitor out of Cretin High School in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Molitor elected college over professional baseball and headed to the University of Minnesota.

In 1977, the Milwaukee Brewers took a shot on Molitor with the third overall pick in the first round of that season’s draft and signed him on June 24, 1977.

The St. Louis Cardinals had the last laugh when they knocked off Molitor’s Brewers in the 1982 World Series.  Molitor later achieved World Series success with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 where he was World Series MVP.

BRUCE SUTTER (1976-1988, Elected to Hall of Fame ’06)

The Washington Senators made Bruce Sutter their 21 ^st round selection in 1970.  Then a high school student at Donegal High School in Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania, Sutter elected to instead go to Old Dominion in lieu of professional baseball. 

A year and a half later, Sutter signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Cubs at the age of 18.  It took Sutter four years to make it to the Majors where he amassed 300 saves, a Cy Young Award, six All-Star selections and a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.