Can one of you explain this to me?

[historybill]

Why are the draft rules of so different in baseball than in football or basketball?

If a college football player "declares himself eligible for the draft" and is drafted, he cannot change his mind after he sees where he got drafted and stay in college... right?

However, college baseball players can and do do this, all the time.

Why are the rules so different?

[Titans309fan]

I would think one big difference is that baseball players don't declare for the draft. They are either draft eligible (high school grad who hasn't attended college, finished college junior or senior year, or 21 years old) or not. So even if an eligible player is drafted, the player has a choice to stay/go to college or accept their draft pick.

College football and basketball players that haven't graduated yet have to declare for the draft and can no longer go back to school once the draft begins.

Agents play a big role as well. Draft eligible baseball players cannot hire an agent without losing their college eligibility. Football and basketball players leaving early tend to hire an agent, which loses their college eligibility. Baseball players can use advisors. Here is an article explaining the differences between agent and advisor: https://sundevilcompliance.asu.edu/agen ... r-pamphlet

[commadore]

Good explanation and pretty much hits all relevant points. One other thing is, the rules concerning the draft are set by the major league associations and baseball has been more willing to work with the colleges than the NBA and the NFL.
The most likely reason for that is that baseball, unlike the others, has the vast minor league system. If a player goes to college, he can develop for three years and the MLB teams don't have to pay for it. It also allows them to "grow up" quite a bit. MLB has recognized the benefit in this.

[DoreZag]

JJ Bleday is a perfect example of this. He'll start off playing a few games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and will probably be playing with Advanced A Jupiter by season's end. He'll most likely end up in AA by the end of next year. I can see him on the same trek as Bryan Reynolds where he is in the big leagues three years after being drafted.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Good explanation and pretty much hits all relevant points. One other thing is, the rules concerning the draft are set by the major league associations and baseball has been more willing to work with the colleges than the NBA and the NFL.

This is correct. The NCAA actually changed its rule this year allowing players to return to college after the NBA draft, but the NBA and the players association have yet to change the rule on their side.