Should K-Mack Go Pro?

In my recent post “Kyle McYankee”, I may have not emphasized the magnitude of McKenzie’s accomplishment. To have a chance to play in any professional sport is amazing. But personally, I think Kyle should play a few years at Tulane, gain some experience and confidence instead of joining the Yankees’ AA Trenton Thunder as a teenager. Moving up from way down in the farm system is no fun: pitching for maybe a hundred fans, with little media, and practically no life outside the team. Furthermore, if McKenzie decided to play at Tulane, a D-1 school that has made the NCAA regionals 12 of the past 16 years, he would undoubtedly be a regular part of the starting rotation, even as a freshman. Watching the 2009 College World Series in Omaha, second-seeded LSU sent out a reliever throwing a wee 92 mph in the all-important Game 1. McKenzie’s fastball has been clocked at 95 mph, not to mention his above-average off-speed pitches. Once Kyle has played a few seasons with the Green Wave, he’d likely be drafted in a higher round, get a chance at a bigger contract, and have a chance to skip the dreary early stages of the farm league. There must be something in that Louisiana water, anyway: this year, five Tulane baseball players were drafted in the first 25 rounds of the immense, 50-round MLB Draft. Not to mention, if Kyle signed with the Yankees now, he’d miss out on all the partying—I mean educational opportunities that Tulane has to offer. Plus, he’d have a chance to play for a team other than the Yanks.