Cal Baseball: Darren Baker, Quentin Selma to Return to Cal for 2020-21

Brandon McIlwain signs with Mets, but shortened MLB draft aids Cal baseball program for next season

Last week’s Major League Baseball draft did not work out well for Cal players hoping to be selected, but it improved the Bears’ chances of winning a conference title next season.

Thanks to this year’s odd Major League Baseball draft, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Darren Baker and Quentin Selma will both play baseball for Cal again next season, which would not have happened in a typical year.

Here's what happned:

Cal second baseman Baker, infielder Selma and outfielder Brandon McIlwain were all hoping to be taken in last week's draft, but none was drafted. It was the first time since 2007 and only the second time since 1968 that no Cal players were drafted.

That’s mainly because this year’s draft was limited to just five rounds (a total of 160 selections) instead of the normal 40 rounds (a total of 1,217 selections in 2019).

Though he was just a junior athletically this past season, McIlwain has already graduated from Cal and decided to sign a free-agent contract with the New York Mets.

I’m excited to be starting my pro baseball career with the New York Mets! #LGM #Blessed 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/5kxYAfaGP1

— Brandon McIlwain (@Mc11wain) June 15, 2020

But Baker and Selma were both juniors athletically and academically this past year. The top college players are drafted after their junior years, and they typically forego their senior seasons to sign lucrative contracts and begin their pro careers.

In a normal draft Baker and Selma no doubt would have been drafted and probably would have signed pro contracts.

But not this year.

Baker was considered a potential fourth- or fifth-round pick this year, but his name was not called. Like McIlwain, he had the option of signing a free-agent contract with any major-league club, but this year it could have been for no more than $20,000.

That’s a fraction of what drafted players earn. For example, $324,000 was the slotted value of the very last pick in this year’s draft.

So Baker opted to return to Cal for the 2020-21 academic year so he could graduate with a degree in American studies and play another year of college baseball.

He will then hope to get drafted in the 2021 MLB draft, which presumably will return to the 40-round format.

Selma will do the same.

Furthermore, Baker and Selma will not lose the leverage they had as juniors.

Since the NCAA granted spring-sport athletes an additional year of eligibility because of their canceled seasons, Baker and Selma will again be juniors athletically next season. If they were seniors they would not enjoy the negotiating leverage of having the option to return to school if drafted. As juniors, they retain that leverage.

Baker, the son of former Giants manager Dusty Baker, hit .306 in 2019, when he stole 21 bases in 21 attempts, and he was hitting .286 in 16 games in 2020 before the season was halted. Baker’s biggest asset is his defensive skill.

Selma was an all-Pac-12 selection as a third baseman in 2019, when he hit .311 with 10 homers, and was batting a team-high .293 in the 16 games this season.

McIlwain, who played on Cal's football team in his first two years in Berkeley, was drafted in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB draft. He considered signing then, but opted to return to Cal for another season after his 2019 season was cut short by a broken foot. He was hitting .200 this season.