Locker drafted in the 10th round of MLB draft
by LantermanC on Jun 10, 2009 3:20 PM PDT
18 comments
I'm surprised this isn't up yet, but the Angels just drafted Jake Locker.
He might not sign with them, but there is speculation that he might, and they will pay his last two years because a professional athlete cannot have a college athletics scholarship.
Personally, I think this is bad news. You can't fault a guy for looking toward the future (and his future as a possible NFL QB is murky at best), but the fact that he's thinking about baseball again may mean he will be less dedicated to football-specific workouts in the off season. Again, I'm not blaming him for the situation, just saying that it would be hard to give college football 110% when you think there is a good chance you're going to be a pro baseball player by Christmas 2010.
0 recs |
18 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
I heard this earlier; nothin to worry about...
The same thing happened with Stanback.
I know people are getting flashbacks of the nightmare with Matt Tuiasosopo with this info, but that was a different deal…. his #1 sport was baseball and his dream was to play for the M’s, and they drafted him.
Locker stated that football is what he wants to do, the Angels also tried to pick him up out of high school, but said football is his priority. And he will probably address this issue later.
I hate to break it to everyone, but he is not the greatest player. He is inconsistant at the plate, I struck him out 2 times of the 4 times i faced him. He wasn’t even the best player on his team. He would play center field because even though he has a 95 mph fastball, he only has a fastball, no curve, and his fastball has one location right down the pipe. Locker would at best be an AAA Minor but would spend most of his time in AA minors.
He knows that his future is much brighter in football than baseball.
So again there is nothing to worry about, he even said he won’t play for the bellingham bells again because his focus is football. The Angels have a stacked farm club and can throw a pick away, which is what they did.
Yeah but when they start tossing around...
million dollar signing bonuses at 20 year old kids it can do strange things. My bet is that he plays out his next two years at UW and then tests the baseball waters again. If he were to make it known that he were persuing baseball he could easily be taken higher than he was out of HS (40th). First round picks in the MLB draft generally earn a signing bonus in the 1.5-3 million dollar range. That is a lot of coin to turn down, particularly when he could go as low as a 5-7th rounder in the NFL Draft and sign for just above the league minimum.
If he gets taken in round two or higher in the NFL Draft, and they project him as a QB and not a TE or RB than I can see him playing football as a career.
True
Very true, but he was offered $1 million out of high school. He will finish school, if you know his family… his parents are making him finish school. So if there was ever any reason to worry it would be next year. And he is talking about this upcoming football season and about practices starting up.
So if I were going to accept the offer, I would be getting on to the summer leagues, and his mind is on football now
I think it's because he has
a legit shot at being a starter in the NFL. Two sport kids rarely work out and if he got hurt playing baseball over the summer he could ruin himself in both sports. Like I said 3rd round or above and a shot at QB or else back to baseball is how I see it going.
I really don’t see anything to be worried about. If anything, it’s good news – if Locker can agree to a deal with the Angels, he can free up another scholarship for Sarkisian to hand out for the 2010 class.
Locker has made it clear football is his #1 priority, and trying to balance playing baseball for fun and keeping up with his off-season football workouts and informal practice is why he’s not playing this summer like he did last summer.
Locker will only start paying attention to baseball again if he can’t make it in the NFL, and it sounds like that’s the stance he’s going to take with negotiations with the Angels – if they’re cool with his priorities, then he’ll sign.
Remember, Jake already turned down millions to play baseball when he made it clear at Ferndale that he was going to play football at the UW, and not sign a deal to play baseball. He was rated highly enough that he could’ve commanded a $1M+ signing bonus back then had he been open to pursuing baseball.
I am happy for Jake
It gives him more options and the opportunity to make some serious cash.
He is a junior to be so he could sign if he wants and not play till next year. In fact he wouldn’t have to play much next year.
Most think he has more of a future in baseball than football…but we will see what happens this fall.
He doesn’t have to sign till next June so he has plenty of options.
He doesn’t have to sign till next June so he has plenty of options.
Actually, the date is this August 17th.
Doesn’t really change anything though – I trust Jake’s word that football is still his #1 priority, so he won’t sign anything with the Angels unless they’re cool with his desire to pursue football full-time through college and see what his NFL prospects are. With that being the case, I wouldn’t expect the Angels to offer a whole lot of money, but something is better than nothing right?
As I said above, this has only a positive impact for the Husky football program, as it would open up another scholarship for the 2010 class if Jake were to sign, forfeit his scholarship and become a “walk-on”.
Locker might sign
Locker says he is open to signing with the Angels but as I posted above it won’t affect what he is doing with UW. He won’t play this year and if he plays with them next year it won’t be for long.
Take the money Jake!
It is a win/win situation!
One scholarship doesn't mean much to us.
If I were Jake, I’d wait until next year or two. If more pro teams know that he’s available to be drafted, let the M’s sign him next year as a 3rd round pick. Obviously he’s very raw when it comes to baseball, but he’s such a ‘toolsy’ guy that he could very well be a first rounder. I mean c’mon the guy obviously is very coordinated, and has a ton of strength and speed.
…but he’s such a ‘toolsy’ guy that he could very well be a first rounder
I will buy you an evening’s worth of drinks if Jake is ever a 1st round pick in the MLB draft. He’s 3 years removed from playing H.S. baseball, and had one short summer stint last year playing some semi-pro ball. That’s simply nowhere near enough current evidence of his abilities for a team to use a 1st round pick on him.
Now, if you want to argue that his physical abilities are 1st round – absolutely. But he’s rusty, and the older he gets and the further away from regular competitive baseball he gets, the less likely it is he’ll provide a good return on investment by a team drafting him.
Let’s take Jake at his word that he sticks with playing QB for the UW the next two years, and he abstains from playing baseball this summer and next summer. Unless Jake gets injured pretty bad, he’s going to have a shot at playing in the NFL, even if it’s a position switch. And of course he has the potential to be a very high draft pick in the NFL as a QB if Sarkisian and Nussmeier are successful in translating his physical skills into a good pro-style QB.
But let’s say he doesn’t develop that well as a QB, gets drafted in the late rounds by an NFL team as an “athlete” and is cut after training camp. Jake is now 22 years old and hasn’t played competitive baseball in over 3 years. Most players reach their performance peak around the age of 27, give or take a few years. Even if Jake picks right back up in the sport, he’d still likely need at least 3 years of playing in the minors, if not more like 4 or 5 before he’s ready for the majors (if he ever gets to that point at all). No matter how gifted he is physically, there is no team that is going to risk spending a 1st round pick on him at that point, as he is simply too unproven for his age.
It’s also the reason why, if Jake is telling the truth about his intentions, that I doubt the Angels will end up offering him a whole lot of money.
Yes, this is what I meant.
Now, if you want to argue that his physical abilities are 1st round – absolutely. But he’s rusty, and the older he gets and the further away from regular competitive baseball he gets, the less likely it is he’ll provide a good return on investment by a team drafting him.
Sorry for the confusion.
Upside to the UW
So I’m thinking that this is a positive for the UW, and that Sark might actually encourage Jake to sign. I know it’s only one scholarship, but if we can get the Calfornia Angels to pay Jake’s way through his last two years of school why wouldn’t we let them? I keep hearing how Sark may only have 15 or so scholarships to offer next year (that’s off the top of my head, I can’t remember the exact numbers) so why wouldn’t we want another one available?
Even if they only pay Jake $1M, it’s a win-win for him and the UW for him to sign. All it does is give the Angels his rights for six years, two of which will be lost to UW football.
No chance Jake takes the money now
Jake’s not going to take the money to play in the Angels farm system- he can do that after he graduates if he wants, the money is going to be there.
His big cash-in is at QB. Locker knows that with Sarkisian coaching him, it could become a $25+ millon dollar signing bonus as a NFL QB draftee. That’s where the big bucks are. Locker is safe as a Husky until he graduates. After that he will choose between a NFL or MLB career.
All I saw was purple
My understanding is that signing doesn’t necessarily mean that he will have to play baseball in two years. Just that the Angels have his playing rights for the next six years if he decides to play, and he can still play college football and enter the NFL draft. And he’s quoted in this story as saying he’s considering signing.
If my understanding is wrong, let me know.
kirkd, I’m not sure that $1M is out of the question, it’s what they offered him when they drafted him a couple years ago, even though he was insisting that football was his sport back then.
And here’s a transcript of Locker’s teleconference where he clearly states that he’s considering signing.
kirkd, I’m not sure that $1M is out of the question, it’s what they offered him when they drafted him a couple years ago, even though he was insisting that football was his sport back then.
There’s a big difference between an 18 year old kid who just finished his H.S. baseball career vs. a 21 year old kid who’s 3 years removed from H.S. baseball and over a year removed from a couple months of summer baseball.
Now, if Locker indicated that money could sway his decision to play football this fall, then yeah – I could see the possibility of the Angels offering $1M. But it didn’t sway him back then, and I doubt it will now. And if Locker isn’t willing to commit to baseball right away and stays 2 more years at the UW and then pursues an NFL career, I just don’t see any way the Angels would throw $1M at him for the possibility that they might get a Locker that’s aged 22/23 and is at least 3 years removed from any competitive baseball.
Every year Locker goes where he isn’t playing competitive baseball and honing his skills is a year wasted in his development in that sport and the lower his potential ceiling becomes.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
