August 22, 2013 at 2:25 PM
ESPNBoston: Ball, Denney adjusting to pro life in GCL
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The experience of being drafted can be one of the most exciting times in a baseball player’s career. After years of work on and off the field, being selected by a major league team with an early pick is validation of a player’s talent and potential future in the game.
Of course, being drafted is also the start of a long journey to The Show. Even the most experienced college players can take more than two years to reach the majors, and for high school players, four to five years is a more realistic time frame from signing to being ready to assume an everyday role.
For the two highest-rated players taken by the Red Sox in June’s draft, first-round pick Trey Ball and third-round pick Jon Denney, that long journey started this summer in rookie ball, specifically in Fort Myers, where they play for the Red Sox Gulf Coast League affiliate.