Logan Schmidt will play college baseball.
Where that will be is yet to be determined. He posted on Instagram that “I have made the difficult decision not to sign with the Cleveland Guardians” and added that “I’m excited for what’s next.”
He has signed with LSU and has been in steady talks with the Tiger staff over the last week.
The first decision to be made was whether or not Schmidt would sign professionally. The next is more complicated. LSU offers a pitching infrastructure that has produced multimillionaires in Paul Skenes, Kade Anderson and Gage Jump. Junior college offers another bite at the MLB draft apple in 12 months time as opposed to three years.
With the Guardians no longer an option, LSU enters a leveraged position. Jay Johnson spent Sunday morning in Pittsburgh watching Derek Curiel sign for north of $6 million. Now he turns his full attention to Schmidt.
HUNT’S TAKE
Schmidt not including LSU in his Instagram post clearly suggests that the four-year college route is not a slam dunk. Sources suggested that to LouisianaSports.net on Saturday.
Now, there is no imminent deadline. And the discussions change. The positive for LSU is that he flatly turned down more than $1.5 million. So, he’s serious about getting more. LSU can offer some financial compensation through NIL and revenue sharing. That’s standard practice. JUCO can’t. Getting to the big payday is next.
JUCO offers a quicker path. Handling SEC hitters for three years offers a more proven resume. It also offers more risk.
At this point, both options are very much in play. Johnson will front the recruiting efforts, and JUCO will be a fall-back option. That’s not to suggest it’s clearly running second.
Schmidt and his team have handled the first part. The second is to come.
