Trevor Rogers is going to go to the big leagues

Huddled around a table with his family, state championship trophy, and Carlsbad Caveman flag, Trevor Rogers sat with pen in hand ready to sign his NLI. Wearing a Texas Tech baseball shirt, Rogers signed his intent letter on November 14, 2016. It all seemed like he was set to be the next great Red Raider pitcher, that is until the June 12, 2017.

Leading up to the MLB draft, Rogers went from mid-tier to can’t miss prospect. His senior year, Rogers went 11-0 with a 0.33 ERA. This dominance had his stock shoot up most draft boards, With his positioning, the left handed starting pitcher was selected with the 13th overall pick by the Miami Marlins. What does this mean for the Red Raiders? We will never see him in a Red Raider jersey.

Many things point to the Rogers foregoing his college years to turn pro. One thing is that Rogers attended the MLB draft in Secaucus, New Jersey. Once Rogers was selected, he put on his new Miami Marlins jersey and shook hands with the commissioner. This shows that Rogers finds his MLB possibility very intriguing and wants to get started in that part of his life. He was at the draft with three other high school prospects who are all also projected to forego their college careers.

Another point is just how high he was selected. Before the draft scouts have many conversations with players. Even though there may not be combines and individual workouts like the NFL and NBA, but there are still interviews. One of the main questions are “If we pick you, will you still play college baseball?” The answer to this question can many times effect where your selection. Pat Mahomes told MLB scouts that he was going to play college baseball and football and this dropped him in the 2014 draft tremendously. The Marlins would not have selected Rogers with the 13th overall pick if they felt as though he was not going to come there.

Last but not least is the money. The value of the 13th pick is over $3 million, and with Rogers being the first pick for Miami, hes also due to get the biggest chunk of the team’s $9 million bonus pool. Rogers is set to make pver $4 million total by signing on with Miami as opposed to living a nice simple college student life. There aren’t many people on the planet that would pass up being a multi millionaire to be a broke colege kid.

With all this being said, it is safe to say Rogers will be getting ready to play rookie level minor league baseball in the spring. This isn’t a completely bad thing for Texas Tech baseball. Sure we would all love to have the terrific left hander in the rotation for the next three to four seasons but the fact that someone of his caliber wanted to sign on with Coach Tadlock’s program shows the status of the program. Top tier teams deal with this in all major sports, and the fact that Tech is now being presented this problem with Rogers is a good thing.

Rogers isn’t the only one Tadlock is worried about, with Juniors Tanner Gardner and Parker Mushinski both getting selected in the top 10 rounds. Having multiple underclassmen given the opportunity to go pro early is a sign of the talent in and around the program. We see it with Duke in basketball and Alabama in football. This comes with the territory of getting Texas Tech to that level in baseball.