NCAA star is picking football over making guaranteed millions in MLB
The 2018 MLB draft begins Monday, but one of baseball’s top collegiate prospects reportedly has little interest in even signing an MLB contract.
That’s because Kyler Murray also doubles as Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield’s potential replacement at quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Murray, who plays both football and baseball for Oklahoma, has been a dual-athlete for pretty much his entire life.
While in high school, Murray became the first person ever to be selected to compete in the Under Armour All-American games for both baseball and football.
After starting his college career at Texas A&M, Murray transferred to Oklahoma in 2016 and served as Mayfield’s backup in 2017.
Mayfield, for his part, believes Murray is good enough to surpass even the heights that he reached in Norman.
“He’s going to break all my records,” Mayfield told Bleacher Report. “He’s that good.”
Despite his potential as a college football player, many see Murray as an even better baseball player.
However, Murray has reportedly said he wants to stick with football, even though he could be passing up guaranteed millions.
Murray is currently ranked as the 38th-best baseball prospect by ESPN ahead of the MLB draft. Based on last year’s numbers, that would translate into a $1.8 million signing bonus, according to the Dallas Morning News.
One MLB scout has even higher hopes for Murray, telling Bleacher Report that his guarantee would start at between $3 million and $4 million.
Still though, Murray seems to be committed to football for now, and his head coach says he’s not worried about baseball pulling him away from the gridiron.
“I fully expect him to be with us. I really don’t have any worries about it,” Lincoln Riley told reporters last week, per CBS Sports.
Murray hasn’t openly spoken about his intentions ahead of the MLB draft, and that may be because technically, he doesn’t have to make a decision at this point.
He has two more years of eligibility at Oklahoma, so Murray could choose to play one year of football (and baseball) and then wait for a team to take him in the 2019 MLB draft.
He could also play two more years of football (and baseball) and wait for the 2020 MLB draft.
Murray has plenty of options on the table, and he hasn’t said which way he’s leaning. He may have lots of sleepless nights ahead of him, but his football coach surely isn’t stressing over Murray’s decision.
“Everybody else has been a lot more worried about it than me,” Riley said. “I haven’t lost one night of sleep on it, so I apologize if anyone else has.”
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