flatjacket1 wrote:I would argue that is because the draft is a crapshoot. Cole would have still developed better in a minor league system.
Sure; but the fact is that teams look at ability, age, and development and then make their choices based off of that. If teams went into the draft the way you described then no one would ever draft a college player. They draft college players because there are kids in college that are really, really good...regardless of the fact that they maybe could have been developed better in the pro leagues.
College players are near the end of their development and HS players are near the beginning.
If the college kid is throwing 98mph with 3 plus secondary pitches and perfect mechanics then who cares? Seriously? What are you trying to say, that if Beede is throwing 95+ mph with 2 plus off-speed pitches and throwing 1 ERA ball that teams are going to say "nope; he went to college, therefore his ceiling is now lower"? I'm legitimately scratching my head.