Why was Kyler Murray a 1st round pick in the MLB?

He batted .296 in his second season (was terrible in his first). He also had decent power with 10 home runs that year.

And his speed and athleticism basically guaranteed he would be an elite center fielder.

A lot of people questioned it at the time, especially since he indicated he was going to give up baseball to focus on his football career before the A’s drafted him.

Then he went in the first round, told the A’s he would resume baseball after he spent that summer and fall focused on football. That plan enabled him to sign for a multi-million dollar MLB bonus, but he quit baseball again when he won the Heisman.

However, He was an elite prospect coming out of high school, so he had been on the MLB radar for awhile, but between football and transferring schools, he essentially took a 2+ year break from any type of competitive baseball. His stats were much improved in his only full season playing baseball in college leading up to that 2018 draft.

I get that, and it’s very impressive that he had a relatively good season without any fall ball or offseason prep. But .296 isn’t even all-conference caliber, much less a first round pick for a position player.

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But .296 isn’t even all-conference caliber, much less a first round pick for a position player.

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There’s a guy hitting .291 right now who’s going to go in the first. Batting average is a very small piece of the equation especially when talking about a draft prospect

tough strike zone

I always thought it was a Billy Beane decision. If a player develops and plays well then great but he's the the type to draft a player that he doesn't really expect to sign so he can get a compensatory pick down the road. Worked out well for the Astros when they didn't sign Aiken and ended up getting both Tucker and Bregman in the top 5.

But I do know the A's signed him and just retained his rights should he want to play baseball, not sure how that works when it comes to draft picks if he doesn't ever play.

It was a ballsy high risk/ high reward thing. He's athletic enough to maybe work out and sell some tickets but his future was always football.

The downside is the A's don't sign him and lose the slot value $$ for that pick. The upside is they get a compensatory pick the following year, one slot after where they picked previously, in addition to their normal pick...Plus expanded draft pool $$.

You can argue it was a dumb move and a wasted pick but maybe the A's didn't see the right value in 2018 1st round and wanted a head start on 2019? It's still silly to waste the 9th overall pick though.

Do you even five tool player bro?

There is a reason why scouts exist and players aren't drafted strictly off of their stats at a certain level of play.