Major League Baseball

Futures Game and MLB Draft highlight the future of baseball in one jam-packed day

Updated Jul. 30, 2021 8:09 a.m. ET

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

DENVER — On Sunday, for the first time in history, the MLB Draft will commence during All-Star Week, rather than at its usual early June date.

The 2021 Draft will be the nightcap of an All-Star Sunday that already features the Futures Game, a seven-inning affair at Coors Field that is essentially an All-Star Game for prospects. Over the course of the day, fans will have a chance to get a sneak preview of some of the next big names our sport has to offer.

We don’t know exactly which ones will become MLB All-Stars in the next few years or so, but I can guarantee you that when we’re discussing the best players in baseball in 2024, some of the stars of today’s action will be part of the conversation.

One of the best things about baseball in 2021 is how quickly young players are capable of making an impact. For many years, rookies were expected to keep their heads down, fit in and do their jobs at the pace determined by the veterans or coaches on the team. But fortunately, now more than ever, young players are instead being empowered by their teammates and organizations to step into the spotlight and show that you don’t have to wait until your late-20s to start peaking.

You can start balling out as soon as you arrive in the big leagues, and you can let people know how good you are while you’re doing it.

Take 20-year-old Mariners prospect Julio Rodriguez, for example. He’ll be one of the biggest names in this year’s Futures Game, with prodigious offensive ability and an overwhelmingly likable personality off the field. Now, after watching Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Wander Franco all reach the big leagues before they could legally drink, if you’re Julio — or the fans eager to see him in Seattle — it is no longer unreasonable to think he could be helping the Mariners in the very near future.

That's not to say that every young player is guaranteed to contribute immediately just because we’ve had an incredible run recently — look no further than Jarred Kelenic’s recent 0-for-39 slump after his ultra-hyped call-up — but these spectacular starts to careers aren’t nearly as rare as they used to be. The trail has been emphatically blazed for players such as Rodriguez to have confidence that they can follow suit.

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MLB All-Star Week: What to Know

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman tell you everything you need to know about MLB All-Star week in Denver, Colorado.

OK, so what about the MLB Draft? You might have noticed that all those players I just mentioned were signed as international free agents at age 16, allowing their supersonic talents a bit of a head-start to blossom in pro ball more quickly than is typically the case for the 18-year-old high school players and 21-year-old college players selected in the annual amateur draft. Even so, there are two reasons I love following and learning about the draft more and more each year.

First, sticking on the issue of proximity to big-league impact, there is a misconception with the MLB Draft that the players who are selected will disappear into the endless levels of the minors for half a decade, sure to be forgotten about as soon as their names are called. Granted, compared to football and basketball, no, the players selected Sunday will not be expected to dramatically impact their teams immediately the way a Joe Burrow or a Zion Williamson could. That’s just not how this works.

But certain teams — the White Sox in particular — have hardly hesitated to rush their top picks to the big leagues if they think the prospects can help the team. Nick Madrigal (first-round pick in 2018) and Andrew Vaughn (first-round pick in 2019) were two of the fastest in their respective classes to reach the big leagues. Chicago's first-rounder last year, Garrett Crochet, threw zero MiLB innings (I know there wasn’t a season, but still) and then pitched for the big-league squad in the 2020 postseason.

Plus, with the elimination of short-season ball, there are fewer levels of the minors for draftees to climb. Recent first-rounders have more often been sent straight to Double-A to prove themselves, and recent top picks Adley Rutschman and Spencer Torkelson are already tearing it up just a couple of stops away from The Show. They’ll be here before you know it.

Second, the beauty of the MLB Draft is how its process relates to one of my favorite things about baseball as a whole: These players come from everywhere. I’m fascinated by the way teams decipher and sort through an unbelievable variety of demographics. In the NBA and NFL drafts, teams are largely picking from the best players from the biggest and most successful Division I programs in the country. That’s why we all know those players’ names — they are on TV all the time. So while those selected in tonight’s MLB Draft — besides Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter — have hardly seen any air time, the vast variety in where they come from is infinitely interesting.

Teams are tasked with comparing high school shortstops from California who play year-round to high school outfielders from Michigan who can’t play until mid-April because it’s too darn cold. They're comparing 19-year-old junior college pitchers throwing 100 mph to 24-year-old side-arming college relievers. Age, quality of competition, geographic factors, statistical indicators and so much more go into sorting through the thousands of eligible players in each draft.

It isn't difficult to understand why it’s so difficult for a team to draft consistently well — but that's also what makes the process fun as a fan. Scan any top draft prospects list, and I promise you’ll read about a player from a place you'd never expect and realize he could be an All-Star in the next few years. I certainly wasn’t expecting it when the Marlins took a tall left-hander from a high school in New Mexico in the first-round in 2017, but Trevor Rogers will be pitching Tuesday in the All-Star Game (coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on FOX).

Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz' 2021 MLB Mock Draft

Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz provide their top 10 picks for the 2021 MLB Draft, which is being held Sunday in Denver as part of All-Star week.

Yes, the seemingly never-ending levels of baseball at the amateur level can be overwhelming and difficult to keep up with. But on Draft Day, I encourage you to embrace the fact that the players being selected worked hard to stand out among an unfathomably large pool of competitors. It’s no small feat.

Finally, I want to say that as excited as I am for this tidal wave of non-MLB talent, there’s a part of me that worries that having the Futures Game and the MLB Draft on the same day actually hinders each event’s ability to fully shine. I am certainly in favor of having the draft later in the summer, after the college season has concluded and perhaps even during All-Star Week, but these two events should be highlighted on their own. Perhaps a Sunday night Futures Game (after all the afternoon MLB games are over), with the Draft starting the Wednesday after the All-Star Game, the one day of the baseball calendar with no games? Just a thought!

Regardless, Sunday will be an excellent glimpse at the next wave of talent that will impact the sport we love. One of the biggest reasons we are able to so enthusiastically embrace the mantra of "let the kids play" is because, man, these kids can play. You won’t regret getting to know the Futures Gamers or the amateur players whose names are called during the first round of the draft.

Consider this a warning, if not an exciting reminder: The stars of baseball’s future are closer than they might appear.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.