Event Title

Should Baseball Players Drafted Out of High School Forgo College?

Presenter Information

Spencer Collins

Faculty Mentor

Benjamin Scafidi

Keywords

Benjamin Scafidi

Abstract

Baseball players drafted out of high school are faced with a substantial decision to either go to college or play professionally. The opportunity cost of playing professional baseball for high school draftees is the forgone college education. This paper provides information on whether high school draft picks should go to college or move on to Major League Baseball (MLB). Using all MLB draft picks, in the first six rounds, from 1998-2008, a probit regression is used to estimate the marginal effect of a high school draftee’s decision to go pro on their predicted probability of reaching MLB. The estimates from this model indicate that a high school draft picks predicted probability decreases by 13 percentages points, if he elects to forgo his college career. Thus, high school draftees should consider the opportunity cost of going pro, before going to college.

Session Name:

Sports Economics

Start Date

4-4-2014 10:15 AM

End Date

4-4-2014 11:15 AM

Location

HSB 300

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Apr 4th, 10:15 AM Apr 4th, 11:15 AM

Should Baseball Players Drafted Out of High School Forgo College?

HSB 300

Baseball players drafted out of high school are faced with a substantial decision to either go to college or play professionally. The opportunity cost of playing professional baseball for high school draftees is the forgone college education. This paper provides information on whether high school draft picks should go to college or move on to Major League Baseball (MLB). Using all MLB draft picks, in the first six rounds, from 1998-2008, a probit regression is used to estimate the marginal effect of a high school draftee’s decision to go pro on their predicted probability of reaching MLB. The estimates from this model indicate that a high school draft picks predicted probability decreases by 13 percentages points, if he elects to forgo his college career. Thus, high school draftees should consider the opportunity cost of going pro, before going to college.