Both signees in the 2021 Clemson football recruiting class are projected to be top picks in the upcoming MLB Draft later this summer.
3-star QB Bubba Chandler and 3-star ATH Will Taylor are both supposed to be arriving on campus later this summer as part of the 2021 enrollees, but the major obstacle standing in the way just might be the MLB Draft.
The draft, which is set to take place in July, will be 20-round format in which both high school and collegiate baseball players will be eligible to be selected. Once selected, high school prospects can decide between signing their professional contract or deciding to head on to college in which they’ll have three years before they’re eligible to enter the MLB Draft again.
According to the latest projections, both Chandler and Taylor are expected to be first-rounders.
In ESPN’s latest mock draft, Chandler is selected with the No. 9 overall pick to the Los Angeles Angels. Taylor is later selected by the New York Yankees with the No. 20 overall pick.
The slot values for this year’s picks haven’t been announced yet, but here’s a reference for how much money is on the table for both athletes: The No. 9 overall pick in 2020 had a contract value of $4.9 million. The No. 20 overall pick in 2020 had a contract value of $3.2 million. With 37 picks in the first-round in 2020, the lowest pick received $1.9 million.
While anything can happen, Clemson football should be planning on losing both athletes to the draft
Both Chandler and Taylor have taken the ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the draft, but it’s going to be tough for a player to turn down upwards of $3 million to go ahead and start their professional career versus coming to Clemson and seeing what happens down the road.
While anything can happen, no one is looking at Chandler or Taylor and believing that they’re going to be a first-round pick in a future NFL Draft.
Both guys have talent and they could make major impacts for both the football team and the baseball team, but turning down that amount of money to come with no guarantee that you’ll ever see the field for any significant time with the football team is a risk.
Now, it’s all worth it if you want to earn that college degree and you just love the game. But that’s a decision that both guys will have to make individually and no one can blame them either way.
The Tiger coaching staff, however, needs to start preparing as if both athletes won’t be on the roster this fall because there’s a major possibility of that happening.