Jul 7, 2026 · 43 min · 8 segments
What really happens when an 18-year-old gets drafted into Major League Baseball—and suddenly has to make a life-changing decision? In this episode of The EC3 Pod, six-time Gold Glove winner and…
Eric ChavezHost
Chris HamblinHost
Adam NelsonHost
And, and for teams, like, honestly, how important this is, like, to get it right.
If you have a top five, one through five or one through 10, you know, y- and you're not a team that can, uh, spend on the free agent market, you have to get this pick right.
You know, and when you're going through it, you don't realize it, right? You meet people along the way and you're like, "This guy's kind of an asshole, this guy's rough," whatever.
The A's had people, like, a foundation, and we talked about this in the lap- last episode with how teams don't have the infrastructure, right? It's like analytics and numbers and it's not really people, right? They talk about it, but they don't really understand that.
It's more about numbers, and they don't really pay attention to, you know, the people that they're surrounding these kids with.
And I remember, I remember a director, uh, for the A's, uh, Keith Lippman, um, they had all these people that were around me that helped me on my journey, right? And, you know, as 18, like, I...
You know, my first year in A ball, I hit 270, 18 homers, and I drove in 100 runs.
But my perspective coming from high school, and this is, that's, this is all I have, right?
And, and for teams, like, honestly, how important this is, like, to get it right.
If you have a top five, one through five or one through 10, you know, y- and you're not a team that can, uh, spend on the free agent market, you have to get this pick right.
You know, and when you're going through it, you don't realize it, right? You meet people along the way and you're like, "This guy's kind of an asshole, this guy's rough," whatever.
The A's had people, like, a foundation, and we talked about this in the lap- last episode with how teams don't have the infrastructure, right? It's like analytics and numbers and it's not really people, right? They talk about it, but they don't really understand that.
It's more about numbers, and they don't really pay attention to, you know, the people that they're surrounding these kids with.
And I remember, I remember a director, uh, for the A's, uh, Keith Lippman, um, they had all these people that were around me that helped me on my journey, right? And, you know, as 18, like, I...
You know, my first year in A ball, I hit 270, 18 homers, and I drove in 100 runs.
But my perspective coming from high school, and this is, that's, this is all I have, right?
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