By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL/Designated Writers

Baseball, I love. Always been my favorite sport and as long as they keep playing it — which seems to be in question these days — I’ll still be at the front of line.

Drafts, I love. For all the ridiculous amount of buildup there is, the NFL draft has plenty of excitement, because many have already been on a national stage before they even get a chance to man-hug Roger Goodell. And I like the NBA draft; it’s basically one round of guys who should have an immediate impact on their team and then everybody else is the equivalent of Others Receiving Votes.

But put the two together — The Major League Baseball Draft — and it does nothing for me.

The last two days have been filled with a wide-range of picks — from an Arizona State third baseman to a high school kid from Independence, Tenn. — that I would prefer to not know anything about.

I liked it better when the draft was basically a secret; for awhile MLB would only release the order of the first round for fear that these picks would become low-hanging fruit for college baseball.

MLB has tried to copy its basketball and football brethren with the silly grand announcements by the commissioner. That is followed by ridiculous over-analysis by draftniks (yes, there is such a thing) who will regale us with stats about a catcher’s pop time and whether or not his launch angle can be improved.

But the biggest problem isn’t that this information doesn’t come from scouts watching them play in a key state playoff game. It’s all done from measurables at some kind of summer showcase. You think the NFL Combine is a cattle call? You should see what these showcases are all about. Intangibles, which are bigger in baseball than any other sport, are basically irrelevant. Look at that spin rate!

The baseball draft has always been the biggest crapshoot of any of the sports. Minnesota pitcher Tyler Jay was chosen as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 and he has yet to throw an inning in the major leagues. Eighteen picks later, the Los Angeles Dodgers picked Walker Buehler, who already has made an All-Star team and had six starts in the postseason.

Players get drafted and then they basically go away. When they all get sent to the minor leagues, no matter how much “slot money” they got, the field gets pretty level in a hurry. It’s the toughest sport to play and they have to learn how in the minor leagues. Reports soon start to filter out from the Rookie League or from the Class AA Southern League about a prospect who is tearing it up. There is endless hope that this may be the guy who is going to turn around the franchise.

But in the meantime, I don’t need to know right now what current second baseman he might turn out to be like. I’ll find out when he gets there, whether is it in September this year or in five years.