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The LSU Tigers have already had a perfect offseason, but it could be getting even better, as one of their top pitching arms could still make it to campus despite being a second-round pick.
There have been a couple of standouts who have already made their decision to go to campus, like Dominic Santarelli and outfielder Malachi Washington, but they were drafted in the 18th round.
It was an easy decision for them to go to college at that point.
It has been much less clear for Logan Schmidt, who was taken with the No.
59 overall pick in the draft.
Not only was he a second-round pick, but he was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians, who have a strong history of developing arms.
It seems like a no-brainer that he would make it to Baton Rouge, right? The thing is, the MLB draft is unlike others.
It has a much more complicated contract system for draft picks, compared to football or basketball, which people might be more accustomed to.
Each team is assigned a draft bonus pool, which is essentially the money they have to hand out to their draft picks.
Each slot has a "slot value" that players can either accept under or over that amount, but it would affect their ability to sign others.
The Guardians, for example, signed their first-round pick for $4,530,500, which is exactly slot value.
After accounting for that pick, they would have just under $4.8 million to work with.
After signing all of their other picks, because some went over, Cleveland could now only give Schmidt just over $1.7 million.
That is under slot value, and Schmidt is someone who could have commanded over slot value in the second.
Now, in all likelihood, Cleveland is going to miss out on Schmidt and he will head to campus.
Whether or not that campus would be in Baton Rouge would still have to be determined.
LSU still has to afford Schmidt and this has not been a cheap offseason.
A talented arm like him, though, is someone the school would move resources around to land.
They could also have competition, due to his age.
If Schmidt goes to the Tigers, then he won't be draft eligible for three years.
If he were to go another route, such as a JUCO opportunity, then he could re-enter the draft next cycle and try again.
These are the conversations now happening in Baton Rouge.