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Since its inception in 1965, the Major League Baseball draft has evolved from a quaint midsummer diversion to an exercise in efficiency. Area scouts descend upon every college, high school and cornfield in America in search of superstars and sleepers. Analytics departments track numbers to the decimal point. Prospects land on the radar before they can shave, and theyre paraded before scouts in showcases and summer leagues, where tools are graded and each wart and insecurity is exposed. The level of scrutiny makes it next to impossible for players to slip through the cracks.Yet T.J. Friedl slipped through the cracks. And then he crash-landed on 30 scouting directors heads after theyd strategized, mapped out their boards and spent most of the money available to them under MLBs meticulous slotting system. By the time his saga was complete, he had etched a strange new chapter in draft history.While the Cincinnati Reds were hosting St. Louis at Great American Ball Park on Thursday, Friedl, a left-handed-hitting outfielder from the University of Nevada, was in the city undergoing a physical exam. Everything checked out fine, and he reached agreement with the Reds on a $732,500 bonus, the largest ever for a player who was bypassed in the draft.Scouts, true to form, are trying to project what kind of player hell be. Friedl, a 5-10, 170-pound center fielder with 70-grade speed on the 20-80 scouts scale, reminds some evaluators of former Seattle Mariners outfielder Jeremy Reed. Others compare him to Brett Gardner, a 2015 All-Star who has 215 stolen bases in nine seasons with the New York Yankees.Friedl, in contrast, sees a kindred spirit in Lenny Dykstra -- the scrappy, pre-steroidal Dykstra who compensated for his lack of size with his hustle and heart.I wanted to model my game after his, Friedl said. When Lenny Dykstra was on the field, his size didnt matter, because he was tough as nails. And his uniform was always dirty. After watching him play, I told myself, if I came home and my uniform wasnt dirty, I didnt play the game the right way.If his professional fairy tale continues, Friedl will be tormenting opponents and testing the stain-removing acumen of clubhouse attendants for years to come. Flash back to the late spring, and he was a garden-variety overachiever eagerly awaiting his junior year at Nevada. Through a combination of confusion and fate, Friedl is now a member of the Pioneer Leagues Billings Mustangs.Invisible manIn the 50-year history of the draft, a select few players have been passed over in June and gone on to make a mark in the big leagues. In June 1998, University of Mississippi outfielder Bobby Kielty went undrafted because of a back injury, only to appear on the scouts radar when he hit .384 in the Cape Cod League. The Minnesota Twins signed Kielty to a $500,000 bonus in February 1999, and he went on to play seven seasons in the majors.In the 1999 draft, Florida State junior Kevin Cash was passed over because scouts were convinced he couldnt play third base professionally. Everything changed when Cash went to the Cape Cod League, both catchers on his team suffered injuries and the coach asked for volunteers. Cash raised his hand, and he instantly looked like a natural behind the plate. Toronto scouts Tim Wilken and Chris Buckley signed him for a $60,000 bonus, and Cash spent eight years in the big leagues as a backup catcher with the Blue Jays, Red Sox and three other clubs.Friedl is different. This wasnt just a case of baseball misjudging his talent. He was hiding in plain sight, and the executives, scouts, statistical analysts and agents/advisers who operate baseballs draft machine either didnt know who he was or didnt realize how good he was.Ive been working the draft for 14 years, and this is the craziest thing Ive ever seen, said Adam Karon, Friedls agent. Its so bizarre. Almost nobody knew this kid was eligible for the draft -- including himself.In a sense, it was fitting that Friedl would be the one to buck tradition. He has been sneaking up on people for most of his life.Friedl grew up with three older sisters in Pleasanton, California, the San Francisco suburb that produced Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford. He was a quick, assist-minded point guard on the Foothill High School basketball team, a three-year letterman and a .308 hitter for the baseball team. But his lack of size and strength limited his options, and his choices came down to junior college or trying to make the team at Nevada as a walk-on. He chose Option B.Friedl hit .216 in 37 at-bats as a freshman at Reno. He was buried on the depth chart and resigned to being a spare part again as a sophomore. When coach Jay Johnson laid out the options, Friedl decided to preserve a year of eligibility and sit out the season as a redshirt.I took that pretty hard, Friedl said. Ive always played with a chip on my shoulder, and that was my MO after that. My whole thing was, Just prove yourself. Nothing in my life has been given to me, and Ive had to earn everything Ive gotten. I stepped back after the redshirt and said, Every game, Im going to grind and play with a chip on my shoulder and work 100 percent.When Friedl returned for his third year in Reno, Johnson had departed for Arizona and been replaced by a new coach, T.J. Bruce. The Nevada staff saw enough potential to give Friedl a scholarship, and he responded with a breakout season. Friedl ranked 11th in the nation with a .401 batting average, while finishing second in triples (nine), 17th in on-base percentage (.494) and 24th in hits (89).People say to me, What did you guys do to him? Bruce said, laughing. I tell them, We stayed out of his way. Thats part of the deal sometime, isnt it?Confusion all aroundUnder MLB rules, college players need to be 21 years old or have exhausted three years of academic eligibility (not three years of actual playing time) to qualify for the draft. It never occurred to Friedl that he met the second requirement until a week before the draft, when he received a call from a scout with an undisclosed team.He basically told me, What would you say to being drafted? Friedl recalled. I told him, Thanks for the offer, but Im not draft-eligible this year. And he told me, Well, you are. But since the draft was so close and interest seemed minimal, Friedl politely demurred and said he planned to return to Nevada for the 2017 season.Friedl monitored the draft on the MLB Network, but only to keep tabs on his teammates. He was overjoyed when Nevada second baseman Miles Mastrobuoni went to Tampa Bay in the 14th round, and doubly thrilled when Cleveland selected Wolf Pack outfielder Trenton Brooks in Round 17.Unbeknownst to Friedl, his time would come. In late June, he attended the Team USA trials in Los Angeles and played well enough to earn a spot on the squad that would travel to Taiwan, Japan and Cuba. In his month with Team USA, Friedl hit .290 with a .536 slugging percentage and wowed the staff with his effort.He has been unbelievable, Team USA manager George Horton told MLB.coms Jonathan Mayo in July. Not in our wildest dreams when we were putting this team together did we expect to get what we are getting out of him.After his performance for Team USA, the attention from teams built to the point that Friedl needed an adviser to run interference. He chose the Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon group, which had represented former Nevada stars Kevin Kouzmanoff, Darrell Rasner and Braden Shipley in previous drafts. But this would not be a typical negotiation. Because the draft had passed and most teams had already spent their full allotment, Karon essentially had to squeeze blood out of a turnip.Under MLBs draft system, each team is allotted a specific pool. Any money spent over the pool limit is subject to a 75 percent tax. And once teams exceed their allotment by more than 5 percent, they lose a first-round draft pick in the following years draft.I had one team tell me, Wed give this kid over a million bucks if we had it, Karon said. Thats when I said, This is a really interesting situation. If everybody is out of money, maybe he goes back to school. If he waited, maybe he could have gone in the first or second round next year. But I think that would have been a bit of a risk for him. Teams look for a track record in the draft, and T.J. didnt have that.While Karon declined to give specifics on the talks, several sources said the field of candidates came down to the Reds and Tampa Bay Rays, both of whom had sufficient wiggle room to make a serious run at Friedl.Although the planets aligned in the Reds favor, they were in a position to swoop because they had done their legwork. National cross checker Mark McKnight, West Coast supervisor Rex De La Nuez and assistant general manager Sam Grossman had seen Friedl at the trials in Southern California, and they had the scouting reports ready to convince scouting director Chris Buckley to take the plunge. Yes, thats the same Chris Buckley who signed Kevin Cash out of the Cape Cod League 17 years ago.We didnt outsmart anybody, Buckley said. There was some confusion in this case, and we were the benefactors. But we also had three guys who took the assignment seriously and did a professional job of covering Team USA. They didnt just say, This will be a good guy for us next year. They did the work and said, No, this year.A baseball mysteryInevitably, scouting directors and personnel throughout the game reflect upon Friedls story and ask themselves, How the heck did this happen? Amid the second-guessing and finger-pointing, teams are conducting CSI-caliber autopsies to determine how everybody whiffed.Were the scouts entrusted with covering Northern California negligent in failing to put Friedl on their radar?Being an area scout is so very difficult and this situation is their worst nightmare, said an American League personnel man. Im sure every scout in that area is trying to retrace their steps seeing Nevada and how they could miss him.Were the numbers crunchers at fault? How can anyone bat .401 as a redshirt sophomore and go undrafted?I think most analytics departments take a broader look at performance history, and his freshman and summer numbers werent very good before this year, said a National League evaluator. In addition, Nevada plays in an offensive league, so teams had reason to suspect that Friedls numbers were artificially inflated.Bruce, Nevadas coach, is understandably sensitive to the perception that he played coy with the biographical information and tried to hide Friedl and bring him back to Reno for another season. The Nevada baseball website appears to debunk that notion. It clearly states that Friedl played for the Wolf Pack as a freshman and redshirted as a sophomore before returning for the 2016 season.?If somebody says I was hiding him, I wouldnt have vouched for him to go to Team USA baseball, Bruce said. Im trying to exhaust every avenue on my end, because I dont want anybody to take blame for this. Ive texted my friends in the industry and said, I apologize if I did anything. I just think there was a lot of confusion on a lot of peoples parts -- especially with that redshirt.For Friedl, nothing can obscure a head-spinning odyssey that has left him, his family and his friends in a state of disbelief. During his adventure with Team USA, he spoke several times a week with his mother, who constantly asked him, Is it reality yet? Has it hit you?Late last week, Friedl passed through Nevada to pick up his gear, and he received an invitation from a friend to speak to a group of teenagers at a high school camp. During one point in the conversation, he was asked to share the biggest lesson he has learned.I told the kids, It doesnt matter if youre the highest-recruited kid out of high school or a walk-on, non-recruited kid, Friedl said. No matter what, never stop working.Thats the biggest lesson Ive learned from Coach Bruce: The game always knows. The moment you take the game for granted and think you have everything, thats when itll be taken from you. But as long as you keep your head down and keep working hard, the game will reward you.Friedl has found that rewards -- and pleasant surprises -- come in bunches. On Friday, he hopped a flight to Montana and arrived in Billings around noon. He went directly to Dehler Park with his luggage and found his name in the starting lineup for the Mustangs game against the Ogden Raptors.Several hours later, Friedl launched the second pitch he saw over the fence. And when his debut was complete, hed gone 3-for-3 with two home runs. After a lifetime of overachieving and striving to validate his worth, T.J. Friedl has to deal with a new reality: He wont have the luxury of sneaking up anymore. Stitched NHL Jerseys . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. 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Splyce has heard it all before: the jeers from North American fans and the disinterest from analysts when the discussion inevitably shifts to the Call of Duty European scene. For Splyces shot caller Joshua-Lee Joshh Sheppard, it almost becomes second nature. Its a topic that always comes up in conversation because [Europe] has always been looked down upon by the Americans, he explains. Weve always been considered second best to [North America].But theres reason to believe the tides might be shifting with the European scene riding a wave of success heading into the Call of Duty World Championship in September. No longer just an afterthought, there are a handful of teams from Europe that could make waves at the big event with Splyce leading the charge.Every year, we say this year we might actually be as good as [North America], but this year, I genuinely believe it, Sheppard continued.The narrative is changing surrounding the European Call of Duty scene, and Splyce is at the forefront of the conversation.Success starts at homeStarting in the European Stage 1 playoffs earlier this year in March, where the upstart team were considered an afterthought, Splyce blitzed through its quarterfinal matchup against exceL eSports and semifinal matchup against Team Infused, landing itself a spot in the Stage 1 finals. More importantly, it was in the conversation for the best Call of Duty team in Europe.I think it was a big shock for everyone, including myself, if Im being honest, said Sheppard. Even though its bad to say, I was somewhat a doubter of our team until that run.While Splyce would ultimately lose in the finals of Stage 1 to Millenium 4-1, a series that Sheppard swears could have went Splyces way if not for a few unlucky moments, it was clear the European scene was on the rise. Now, the region just needed to prove their mettle against American competition.In June, the best teams around the world traveled to Zenith, Paris to compete at the Esports World Convention 2016. For many teams, this would be their first taste of international competition. Three North American teams -- OpTic Gaming, Rise Nation, FaZe Clan -- attended the 16-team event. Never mind which team could knock the North American teams off the stage, the overwhelming question from fans and casters was which European team would claim fourth place.But after battling through the group stage event and securing a position within the championship bracket, Splyce was put in position to make a statement for Europe. It started by knocking off FaZe Clan 3-0 in the quarterfinals before defeating Rise Nation 3-2 in the ssemifinals.ddddddddddddStanding in its way of a first place finish was OpTic Gaming, the North American giant that just claimed the North American Stage 1 crown weeks earlier, capping off a brilliant performance during the regular season.If defeating OpTic Gaming was the next hurdle to jump over en route to making a name for European Call of Duty, then Splyce came to an abrupt halt. OpTic Gaming would go on to sweep Splyce 3-0 in the finals, a moment that Sheppard regards with irritation. He would begrudgingly admit his team got destroyed.Still, the bitter loss didnt overshadow all the success Splyce earned throughout the tournament. To get where we did was still really good, he said.A week later, European teams attended the next international event, Major League Gaming Anaheim, to mixed results. While all three teams from across the pond (Splyce, Team Infused, Millenium) made it into the Championship Winners Bracket after surviving a brutal open qualifier, only Team Infused advanced into the quarterfinals and promptly lost to eLevate 3-2. Splyce, to its credit, placed in the Top 12, but Sheppard admitted the results could have been much better.For as dominant as Splyce has looked in 2016, its important to note the team has only managed to secure one title in July: a win at the Gfinity Call of Duty World League Summer Masters. But in order to look dominant, a team must first be in the conversation, a relatively new role for Splyce.Whats next?Even with a disappointing run at Major League Gaming Anaheim, Splyces performance during Stage 2 (at one point, its record was 11-1) has merit and has kept it within the conversation for best team in Europe. A resounding sweep of HyperGames to claim first place in the Gfinity CWL Summer Masters certainly brings some credence to the idea as well. But another playoff run like what it put together in Stage 1 will be critical -- not just for the teams confidence and place within Europe -- but for its reputation outside of it.100 percent, we are the best team in Europe, said Sheppard. Coming off Gfinity, we know well be confident and we can beat anyone, including the American teams. Its just important we are always at that level because it is hard to maintain it.A finals win at the Stage 2 playoffs doesnt just come with a monetary prize; it comes saddled with an entire regions hopes and expectations. After winning the playoffs, the pressure has only just begun. And the pressure is something Splyce relishes. 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