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4.13.2006
Simply Too Young
There is a great story today in the DMN of a 17 year old Rowlett kid who signed a baseball contract with the Colorado Rockies that would have given him a $460,000 signing bonus.
Last summer he reports to their minor league club in Idaho. After three days (which included a bus trip to Utah and a stop for lunch at Albertson's), he said "screw it" and walked away. He never received a dime of the $460,000.
Now he can't play for any college because he technically became a professional when he signed the contract.
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8 comments:
He wouldn't have quit if it wasn't for the damn conservatives...
Would have loved to have had him at the U of A, he definately should have gone to school.
So he can't play baseball in college. That's his choice, by virtue of making the other decision with full knowledge that he would not be able to play college ball. Since the kid doesn't want to play pro ball, I would assume he will pursue another endeavor in life, for which he is still permitted to go to college and prepare for. So in the end, this is nothing more than a story about a kid who can't play baseball in college for fun.
Last I heard, baseball was still called a GAME. Hopefully the kid will do something worthwhile with his life.
I'm sure all of you could look back when you were eighteen and say.."hey, that was a stupid mistake!" Give him a break, he's a kid.
I kinda feel sorry for the kid. I think the main reason he signed with the Rockies rather than take the scholarship offer from Arkasas was due to pressure applied by his mom and some other members of his family to take the money. Only problem was, At 17,he wasn't mature enough to be out on his own in the environment that players deal with in the minors or majors. Some of his family let the chance of quick money blind them to the fact that he was still a kid and would have been better off in a college program where he could have gained some maturity and still gone pro later when he was ready. As for baseball being a game, once you go professional, it no longer is just a game. The average salary of a major league player this year is just short of 3 million a year (our President makes $400,000), and this kid has a mid 90's fast ball as a 17 year-old which would probably translate to upper 90's in a couple of years as he grows bigger and stronger. That kinda arm is worth multimillions in the majors if he can get it over the plate and develop an off speed pitch.
WOW!
A 17 year old can sign a piece of paper that determines what they do with their future. However, that same 17 year old must wait until 18 to cast their vote for the leader of the free world, sign up for the opportunity to kill people deemed enemies of the US or threats to democracy, even more insane is that same 17 year old must be 21 to decide if they should drink a beer!
What a messed up system.
I'm with you 4:46! Give this kid a chance to go to college, forget the damned "contract". A contract with a person under the age of 18 is not legal.....I thought.
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