The
Asheville Citizen Times has a nice piece on the use of the MLB Scholarship program for minor league players:
In 1989, only 38 percent of players drafted got scholarship money in their contracts, said Rich Hunt, payroll and pension manager for MLB. From 2000-05, an average of 60 percent of signed players were awarded scholarship money, Hunt said, referencing the league’s most recent extensive study in 2005.
According to MLB, of the 1,482 players selected in the 2002 first-year player draft, 93.5 percent have yet to appear in a single major league game.
If you come out of college and you’re a junior, most college baseball players want that money toward school,” Josh Bonifay said. “They know they have that, and they don’t have to pay for school when they’re done (with baseball).
