The baseball thread

[arjun2761]

Another reason for his drop from a projected top 5 pick was because his velocity dipped in late March/early April.

It’s important to note that velocity isn’t everything. With an altered arm slot from previous years, Rocker’s fastball shape is better than ever, and he continues to command the pitch well. The fastball also is far from his best pitch, as over 70% of his strikeouts in 2021 have come on breaking balls. But a Kumar Rocker who sits 90–92 versus one who sits 92–94 and one who sits 94–96 are three very different players. The first one is a late first-round talent; the last one stays in the corner of the Pirates’ board among the special magnets being considered for the first pick in the draft. And thanks to Rocker’s inconsistency and some recent sub-par (for him) showings by Jack Leiter (along with a skipped start two weekends ago), that first pick remains wide open, with high school shortstops Jordan Lawlar and Marcelo Mayer entering into the pool for Pittsburgh’s consideration along with Louisville catcher Henry Davis.

[prasen9]

For the sake of completeness, Handa is the third Yalie who was drafted into the MLB. Yale has a surprising share of Indian American MLB draftees. The first, in 1993, was Manny Patel, roughly from my generation, who was born in India. Manny Patel reached AA I believe, which would make it the highest level reached by an Indian American. The second was Kumar Nambiar, who is a 23 year old in the Oakland system. He has reached A level but is 23, so the chances are not that great that he will reach the MLB level.

Karan Patel reached rookie level only; he is 24, a tad old to have just reached that level imho. Rinku Singh reached A level and then went off to WWE. Dinesh Patel reached rookie level only too.

As and aside, Kumar Rocker's father played at the NFL for two years, was in the all-rookie team, I think tight-end, and then was a coach at UT (the worse UT I mean ).

So, I think Rohan Handa is the Indian American who has the best chance to reach the MLB level. Of course, Indian-African American Rocker has the highest chance if we cast the net a bit broader.

[jayakris]

^^^ Damn, now this prasen has also caught the history virus. I think the virus likes Bengalis. (But, thanks, that is a lot of good info I didn't know of!!)

[prasen9]

I just followed and researched this question a bit in the past. So, I put out what I knew. I am hoping people know of other cases I may have missed. That way, we can reconstruct the history better. But, it does seem like there are very few if any MLB players of Indian origin.

[prasen9]

So, the Olympic bug has hit Kumar Rocker. He was not signed by the NY Mets because they found arm damage. Losses all around. The Mets lose their top pick this year and will be compensated with a #11 pick next year. Rocker cannot sign in the MLB this year and has to enter next year's draft. He can play in another league. Japan will possibly pay him more in the interim. He was supposed to get $6million starting contract. What a big loss.

[jayakris]

Is he at the Olympics with the US team? I was not following baseball at the Olympics. That is bad news for Kumar. Arm damage is serious stuff. If the Mets didn't sign him at all, that would be like some serious trouble....

[Kumar]

Sad for Kumar! Chances that he gets a better contract or even get selected in first round is much lower next year.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports ... 461761001/

The Mets can do what they want, but if so, such an action would expose an enormous flaw in baseball’s onboarding process. This was embarrassing for the Mets, but they’re strategically collecting another high pick for the trouble.

Rocker, meanwhile, is stuck for a year. He unfairly can’t sign with another major league team until after next year’s draft, which will arrive with more questions — legitimate or not — about his health.

Just shows how much leverage these players have.if the player is not signed at the slot value becoz the MLB team refuses to sign, he should be made the free agent immediately. Unfortunately, the first year players have no seat on the bargaining table.

[Atithee]

And, he didn’t know about this damage? He should have managed his selection better. His agent should have guided him better. Once any team passes on you, free agent or not, it’s unlikely anyone will sign you in that year.

[prasen9]

There is nothing that Scott Boras did that was wrong. You do not know how bad the damage it. There were multiple doctors who said that it was fine. I do not know if they were doing the bidding of who paid them but usually, there are some standards of ethics in this country. Boras will possibly find him a contract in Japan for more money than what he would have gotten here. Or ask him to do a stint at a different league (small) in the U.S. Two of his clients waited a year and got more money when they failed the medical test before if I remember correctly. Or maybe it was one and the other one got about the same. I am sure Boras did his best to get Rocker the best deal. Maybe they hoped the damage would heal.

Note that NY does not lose much here. They lose a year but they move from #10 to a compensatory pick at #11. So, they may have been extra cautious.

I doubt he could have done anything better and did not. His father is a professional coach. At times, you cannot do anything to heal an injury. If it is there, it is there. You take your chances and see if the team will bite. In some cases they do take the risk. In this case, Sandy Alderson and his crew did not. I have chatted with Alderson over Zoom talking research and analytics before he took over the Mets. He has a long history with the Oakland A's and hired Billy Beane, etc., if I recall correctly and is a brilliant guy. He did not want to take the chance and did not see anything to lose by moving the pick to next year.

Good luck to Kumar in a different league.

[Kumar]

And, he didn’t know about this damage? He should have managed his selection better. His agent should have guided him better. Once any team passes on you, free agent or not, it’s unlikely anyone will sign you in that year.

If they got cold feet, a team like Dodgers would have taken a shot especially if they will not lose a draft pick. They are never going to get a layer of his caliber for 6 million and such a player at bottom of the draft

Yes, Scott Boras is one of the savviest agent around. So there is good chance that Kumar may still make out okay.

[prasen9]

Kumar, you may know what is wrong because it is your arm, but we do not know what is wrong with your arm. If the damage is such that there is risk, the artful dodgers would not have picked up him up. These are the dodgers of Dickens' time, slick and cunning, thereby artful. They would not overpay and take a risk on someone whose arm is iffy. I think the first few years after Magic, etc. bought the dodgers they tried to buy their way out. Then, they got Friedman and he is no dummy. He has built one of the best minor league stables for the dodgers. I do not think he would have overpaid for you.

[Kumar]

To complete the loop on Rocker Kumar, he got drafted no.3 in 2022 with bonus of 5.2M. Unfortunately, he sustained another injury this year and will have Tommy johns surgery.
https://www.mlb.com/news/kumar-rocker-r ... hn-surgery


There is another player of indian origin who is expected to go top 10 in the draft.

https://lastwordonsports.com/baseball/2 ... mlb-draft/

[prasen9]

Guy needs to add some muscle.

[Kumar]

Guy needs to add some muscle.

He is playing shortstop. Lot of those guys tend to be wiry framed.

[arjun2761]

Short stop is the most rangy position for defense, so requires someone who can move well. However, baseball hitting does require power, so he'll need to get stronger in his journey to the majors. Compared to cricket, baseball does require strength and athleticism in almost all positions. Perhaps, that is one reason Indian-Americans haven't taken to it as much as they have taken to tennis (and to a lesser extent, golf).