The best analogy I can think of for the hundreds of bright and bright-eyed young people who inhabit baseball's winter meetings is fraternity/sorority rush week.
Both groups of hopefuls arrive almost overwhelmed with the scope, particularly of the meetings. The hotels where the meetings now are all out-sized. The first night in the lobby, the aspirants -- who mostly are actual baseball and sports fans -- will have sightings of baseball managers, an occasional star and maybe an ESPN or MLB Network talking head or two. This year, baseball's future supporting cast also had glimpses of Jameis Winston and other college football stars visiting for their own much greater awards presentations.
As the week goes on, some of the gloss goes off for some of the job applicants. They've made some contacts, perhaps even rubbed elbows with some baseball people, but for most the job prospects are slim.
Disappointment naturally sets in. Most of the job applicants -- some of whom may have been sweating out getting into the fraternity/sorority of their choice a few years earlier -- begin to doubt that they'll get what they want.
Baseball management knows this. Which is why a lot of what these young people are competing for turns out to be an unpaid internship.
I'm not sure why internships have become free. What's the benefit of having a job -- working -- without getting paid? Sure, there's some value in getting a foot in the door. But baseball organizations can't afford a few thousand to pay these summer (sometimes year-long) employers?
Here's my proposal. For now, it goes out to agents and the top prospects in this year's June draft. This is directed primarily at whoever is the No. 1 pick and his agent.
The top pick will pick up a few million dollars out of the box. How about setting aside, let's say, $50,000 to begin endowing stipends for minor league interns?
The first guy to do this, or even the first agent to do it on his own, could go down in history in much the same way Tommy John has.
In years ahead, teams could point with pride to their top interns and say (for example), "He's our Carlos Rodon Intern" or "He's our intern from the Scott Boras Endowment."
As the top picks begin their pro careers in the minors, much of their contact will be with the interns, who in the months leading up to the draft may have been college students just like themselves (minus the Big Man on Campus cachet).
So let's say, for the sake of argument, that Rodon is the first pick and sets up an endowment. His first grant of $5,000 (leaving $45,000 in the endowment) could go to an intern at Lancaster or Quad-Cities or wherever he begins his career.
When the first pick is introduced in his new summer home, he'd also introduce the intern. The agent should have the savvy to get some national coverage of the concept. Great PR for the draft pick, the minor league team and possibly even the agent himself.
The first time around, the intern chosen would be at the discretion of the local team or major league organization. But as the (Rodon) Endowment grew, and a larger number of interns were added over time, the player or his agent come become as involved as he/they want.
Who knows? If enough players started subsidizing interns, the baseball organizations themselves might even want to pitch in.
The interns would become more professional and a greater asset. And they'd have more than a pledge pin to show for it.
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