well they thought 1 first round high school shortstop wasn’t enough so they took another at 33 so they really leaned into it again this year i don’t hate the strategy because of the ole “take the best athlete and play em at shortstop or literally anywhere strat” has worked before and i think grady emerson is thought of more highly than tim beckham was when the rays passed up buster posey for him, so i don’t see this as being a sin to not go lackey, but it’s hard to not want the rays to go after a potentially great catcher since it’s their cursed position having a couple really well regarded and young catching prospects probably helped with the comfortability to attack the shortstop position again since, of course, the new curse is trying to plug that franchise shortstop role
Okay yeah so we stayed for the whole goddamn thing haha. But it was a loooooong delay and then even after it stopped raining it took them an hour to get the field ready. Got home just before 1 am. I would’ve bailed but my brother is in town from Philly and only gets to go to Busch once a year
Teams like to send drafted players to their instructional leagues in the summer. Those few months the players are in the system are helpful in terms of getting use to the team, other players, coaching staffs etc and then are given things to work on in the offseason. Just have the draft the day after the All Star Game. There’s literally no distractions of MLB games for teams, front offices, scouts and fans. Makes zero sense to do it on a Saturday afternoon in the summer.