Major League Baseball will conduct its 2020 amateur draft next week, a five-round affair beginning on June 10th and culminating the next day. The proximity of the draft didn't stop Dylan Crews, one of the class's top high-school outfielders, from withdrawing from consideration on Tuesday, according to Keith Law of The Athletic.
A league source suggested to CBS Sports that Crews' withdrawal stems in part from his family's desire for him to attend college, and in part to avoid a scenario where a team drafts him next week and then badgers him for the dollar amount he would require to forego his commitment to LSU.
CBS Sports recently ranked Crews, a product of Florida's Lake Mary High School, as the 35th-best prospect in the draft. Here's what we wrote:
Were this based on name recognition, Crews would be much higher. Alas, he had a brutal spring that, combined with the fatigue that develops over time with well-known prospects, makes him difficult to rank. When Crews is right, he looks like a potential starting right fielder: an above-average hitter with a strong arm. Because of his stock's volatility, it stands to reason he might honor his commitment to LSU and re-establish himself as a top-of-the-draft player there.
Crews will indeed join LSU, with whom he'll have a few years to prove his worth against the Southeastern Conference. Should he perform well against SEC competition, he's all but certain to improve his stock. He'll have some time to get acclimated: he won't be draft eligible again until 2023.
Even without Crews, this year's draft features a strong collection of prep outfielders. Zac Veen (No. 6), Austin Hendrick (No. 10), Pete Crow-Armstrong (No.18), and Robert Hassell (No. 22) all placed in our top 25.
