The Hitting Zone

"Shouldn't I be the one to look over his rates?" Kyle glanced at Dad. "You guys may pay him before the draft, but I would be the one to be paying afterwards if everything goes as planned."

Dad slowly nodded. "You're right. This is your future."

Kyle took one look at the paper and his eyes drifted back to Dad. "I'm definitely reimbursing you guys when I get my signing bonus."

Dad frowned and Mom shook her head. "You're a minor. Still in high school. This is our responsibility. Just like if you chose to go to college, we would help you out to start, this is the same. It makes sense that you would pay for the agent yourself afterwards because that becomes a percentage of your signing bonus and future salary."

"Speaking of salary, I want to clarify that you know how much minimum wage is for the minors right?" Ryan interrupted, focused in on Kyle.

Kyle slowly nodded, then gave a small shrug. "I don't know exactly, but I know it's a small amount."

"Rookie level, which you most definitely will start at, is $400 a week." Ryan said. "Class A minimum is $500. Double A $600. Triple A is $700, but over half the guys will be making more than that. Especially guys who are sent down from the majors."

"$400 a week?" Mom was the most surprised. "Will he have to find places to rent as he moves around? Especially in more expensive cities, I don't see how he can have any money leftover after rent."

"It's different for every team at every level." Ryan explained. "Nicer programs will have something already arranged like dorms near their stadium. Some have hosts families that will loan out a room or two in exchange for season tickets. Some will have rooms available for rent. It's definitely one of the tougher aspects of going pro." He looked at Kyle again. "This is really why it's important to get in touch with a financial advisor. Not just because of taxes, but to make sure your signing bonus isn't blown in the first year or two. Put it away, invest, do what you can."

Kyle nodded. Then paused. "This might be a dumb question, but am I supposed to buy all my own food with $400 a week? With knowing Jeremy, we know that the A's provide food for them."

"Again, depends on the team and level. It's the luck of the draw. Worst cases I've seen, players are supplied cheese, meat, and bread to make their own sandwiches before a game."

I frowned. Zeke's team was college level and they had a whole pasta bar setup.

"Better teams or more popular teams will have more money to provide better food." Ryan went on. "You can also talk about a food allowance with the team or even in your contract to make sure it's not coming out of your direct paycheck. They'll give you a set amount for every meal, every game day."

Kyle nodded. "I think that would be good. I wouldn't say I'm a picky eater. I just get hungry and I don't think I can live off sandwiches every day. Protein is important right?"

Ryan smiled. "Yea, but baseball is a business. It's all about profits for them. There has been more improvements made to the minor league system lately like healthcare and tuition assistance, but I won't lie, the early years will be rough."

Our server showed up with the food and the table got a little quiet as everyone took their first bites.

"Compared to the guy you had last year that was taken in the ninth round, what do you think of my prospects?" Kyle asked Ryan. We all kind of stopped eating to listen in.

"I believe your prospects our higher." Ryan said confidently. "Not just because you rank higher than him in the state and nation, but because you're a pitcher and those are always a little more valuable."

"You know my rankings?" Kyle was taken aback.

Ryan grinned. "Of course. Being in this position that I am, I have to do some research on you. Your stats, your rankings. I did ask Rose if you had any concerning behavior like kicking puppies or stealing gum from gas stations. It's not just you judging me if I'm good, but vice versa. I don't want to have a client that has some problematic issues."

"Did you look up all of us?" Dave asked, curious.

Ryan nodded. "Yes. I understand that although Kyle would be the first potential client, the rest of you are also interested in playing beyond college in the future. It's never too soon to look at your options, only too soon to make your decisions."

"How recent were the rankings for state and national?" Noah asked, looking down at his phone, obviously trying to look it up.

"State was updated over a week ago and national ranking was updated Friday." He glanced at me. "I think this is the highest a sophomore has ever been for the state of California and maybe even the nation."

I froze, feeling butterflies in my stomach and a lump in my throat.

"Are you checking state or nation?" Dave asked Noah, pulling out his phone. "I'll look up the other."

"State!" Noah clicked and tapped, scrolled, then looked at me with sparking eyes. "You're amazing, Jake!"

"Well?" Grampa prompted. "What is it? Are you trying to keep us in suspense?"

"He's number five in the whole state!" Noah announced. Jaws dropped all around.

Grampa reached out and slapped me on the back. "Well done, kid! Good work!"

"That's higher than when Zeke started his senior year." Kyle was stunned, looking at me with wide eyes. "You'll probably be number one in the state by the end of the season."

I felt my face heat up. I've got to be the worst fielder on the list. "What about the rest of you?"

Noah scrolled a little bit, then grinned at Kyle. "Lucky number 13 for you."

Kyle gave a small fist pump. "I'll take it!"

Noah scrolled and frowned. "Well. Dave. I don't know how they make the list, but-"

"Kyle probably jumped up because he beat University." Dave said, unbothered. He was still looking at his phone. "Just tell me I'm on the list and I'll be happy."

"Garret is number 21. I guess Kyle's game over University helped him a lot." Noah said. "You're at 33."

"33rd best player in the state?" Dave looked up with a smile and nodded. "I can live with that. Did you make the list?"

Noah scrolled and scrolled. He gave a small shrug and put his phone down. "No. But it's okay. It's not like I have some attention-grabbing skill. I'll make the top 100 sooner or later."

The table lost a little of it's excitement.

"That's a very good attitude to have." Ryan remarked. "You're still an underclassman. Don't get caught up in how everyone else is doing. Ranking also don't mean a whole lot in the long run. It's a good way to grab attention and it might give someone a head start, but there are plenty of guys that climb and make it despite the odds. Consistency is key."

Noah nodded. "Thank you." He looked calm, but I could see his hands clenched in his lap. There's no doubt in my mind that he wants to make the list and climb it just as high as his brothers.

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