The numbers, more specifically those following a dollar sign, often dictated how players were treated in the minors. And those numbers were dictated by where the player was drafted.
The higher they went, the more teams remain patient with any flaws or overlook transgressions.
Nats pitcher Jason Simontacchi knows this all too well. As a 21st round pick by Kansas City in 1996, Simontacchi was not exactly a high-profile player. Perhaps that’s why he was released after two seasons of Class A ball, forcing him to play two seasons of independent league ball, as well as one season in Italy.
“They have no money invested in you and you have to be one of those fish that make it up the river,” he said. “You [obviously] have to pitch real well and play real well. But there’s so much other stuff going against you because there’s no money invested in you. I had to keep my nose clean off the field; one little mishap and you’re gone — see you later. But if they put money in your pocket, they’ll keep you around for a little bit.”
The first-rounders understandthey’re looked at differently.
“Everyone knows who the first- and second-round picks are,” said Austin Kearns, a 1998 first-round pick by Cincinnati. “So there are expectations. I’m sure they look at you differently. … But I was able to get past it and I never looked at it like that, like I have to do this or that. Part of it depends on who the person is.”
And even the high picks ultimately have to prove themselves.
“You always feel pressure,” Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, the fourth pick in 2005, said. “But that’s good. If you didn’t feel pressure or you weren’t nervous, there might be something wrong with you.”
