SPRINGVILLE — As the Major League Baseball draft progressed through the first two rounds Tuesday, Aaron Jensen began weighing the value of a college education against the signing bonus and lifestyle of a professional baseball rookie.
The Springville High graduate, who led the Red Devils to the Class 4A state championship, told the pro scouts prior to the draft that if he wasn't selected in the first three rounds he would honor the scholarship offer he signed last November to play baseball at BYU for coach Vance Law.
But midway through the third round, and having not yet been selected, Jensen moved up that barrier. After telling the Milwaukee Brewers on the telephone that he would not sign if they selected him in the fourth round, he then called back a St. Louis scout to tell the Cardinals not to waste their third-round pick on him either. He also called his adviser in California with instructions for all of the 28 pro teams that scouted him — he no longer had the "signability" pro scouts are after.
"I'm going to college," Jensen said before the third round had even ended. "It feels right. I feel good about it. In college I can only get better and stronger."
Still, the Seattle Mariners gambled that he'll change his mind when they selected him with a chance-pick in the 19th round, with the 566th overall pick. Jensen says he'd only sign if Seattle offered him near-first-round money. And once he attends classes at BYU he can't be touched by a professional team until after his junior year of college eligibility expires or he turns 21 years old.
"He'll fit right in for us as a freshman and pitch a lot of important innings for us," Law said. "I have no doubt he has a great arm and can play."
Since twirling a 15-strikeout no-hitter against the Jordan Beetdiggers in April at the Dixie Sunshine Tournament in St. George, Jensen has been courted by dozens of local and national pro scouts. He didn't pitch a game this season without a line of radar guns behind the screen clocking his 90-96 MPH fastballs. Midway through the season Jensen began taking advice from Steve Canter, a Los Angeles-based consultant, when scouts tried to pin him down on how much of a signing bonus he'd accept.
Most scouts projected him to be drafted in the second or third round. Some, however, thought he'd go higher, possibly in the late first round. A scout told the Deseret News last week that he'd be "surprised" if Jensen weren't picked in the first two rounds.
Players selected in the first two rounds normally get a signing bonus of close to $1 million, with a clause that would also pay for the prospect's college education.
Third-round and fourth-round picks still get a pretty good chunk of change, a bonus near $200,000. But that isn't enough for Jensen to trade a college experience that is a 15-minute car-ride from home, for a life on the road comprised mostly of eight-hour bus trips from town to town playing for a Rookie League team.
"By playing at BYU everything is here and closer to home," he said.
Jensen had heard stories of high prospects slipping in the draft, and knew Major League teams are wary of Utah high schoolers being able to withstand the rookie lifestyle. He said that's why he tried to remain low-key about the pre-draft projections.
"I didn't want to get my expectations high because you can't control what goes on in the draft," Jensen said.
When the hard-throwing right-hander announced that college was first on his career ladder, his father revealed for the first time that the college path was the hope for his son all along.
"It's a better place to mature and an opportunity to pitch in a program where he'll be given the time to improve his skills," Karl Jensen said. "How can he lose?"
Law says Jensen already has a good understanding of pitching, but believes he will develop more in the collegiate system. And if he has a good college career his professional stock will only rise.
"He's already ahead of the game," Law said. "So he'll get his shot."
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com