在NCAA开放球员NIL（姓名、形象、肖像权）营利后
也对大联盟选秀造成了影响
MLB teams now face new competition for talent: college programs awash with money
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开头以今年决定跳过大联盟选秀的顶尖高卒投手William Schmidt为例
On Day 1 of the 2024 MLB Draft, William Schmidt’s inner circle readied for a sm
all gathering to celebrate what seemed inevitable. A right-handed pitcher out of
Catholic High in Baton Rouge, La., Schmidt was a first-round pick waiting to ha
ppen.
有参加选秀的话，预计是首轮货
Before family and friends could buckle their seatbelts on their way to the Schmi
dt household, the news broke: Schmidt would bypass the MLB draft, and stay commi
tted to LSU.
但最后他仍依约去读LSU
Message boards were quick to credit the name, image and likeness (NIL) era of co
llege sports, in which players are paid by school boosters through third-party c
ollectives, as a major reason why Schmidt honored his college commitment.
NIL的兴起，被认为是他会选择去念大学的原因
To Johnson, it wasn’t out of the question that Schmidt could have still landed
at LSU in the pre-NIL era, à la Gerrit Cole and Mark Prior, who also went to co
llege despite being drafted in the first round out of high school. Regardless, t
here is one distinct difference between those cases and this one: Schmidt can, a
nd will, make a lot of money while living out his childhood dream.
当然在以前没有NIL的时代
还是有可能会放弃第一轮去上大学(例如扣哥)
但William Schmidt跟这些前辈不一样的地方是
在这同时还是赚不少钱
An SEC recruiting coordinator estimates that Schmidt will make seven figures by
the time he is draft-eligible again in three years. If the past three years serv
e as any indication, he won’t be the only one — and the ramifications of that
new reality are now trickling up, and impacting the draft boards of MLB teams.
预计在他下次选秀前，一样能透过NIL收到七位数字的收入
NIL has grown exponentially since its advent. Consider LSU baseball in 2023, the
year the Tigers won the national championship. According to a person familiar w
ith the program’s finances, the baseball NIL budget that season was about $1 mi
llion.
NIL的钱钱也是随时间越来越多
Eventual No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes, an immediate-impact pitching transfer f
rom Air Force at the time, received around $250,000, the source said, to play fo
r LSU.
以 Paul Skenes为例，当初他一开始是念美国空军学院
LSU是付了他25万美金，请他转学过来
而在两年后，今年天使第三轮选进的左投Ryan Prager
最后他选择不签，回去德州农工大学念大三
Ryan Prager, a southpaw ace at Texas A&M, returned for his junior season after h
e did not sign as the Los Angeles Angels’ third-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draf
t. Per a source, Prager’s NIL earnings will be about $500,000, double what Sken
es earned just two years ago.
根据情报指出，他因此透过和学校的NIL的合约收到50万镁
是Skenes的两倍
注:当时的报导是写远大于50万
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It’s worth noting that Texas A&M is considered one of the most lucrative school
s for NIL deals, and it’s possible that could have played a role in this negoti
ation. Rodgers reported Prager’s NIL deal with Texas A&M is “well north of $50
0,000.”
For elite talent, the NIL bonanza has in some cases made the college ranks a mor
e lucrative destination than pro baseball.
对于这些顶级新秀来说，NIL使得大学在某些情况下
成为比直接进职棒更有利可图的地方
Drafting players used to be more straightforward for MLB teams. A potential sign
ing bonus was discussed with a player’s advisor beforehand.
过去对于MLB球队来说
选秀球员的过程相对单纯得多
在选秀前，球队会先去接触想要选的球员
并洽谈签约金
If both parties agreed, the player was drafted and soon thereafter signed for an
agreed-upon sum. If not, the team could pivot to negotiate with the next player
on its board.
如果双方谈成，到时选秀就会选
并依照先前谈好的价格签约
More often than not, a general manager could be sure that a player’s ask would
not change overnight.
毕竟球员应该不太可能突然提高报价
Thanks to NIL, that is no longer the case.
但现在有NIL就不一样了
“Oftentimes, the NIL is fluid, and [college programs] can increase an offer and
move the goalpost in effect and leave an MLB team with incomplete information a
t the time of negotiation,” Flores said. “…
大学那边会提高报价来抢
The kids now have a choice because it’s now more apples to apples rather than a
pples to something that’s not close to apples.”
等于小球员是有选择的
因为现在的进职棒 vs 读大学
更像是苹果对苹果
而不是苹果对一些根本不像苹果的东西
MLB front offices are starting to feel the repercussions. Outside of the first r
ound, for which the lowest slot value was $2,971,300 this past summer, SEC progr
ams have the financial firepower to effectively outbid an MLB team even for an e
arly-round pick.
NCAA东南联盟的学校现在有财力，即使是前段轮次的选手
都能开出超过大联盟球队的报价
“There’s 10 teams in our league, roughly, and I don’t want to speak for them
or how they spend their money, but they have the financial means to quote-unquot
e ‘buy a player out of the draft,’ through their NIL,” Georgia head coach Wes
Johnson said.
乔治亚大学总教练Wes Johnson表示他们这联盟的十间学校
都有能力透过NIL去从MLB选秀中留下球员
Texas A&M star outfielder Jace Laviolette, who turned 21 on Wednesday, wasn’t e
ven eligible for the draft in July — players must be three years removed from h
igh school or 21 years old — but according to an amateur scouting director in t
he South, Laviolette may make up to $750,000 as a junior this school year.
像是德州农工大学的21岁外野手Jace Laviolette
预计在他大三这年最高能赚到75万美金
With that being the kind of money available to top college talent, multiple year
s’ worth of NIL could be comparable to a one-time professional signing bonus.
考虑到顶尖大学球员能获得的这金额
多年下来的NIL收入
是可能和领一次的大联盟签约金竞争的
Prospects lost to college baseball are more likely to enter the draft ready to m
ake good on their signing bonuses, albeit at the expense of MLB teams’ preferre
d development plan.
而且这些跑去念大学的选手
之后投入选秀也更有可能拿到高额的签约金
The 2023 MLB Draft featured a handful of top college players, including Skenes (
No. 1), LSU outfielder Dylan Crews (No. 2), Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford (N
o. 4), Grand Canyon shortstop Jacob Wilson (No. 6), Wake Forest right-handed pit
cher Rhett Lowder (No. 7) and Florida Atlantic first baseman Nolan Schanuel (No.
11), all of whom have already made their major-league debuts.
例如2023大联盟选秀就一堆大学球员高顺位
而且很多都已经早早登上大联盟了
Paul Skenes
Dylan Crews
Wyatt Langford
Jacob Wilson
Rhett Lowder
Nolan Schanuel
For signing bonuses that ranged from Skenes’ $9.20 million to Schanuel’s $5.25
million, each team received a quick return on investment.
他们拿到525万-920万的高额签约金
“Professional baseball organizations are relying on college baseball to develop
their players at a rate higher than ever,” Jay Johnson said.
美职也越来越依赖大学
以比以往更快的速度养成球员
In accordance with House v. NCAA, a historic lawsuit settlement earlier this yea
r that opened the door for schools to share revenue directly with athletes, coll
ege baseball teams by 2025-26 will be allowed to offer up to 34 full scholarship
s for the first time in the history of the sport.
除了NIL资金注入外
从2025-2026开始，一支NCAA棒球队允许给到34份全额奖学金(原本只有11.7份)
“We used to be able to offer a signing bonus and a scholarship, where colleges
could only offer a limited scholarship.
以前大联盟球队能借由签约金+提供奖学金来说服球员
毕竟当时大学棒球只能拿到有限的奖学金
Now it’s definitely a more level playing field because they have NIL, they have
more scholarships if they’re funding them and you just got to be able … to pr
ove to them that they’re walking into a situation that’s going to make them be
tter.”
但现在不一样了，大学和大联盟是处在平等的竞争环境
大学能透过NIL +奖学金留下球员
Three years ago, MLB decision-makers ruminated on NIL worst-case scenarios.
三年前大联盟的决策者曾思考过NIL的最坏情况
Three years from now, no one knows for sure how it might evolve. But today, MLB
executives and college coaches alike acknowledge that college baseball programs
have been empowered to vie for some of the best young talent the sport has to of
fer.
三年后也没有人能确定它会如何发展
但如今大联盟高层和大学教练都承认
大学棒球获得争抢好球员的能力
Opinions vary on whether such a reality is for better or worse. Regardless, it’
s here.
对于这样是利是弊，意见不一
但无论如何它已经来临
“We’ve hypothesized over these possibilities of this type of stuff, and now it
’s real,” Colahan said. “So we got to learn to live with that.”
我们曾经假设过这类事情的可能性，现在它变成了现实
所以我们必须学会与此共处
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