It is time again for Major League Baseball’s amateur draft and, as usual, “Baseball America” was on the case, with Tampa Bay selecting high school outfielder Delmon Young, little brother of Dmitri, as the first pick.

Jayson Stark on ESPN.com also wrote an excellent article today about the draft in general and how unnecessarily obscure it is. Stark suggests several changes to the draft process designed to generate greater fan interest, including obtaining live national television coverage, moving the draft to the All-Star break and allowing for the trading of draft picks. All of these seem highly reasonable.

The main reason that the draft deserves more exposure is because of just how important it is to the long-term development of a successful franchise. Sure, even when a team has a good draft, it might produce only two or three eventual major leaguers from its many, many rounds, but the impact of choosing an Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas or Roger Clemens instead of a Brien Taylor, Shawn Abner or David Clyde is immeasurable. Just think how different Mets history would’ve been had they chosen Reggie Jackson over Steve Chilcott in 1966.

In the end, Stark’s main point is well-taken: if you want to convince others that your draft is a big deal, a good place to begin is by treating it as one.