Even by the travel standards for an ambitious young baseball player, this seemed excessive: a predraft workout organized by the Orioles on Mother’s Day in which Darell Hernaiz and his family would have to drive more than nine hours — from El Paso, Texas, to Dallas and back — in barely over 36 hours.
When the Orioles selected Hernaiz, the young shortstop, with the first pick in last year’s fifth round, it made it all worth it. But nothing about that selection — from the spring that put Hernaiz on the map, to those predraft workouts and the excitement they bring to prospects and their families, to the value the players bring to organizations as they look to invest in their next generation of talent — can be replicated this year.