Amid draft disappointment, Cals Darren Baker is focused on making a difference -

Darren Baker is among the hundreds of amateur players in limbo following a Major League Baseball Draft that was whittled from 40 rounds to only five. His name should’ve been called on Thursday. It wasn’t. And now players like him are in the midst of a cooling off period that will last until Sunday morning as they weigh whether to return to school or sign with an organization for a maximum bonus of $20,000.

Baker does not require the idle time to think. There’s been enough of that already.

He posted a tweet on Friday with a sequence of bear emojis, and yes, as he confirmed in a phone interview, those were intended to be Golden Bears.

He will return to Cal as a redshirt junior next season.

“I had made that pretty clear to some teams during the predraft interviews and through the whole process,” said the son of former Giants and current Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker. “I was extremely disappointed yesterday, along with many players. But things happen for a reason. There are always some positives in every situation, and I couldn’t be more excited to head back to school.”

Baker, 21, expected to celebrate with friends and family in front of a television this week as he heard his name announced and prepared to begin his pro career. The middle infielder made the All Pac-12 Defensive Team as a sophomore and finished second in the conference with 21 steals in 21 attempts. Then he likely moved up draft boards in the summer with a solid showing in the Cape Cod League, where he hit .342 to finish fourth in the batting race. His junior season was off to a good start through 16 games, too. He led Cal with 18 hits and had five multi-hit games, including a 3-for-4 performance against No. 10 Michigan.

He scored a pair of runs in a 9-8 victory over San Jose State at Evans Diamond on the Berkeley campus. Two days later, the team was on the bus to Oakland International Airport, and a flight to Washington State, when the players learned that the series against the Cougars would be called off.

“They pulled us all off the bus,” Baker said. “We all thought it would be a little suspension to the season. And by the end of the day, we were all going home.”

For Baker, that meant returning home to Granite Bay near Sacramento. And before long, his father returned from Astros spring training to join them. If there is a positive through such an uncertain time, it’s the opportunity to cast on the water together for bass and trout. It’s the simple act of gathering on the couch to watch a movie. It’s spending a summer together for the first time in their lives.

“For 21 years, you’re so used to Dad being gone from February until whenever the season ends,” Baker said. “It’s definitely been an adjustment, but I love spending time with him. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And I’m not sure how I’d be feeling right now if he wasn’t here. He’s that calming presence for me. It feels like he always knows what to say.”

And not only about baseball, or the absence of it. Dusty Baker has always spoken eloquently about racial inequality both within the sport and society. He was the man in the on-deck circle on the night in Atlanta when Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth as the game’s all-time home run leader. He and Darren have been able to talk through the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers, the protests in response to systemic injustice and the unrest that has touched so many communities.

Darren was disheartened to see several Sacramento businesses vandalized and damaged, including black-owned businesses. So he started a Gofundme campaign to raise money for them.

“Small Businesses in Sacramento have recently been looted,” he wrote in the campaign description. “Small (Black) owned businesses have also been looted and destroyed, all proceeds will be given DIRECTLY to these local businesses who have been unfortunate enough to have their things destroyed and stolen. Thank you for your donations in advance, it isn’t about the amount of money everything counts! And if you cannot donate, please SHARE!”

The initial goal was to raise $7,000. A few days after posting the fundraiser, the response was so overwhelming that Baker had to raise it to $10,000. After 172 donors raised $11,088, he bumped it up again to $12,000.

“With everything going in on the world, I wanted to take some action and help people specifically where I’m from,” Darren said. “There were riots and protests everywhere, but it hits home when things are happening where you’re from. I go to Kings games down there all the time and I know the businesses that were affected. I know I have a platform that can help them and I want to use that as best as possible.”

Giving back is nothing new to Baker, who volunteered at shelters while in high school and worked with young people at summer camps. Now that the draft is over, he intends to contact businesses and restaurants and make sure the funds get dispersed to those who need it most.

“These are businesses in Sacramento that have been there way before I was born, like Sharif Jewelers,” he said. “If you’re from Sacramento, you know. When you see that they got broken into … those are the ones that really catch your heart.”

Baker said he remained hopeful when the second day of the draft began on Thursday. A few months ago, he and his advisor had anticipated that he could be taken as high as the third round. But his heart dropped as he began to see a pattern in the players that teams began to select in the fourth and fifth rounds.

“It came down to teams not having enough money this year,” Baker said. “I feel college juniors kind of got squeezed out, and it sucks for everybody. It’s not just me. Friends of mine in Washington, in Florida — I know what everyone’s going through right now.”

Several teams seemingly over-drafted players in the final two rounds, presumably with the understanding that they would sign for significantly less than the assigned slot value — a strategy that would allow clubs to pocket money or to allocate resources to over-slot bonuses. While teams will be certain to cajole some undrafted college seniors or junior college players into signing for $20,000, there isn’t much incentive for a player like Baker, who retains an extra year of eligibility and can re-enter the draft next year.

It should be worth the wait. The average slot value for a fifth-round pick was $370,000 this year. In 2019, the last player drafted in the 10th had a slot value of $142,200.

And besides, as Baker pointed out, he can return to the Cal program in the fall, use the school’s baseball facilities and work on his development. Players who decide to begin their pro careers now face an uncertain remainder of the year in which there might not be any kind of minor-league structure.

For now, even though he has no idea when his next game will be, Baker is able to take ground balls at Granite Bay High and he has access to a weight room. And he can seek counsel across the dinner table from a former major-league star who is one of the winningest and wisest managers of all-time.

Among the topics they’ve discussed while dipping lines in the water or between commercials: What happens if MLB’s health policies forbid Dusty from chomping on his trademark toothpick in the dugout?

“I know, I know, we were talking about that the other day,” Darren said with a laugh. “It’s crazy. We’ve got to sit down and brainstorm some ideas, because he’s got to replace it with something. The toothpick is a staple. It’s like a trademark.”

At least he’ll have those wide wristbands, right?

“Oh, that’s guaranteed,” Darren said.

(File photo from March 2019: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

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