Community Discussion: Major League and College Success

Here's a community discussion question for you. We haven't had one of these in awhile, but this struck me as a good topic for some talk and group research. . .though hopefully not groupthink.

The recent 2013 MLB Draft got me thinking about the issue of college success not translating into professional success, or at least major league success.

There are thousands of examples of statistically successful college players who are unable to bring that success forward in the professional context, generally because they lack the physical tools for that success to translate at the highest level. Scouts are usually very good at projecting which players will struggle in that way, although there are exceptions.

But what about the opposite? How many successful major league players who went to college were not productive in college?

Put another way, it is obvious that college success is not a sufficient condition for success in the majors. By itself, it isn't enough. But is it perhaps a necessary condition?

So let's talk about this. Let's look at currently successful major league players who went to college, and look back at their college records. How many of them struggled in college?

Pitchers and hitters need to be looked at separately of course. I suspect we will find cases of pitchers who weren't too good in college but who figured things out in the pros, but I suspect that we will find fewer hitting cases.

This is a discussion question, so grab the reins here.