College Experience: Nearly Priceless

After 1,474 players were selected in 50 rounds of the amateur baseball draft this week, it’s appropriate for the top high school players to start chanting, “Show me the money.”

If a major league team wants to convince a high school senior to give up three years of playing college baseball, they better pay up.

Don’t call the teenagers greedy if their asking price exceeds $1 million. That’s a legitimate price for buying someone out of a college education.

Going to college enhances a player’s value. It allows him to mature, become stronger physically and prove his baseball ability to any skeptics.

The Oakland Athletics have become trendsetters in figuring out the value of the college experience. Their first 20 draft selections this week were college players.

It’s still an absolute battle to convince some high school athletes that college is the way to go.

“You deal with pride, egos and dreams, and it’s tough to debate with families,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said.

Gillespie is expected to lose two of his top recruits, third baseman Ian Stewart of Westminster La Quinta, a first-round pick of the Colorado Rockies, and pitcher JoJo Reyes of Riverside Poly, a second-round choice of the Atlanta Braves.

But the best pitcher in Southern California, Ian Kennedy of La Quinta, could still end up at USC. He was chosen by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 14th round and has wisely made it clear he’s going to college unless he receives a bonus offer too good to pass up.

Kennedy should learn from Conor Jackson, a 180-pound All-City shortstop at Woodland Hills El Camino Real in 2000. The Cleveland Indians drafted him in the 31st round. He decided to attend California, and three years later was a first-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s up to 210 pounds and set to become a millionaire.

“If I could tell every high school player to go to college, I would,” Jackson said. “It has been a long road but a good one. It’s not over yet. This is just the first little tiny step. I’m not celebrating. Once I get that call up to the show, then I’ll celebrate.”

There’s only so much money to offer, and major league teams aren’t going to invest large sums in high school athletes whom they view as risks.

In the case of Kennedy, he’s a 6-foot right-hander with a 90 mph fastball, which hardly makes him unique.

“He fights the stereotype that he’s a short right-hander,” Gillespie said.

But all Kennedy does is get batters out and win. He had a 39-2 record in high school. This season, he missed 17 games because of a broken kneecap but came back to finish 8-0 with an 0.43 earned-run average.

“He’s comfortable in his abilities and beliefs,” Gillespie said.

In Saturday’s Division IV final at Edison Field, Kennedy threw a three-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 2-1 victory over Garden Grove Pacifica.

“He might be the best pitcher in America,” La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest said. “He’s had two bad innings in four years.”

Gillespie is careful not to make guarantees or promises, but he said of the college experience, “You will mature, you will grow, you will progress.”

Kennedy deserves first-round money because that’s the kind of player he’ll be in three years. If the Cardinals don’t agree, it’s their loss. And Kennedy is in no hurry to turn pro just for ego purposes.

“I want to learn more about pitching,” he said. “You’re an adult when you go to the pros, but in college, it’s a middle stage of growing up.”

Kennedy made sure that he didn’t have high expectations for Tuesday’s draft.

“I didn’t want to put myself in position to be disappointed,” he said. “There was no dream of getting drafted in the first round.”

He needn’t worry, because his dream is going to come true in 2006, and he’ll be richer, smarter and better for it.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com