Dale Burdick Article in Tennessean

[MsStateBaseball]

Quoted him as saying he never intended to go to college. He was going to be drafted in 10th round but turned it down. Is a fan of msu. Got paid 150,000. Just one of those kids that wants to play pro no matter what. I just tweeted it out.

[maroonmania]

That's as confusing as can be, never intended to go to college but turned down the 10th round? 150K is chump change to turn down a college education and the college experience to go live the minor league life but to each his own.

[bulldogcountry1]

This is just an odd situation altogether. It would dumb to assume the staff wasn't aware of his feelings, unless the kid just wasn't honest to them, but it's obvious they saved his spot until yesterday. That's what I don't understand.

[maroonmania]

This is just an odd situation altogether. It would dumb to assume the staff wasn't aware of his feelings, unless the kid just wasn't honest to them, but it's obvious they saved his spot until yesterday. That's what I don't understand.

We definitely wasted way too much time and effort on him as one of our future middle infielders if he truly never intended to go to college. Our coaching staff should have realized that unless Burdick was intentionally deceiving them. And guys that have intentions to go to college don't sign for 150K in this day and age. You make basically nothing in salary in the minor leagues so you can burn through that amount of money while playing in the minors fairly quickly just in living expenses.

[bulldogcountry1]

Went to an M-Braves games last night, and we did some digging trying to figure out what kind of salary these guys make.

$1200-$1500 a month during the season plus a $20 a day food stipend. #Livingthedream

[starkvegasdawg]

Went to an M-Braves games last night, and we did some digging trying to figure out what kind of salary these guys make.

$1200-$1500 a month during the season plus a $20 a day food stipend. #Livingthedream

No way I turn down college for that. I go my three years and try to raise my draft position as much as possible. I know when you're 18 three years seems like an eternity but it goes by faster than you think.

[maroonmania]

No way I turn down college for that. I go my three years and try to raise my draft position as much as possible. I know when you're 18 three years seems like an eternity but it goes by faster than you think.

I think a kid should be a kid and get the college experience as part of forming into an adult UNLESS you are turning down once in a lifetime life altering money. Burdick is not getting anything near that. Life in the minor leagues is no bed or roses and doesn't really allow an individual to get the well rounded experience you normally get from college. Its just baseball all the time during the season and then you are left to your own devices in the offseason.

[msstate7]

No way I turn down college for that. I go my three years and try to raise my draft position as much as possible. I know when you're 18 three years seems like an eternity but it goes by faster than you think.

Well the problem with college baseball is that it's not a free education. He'd get what .25 scholarship at the most?

[DudyDawg]

Well the problem with college baseball is that it's not a free education. He'd get what .25 scholarship at the most?

I see what you're saying, but if he would've climbed up in the draft by junior year like we are saying he would've been able to pay off student loans/debt in no time

[Homedawg]

Well the problem with college baseball is that it's not a free education. He'd get what .25 scholarship at the most?
.25 is the minimum. He would have been on more than that. The guy just wanted to play pro ball. That's it.

[maroonmania]

I see what you're saying, but if he would've climbed up in the draft by junior year like we are saying he would've been able to pay off student loans/debt in no time

Exactly, now his only chance EVER to see any big time money playing baseball will be when and IF he is ever able to make a major league roster which is probably significantly less than a 50/50 proposition by the odds.

[State82]

Exactly, now his only chance EVER to see any big time money playing baseball will be when and IF he is ever able to make a major league roster which is probably significantly less than a 50/50 proposition by the odds.

Much less. I believe the % of all professional players that make it to MLB is around 5% or so.

[maroonmania]

.25 is the minimum. He would have been on more than that. The guy just wanted to play pro ball. That's it.

I think he just didn't want the burden of going to school. The atmosphere of big time college baseball is much better than "pro ball". Now playing major league ball is a whole different deal but there is nothing that inviting about playing pro ball except that you don't have to deal with classwork.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Honestly, I just feel bad for the kid more than anything. From the outside looking in, this really just does not seem like a good business/career decision, and I hope he didn't get some bad advice.

ETA: I do wish him well though. Hopefully it works out for him.

[maroonmania]

I read the article in the Tennessean and the kid's quotes are a series of contradictions where he says he has wanted to play pro ball since the 4th grade and never saw D1 ball in his future yet turning around and saying he has wanted to play for MSU since the 8th grade. Anyway, apparently he turned down the Mets offer of 100K but looks like apparently they signed Conforto from OSU for a little cheaper than they thought and were able to come back to Burdick with 150K which he accepted.

[Dawg61]

Why would he turn down being taken in the 10th? That cost him a lot of money. Makes zero sense.

[Todd4State]

I'll attempt to explain.

The slot system is mainly used so that MLB can tax a team if they spend over their allotment. The top 10 rounds have assigned slots, and then after that each round has the exact same slot value.

Each team has an assigned amount of money that they are allowed to spend before they are subject to being taxed, and this is based off of the previous season's standings and also any taxes that are levied against a team for going over. So, the Astros are going to have more money to spend than the Red Sox. But hypothetically speaking here- if the Yankees spend way more than what they are allowed then they may have less to spend than the Red Sox despite finishing behind them in the standings.

So, each slot value that you see is basically a "suggestion" of what MLB thinks that draft pick is worth. If a draft pick has an assigned slot of 1 million dollars, it doesn't mean that the team has to spend a million on that pick. They can sign the guy for over the slot or under the slot value- but they can not exceed their allotted amount for the top 10 rounds or they will be taxed.

Now, IF a team has some money left over from their assigned amount to spend for that year, they CAN spend it on guys that they drafted in rounds 11-40. But again, if they go over their assigned allotment then they are taxed very heavily and it will hurt them in the next draft. That's why the Blue Jays were able to sign William Dupont a couple of years ago and now Burdick.

[Todd4State]

Why would he turn down being taken in the 10th? That cost him a lot of money. Makes zero sense.

It was a big gamble on his part. He was basically hoping that a team would have a lot of money left over.

I think that if he had come to college that he would have probably ended up being a top 5 round guy or higher after three years and more than likely would have made significantly more than 150K.

[Todd4State]

I read the article in the Tennessean and the kid's quotes are a series of contradictions where he says he has wanted to play pro ball since the 4th grade and never saw D1 ball in his future yet turning around and saying he has wanted to play for MSU since the 8th grade. Anyway, apparently he turned down the Mets offer of 100K but looks like apparently they signed Conforto from OSU for a little cheaper than they thought and were able to come back to Burdick with 150K which he accepted.

I don't think that's really a contradiction. He's a kid that's a MSU fan that wanted to play pro baseball more than he wanted to play for MSU is what it comes down to.

[Todd4State]

Went to an M-Braves games last night, and we did some digging trying to figure out what kind of salary these guys make.

$1200-$1500 a month during the season plus a $20 a day food stipend. #Livingthedream

And it goes beyond that. Those minor league guys below AAA especially- they have apartments where four of them are living and it's crammed with people sleeping on the floor sometimes. And when they are not doing that, they are living at a Holiday Inn and then getting up to work out at some random Gold's Gym.

I've seen guys pool their money up sometimes to buy big ass amounts of chicken nuggets because they can get more food for their money that way sometimes.

Now, I will say that they do get fed at the ballpark on gameday, and I'm pretty sure that they don't pay for that.

But yes, if it were me- I'd rather go to MSU for three years develop my game and my body and then end up making more money in the long run. On the CWS last night, they said that over 60% of American born MLB players went to college first. So, IMO unless you are Bryce Harper or Mike Trout and just an obvious no brainer MLB talent- you probably actually increase your odds of making it to MLB by going to college as well.

The SEC is really good baseball- and still the best in America in my opinion as far as college goes.

[maroonmania]

And it goes beyond that. Those minor league guys below AAA especially- they have apartments where four of them are living and it's crammed with people sleeping on the floor sometimes. And when they are not doing that, they are living at a Holiday Inn and then getting up to work out at some random Gold's Gym.

I've seen guys pool their money up sometimes to buy big ass amounts of chicken nuggets because they can get more food for their money that way sometimes.

Now, I will say that they do get fed at the ballpark on gameday, and I'm pretty sure that they don't pay for that.

But yes, if it were me- I'd rather go to MSU for three years develop my game and my body and then end up making more money in the long run. On the CWS last night, they said that over 60% of American born MLB players went to college first. So, IMO unless you are Bryce Harper or Mike Trout and just an obvious no brainer MLB talent- you probably actually increase your odds of making it to MLB by going to college as well.

The SEC is really good baseball- and still the best in America in my opinion as far as college goes.

Like I said, just sounds to me like a kid that didn't want to deal with classwork. Not many other good reasons to make the decision that he did.

[I seen it dawg]

I don't get where the "turned down the 10th round" comes from. No one can tun down what round they are drafted in. Someone clarify for me please if possible.

He was drafted in 40th probably bc teams thought he would be tough to sign. Mets had info contrary and figured out 150k would get him. He bit.

[KB21]

In most cases, these players let their intentions known prior to the draft. Mac Marshall had a certain price in his head and also wanted to be a first round pick. When he did not get taken in the 1st round, he had his reps call the teams to tell them that he was starting summer school in Baton Rouge and would not sign. So, he fell a lot lower than where he should have been taken. Same thing goes for LSU signee Jake Godfrey, who was drafted by the Braves in the 22nd round I believe.

On the other hand, Vanderbilt's class took a major hit by losing Justus Sheffield, Cody Reed, Touki Toussaint, and Dylan Cease to the draft. I read last night that Cease is expected to sign, and Touki signing is just a matter of time. We are fortunate that we are just losing Chase Vallot and Dale Burdick. We could have legitimately lost Jesse McCord, Cole Gordon, and Jake Holland to the draft, but I think all three of them indicated to teams that they were going to college. Andrew Mahoney was a draftable prospect as well, but his injury likely kept teams away from him.

[KB21]

With our class for next year, get ready. We are going to have to sweat it out over several players and the draft. That 2015 class is Cohen's best yet. Austin Riley, Hunter Stovall, Luke Alexander, Keegan James, Jared Padgett, Kale Breaux, Jake Mangum, Noah Hughes, and Konnor Pilkington are all draft prospects.

[Johnson85]

And it goes beyond that. Those minor league guys below AAA especially- they have apartments where four of them are living and it's crammed with people sleeping on the floor sometimes. And when they are not doing that, they are living at a Holiday Inn and then getting up to work out at some random Gold's Gym.

I've seen guys pool their money up sometimes to buy big ass amounts of chicken nuggets because they can get more food for their money that way sometimes.

Now, I will say that they do get fed at the ballpark on gameday, and I'm pretty sure that they don't pay for that.

But yes, if it were me- I'd rather go to MSU for three years develop my game and my body and then end up making more money in the long run. On the CWS last night, they said that over 60% of American born MLB players went to college first. So, IMO unless you are Bryce Harper or Mike Trout and just an obvious no brainer MLB talent- you probably actually increase your odds of making it to MLB by going to college as well.

The SEC is really good baseball- and still the best in America in my opinion as far as college goes.

This is just hard for me to believe. I guess in the SEC you play against competition that is comparable to single A and see some AA quality pitching regularly?, but surely the practice time you get in the minors dwarfs that of what you get in college. I'm guessing the odds of people that went to college look higher because the people that choose to go to college don't see the classwork side as such a disadvantage, and that's a reflection of the conscientiousness you need to keep driving yourself when you're trudging through the minors.

[messageboardsuperhero]

This is just hard for me to believe. I guess in the SEC you play against competition that is comparable to single A and see some AA quality pitching regularly?, but surely the practice time you get in the minors dwarfs that of what you get in college. I'm guessing the odds of people that went to college look higher because the people that choose to go to college don't see the classwork side as such a disadvantage, and that's a reflection of the conscientiousness you need to keep driving yourself when you're trudging through the minors.

Because when you're an 18-20 year old baseball prospect, developing maturity as a person is almost as important as developing as a player. It's easier for most kids to do that in college with a more structured schedule, not having to travel as much, giving them more responsibilities away from baseball, etc.

Going to college helps a lot of prospects learn to be a mature adults (and be more than just baseball machines that just play ball every day) as much as it develops them off the field, and this does help them get to the big leagues.

[maroonmania]

Because when you're an 18-20 year old baseball prospect, developing maturity as a person is almost as important as developing as a player. It's easier for most kids to do that in college with a more structured schedule, not having to travel as much, giving them more responsibilities away from baseball, etc.

Going to college helps a lot of prospects learn to be a mature adults (and be more than just baseball machines that just play ball every day) as much as it develops them off the field, and this does help them get to the big leagues.

Bingo, this is the primary reason that if I was the Father of a kid drafted out of HS I would insist he go the college route unless he was turning down life changing money that he might never see again. Being thrown into the professional baseball world at 18 or 19 years old is just not a good way to develop as a well rounded adult. And its the same way with guys that jump into the NBA at such a young age. You are placed in a somewhat unnatural environment only focused on one thing and that for only part of the year. College is just a much better way to get through those transition years from childhood to adulthood IMO.