The Oakland A’s and Major League Baseball apparently really want Kyler Murray to stop playing football.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the A’s and the MLB are doing everything they can to foster an environment that allows the Oklahoma Sooners Heisman winner to get paid major league money right away.
As Passan pointed out late Saturday night, this would be incredibly rare.
During a meeting in Dallas today, the possibility of Oakland guaranteeing money in addition to Murray’s $4.66 million signing bonus was raised, sources tell ESPN. To do so, Oakland would need to add Murray to its 40-man roster. He still could develop in the minor leagues.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2019
Clarifying the Murray news: MLB technically would not be waiving a rule for Kyler Murray. The rule prevents major league contracts for drafted players. Murray signed a minor league contract. A major league deal would be like him being selected onto the big league roster.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2019
Still: The notion of a player who has never taken an at-bat in the minor leagues winding up with a big league deal shows how special a situation Kyler Murray’s is. It’s not just the Oakland A’s invested in him. It’s Major League Baseball, too. Murray in MLB would be a coup.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2019
He also claimed that the earlier reports about Murray demanding $15 million to stick with baseball weren’t true, but that “more money will be necessary.” (RELATED: Kyler Murray Expected To Enter The NFL Draft, Likely Will Be 1st Round Pick)
During Kyler Murray’s meeting with the Oakland A’s today, specific dollar figures to have Murray choose baseball were not discussed, league sources told ESPN. There was no $15 million demand, per sources.
Clearly more money will be necessary. But it was not talked about today.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 14, 2019
This whole situation is just getting wild, and I absolutely understand why the MLB would do whatever is necessary to get Murray onto Oakland’s roster.
Convincing a top NFL QB prospect to choose baseball over football would be a massive win for the league. In fact, it might be the biggest PR win for the MLB in years.
Murray has everything he wants right in front of him when it comes to football, and it would take a lot at this point for him to choose to ride with the A’s instead of entering the NFL draft.
Still, if the powerbrokers in baseball manage to pull off a coup to get Murray, it would send massive shockwaves through the league.
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The good news is that we should know very soon what Murray’s decision is because he has to declare for the 2019 NFL draft Monday. It’s about to get crazy! Buckle up, folks.