Dylan Crews: A lesson for the top high school baseball players

Dylan Crews is a national champion, Golden Spikes Award winner, and eventual top 3 MLB draft pick. Such is the result of his decision to make the big league wait.

Recently, sports fans ‘celebrated’ the 13th anniversary of Lebron James’ nationally televised decision. Today, we’re reflecting the decision Dylan Crews made to postpone professional baseball and head to Baton Rouge.

Crews was a sure-fire first-round draft pick coming out of high school

In 2020, Dylan Crews had to make one of the hardest decisions in his life: enter the MLB draft or pull his name and commit to LSU baseball. Crews was a sure-fire first-round draft pick coming out of high school, but after much consideration, he decided to forgo MLB and commit to the LSU Tigers.

Since his decision, Crews has undoubtedly been one of the greatest players to step foot on a college baseball field. He won almost every award a player could win and capped off his final collegiate season with a national championship.

Dylan Crews has repeatedly said that he doesn’t regret his decision to forgo the 2021 MLB Draft. Such is obvious, considering LSU baseball’s 2023 season. However, fans must consider that Crews was a top prospect coming out of high school. As such, the 2021 MLB Draft offered the opportunity to make life-changing money.

Conversely, Crews is set to make more money and spend much less time in the minor leagues because he opted to attend LSU. Suffice it to say, Crews remains a huge advocate for top baseball players to choose college.

We hope the nation’s top high school baseball players are paying attention.

We’ve seen plenty of players enter their names into the MLB draft straight out of high school. It is an easy decision for generational talents like Bryce Harper. But for so many players, the decision to go straight to professional baseball results in several years of bouncing around the minor leagues.

One of the greatest examples of a top prospect not making it to the major league is C.J. Henry. Henry was one of the top players in his draft class with one of the highest upsides we’ve seen in a baseball prospect. Unfortunately, Henry never found his footing in the minors after the New York Yankees drafted him 17th overall in the 2005 MLB Draft.

Henry’s career concluded with a .222 batting average in 272 career MiLB games.

we are curious if [Max] Clark is better off attending college

Max Clark is the best high school baseball player in the 2023 MLB Draft. Clark is an outfielder out of Franklin HS in Indiana and the potential first-overall pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Such sounds enticing, but we are curious if Clark is better off attending college.

Clark batted .646 with 42 hits, 45 runs, 33 RBIs, and six homers in 2022-23. He verbally committed to Vanderbilt but is likely heading straight to the minor leagues after the 2023 MLB Draft. Conversely, Clark will receive a very hefty contract offer that is tough to turn down.

Going straight from high school to the minor leagues is a huge leap. We’ve seen many high draft picks make the jump and never land safely on the other side. As such, Clark heading to Vanderbilt and developing for a few collegiate seasons would increase his odds of professional baseball success.

Conversely, Clark is a special talent like Dylan Crews and capable of working his way to MLB with hard work and the right coaching. But there is no doubt Crews is further ahead and more capable of making an Opening Day roster in 2024 because of his three seasons with LSU baseball.

There is no universal answer to whether one should enter the MLB draft out of high school. The success rate depends on the player’s ability to adapt to the professional level of difficulty. However, Dylan Crews proved that the college route is advantageous to the game’s best high school players.