photo credit: Instagram/Landon Schaefer
An Arkansas signee and legitimate MLB Draft prospect, Landon Schaefer is well-known in baseball circles across the country. That wasn’t the case when Mike Neighbors first laid eyes upon him, though.
No one has ever accused the self-described “basketball junkie” of being a baseball scout, but it didn’t take much expertise to recognize the Fayetteville High grad’s talent – even at just 9 years old.
That’s when Neighbors, then the women’s basketball coach at Washington, hired longtime friend Todd Schaefer – Landon’s dad – as an assistant. He was hanging out at their new home in Seattle when he got sucked into a game of wiffle ball in the backyard.
“I’m pitching, so I’m kind of throwing it up there, halfway aiming at the bat, halfway trying to throw a good pitch for him to hit,” Neighbors recounted to Best of Arkansas Sports. “And he catches it with his inside hand and tosses it back to me and goes, ‘Is that all you got? You don’t have to lob it in here.
“So then I rear back and threw it, and he hit a line drive that split my part right over my forehead – like, ‘That’s what you get for a kind of lobbing one at me. I can hit.’ I knew he was probably going to be just fine when it came to baseball.”
Luckily for the current Los Angeles Sparks assistant coach, he hasn’t thrown BP to Schaefer any time recently. Not only has he traded in the plastic bat and ball for the real thing, but his combination of bat speed and power have turned him into a top-100 recruit and caught the attention of pro scouts.
Like it will for many touted high schoolers, next month’s MLB Draft offers an opportunity for the heralded shortstop to skip college entirely and upgrade to the wooden bats of professional baseball.
To get a feel for Schaefer’s looming decision, BoAS recently caught up with the Razorbacks’ top 2025 signee and biggest draft risk…
Committing to Arkansas Baseball
The stint in Seattle was short-lived. After one season with the Huskies, Todd Schaefer was on the move again because Neighbors was hired by his alma mater in April 2017 and he brought his trusted assistant along with him.
Still in elementary school at the time, it was a homecoming of sorts for Landon. He was born while his dad was an assistant at Arkansas Tech and has now spent about two-thirds of his life in the Natural State between stops in Russellville, Greenbrier, Jonesboro and finally Fayetteville — but that didn’t necessarily make his recruitment a layup for Dave Van Horn.
“I really never cheered on the Razorbacks growing up,” Schaefer admitted.
He was more of an Arizona State fan because that’s where his favorite player, Dustin Pedroia, went to school. With alums like him, Reggie Jackson and Barry Bonds, the Sun Devils are a historic college baseball power that have fallen on hard times.
His dad’s job provided an excellent alternative as he started thinking about where he wanted to play at the next level.
“Coming to learn that, hey, Arizona State’s probably not a place I want to go, (so) I’ll give Arkansas a try,” Schaefer said. “Went to a couple camps, got in touch with the coaches and I quickly learned Arkansas is very beloved in baseball and it’s a well-respected program.”
The Razorbacks were actually eliminated by Arizona State in 2010 and 2011, but the two programs have been on opposite trajectories ever since. While those proved to be the Sun Devils’ last appearances in the College World Series and super regionals, respectively, Arkansas entered a golden age just as Schaefer arrived in Fayetteville.
He came to Baum-Walker Stadium every chance he got and his first full season saw the 2018 team finish national runner-up and come ever so close to winning it all. That squad was led by Carson Shaddy, another Fayetteville product who quickly became Schaefer’s new favorite player.
Those formative years made it easy to turn down the other SEC teams in “super heavy” pursuit of his talents like Auburn, Tennessee and LSU. He commited to the Razorbacks in August 2021 at the start of his freshman year of high school.
“I fell in love with the culture and the facilities and just the atmosphere of Baum-Walker and what DVH has built there,” Schaefer said. “So it was a pretty easy decision for me.”
While he hasn’t wavered in his commitment the last four years and officially signed last November, there’s no guarantee Schaefer will ever wear an Arkansas baseball uniform.
The Lure of the MLB Draft
Despite his dad – who’s now at Missouri – being a basketball coach, Landon Schaefer never really saw a future for himself on the hardwood. He did, however, have dreams of being a two-sport athlete for the Razorbacks.
By the time he was through his sophomore year at Fayetteville, though, the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder realized just how difficult that’d be and that his future was swinging a bat, not playing quarterback.
It was a wise decision, as Schaefer has evolved into a legitimate MLB Draft prospect at just 18 years old. He’s ranked as the No. 68 overall recruit and No. 29 shortstop in the Class of 2025 by Perfect Game, while MLB Pipeline has him at No. 125 among this year’s top 250 draft prospects — a list that includes high school and college players alike.
Schaefer’s summer has been filled with trips all across the country for “several” pre-draft workouts, during which he’s toured MLB stadiums, taken batting practice on the field and met with upper management. Just last week, he was one of 322 high school and college players who participated in the MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field in Phoenix.
“Being 18 years old and having such a prestigious invite to a place like that with high-level players, college players — like the studs from the SEC and the ACC — it was super cool,” Schaefer said. “Meeting with all the teams was absolutely awesome. It’s really funny to see how down-to-earth all those pro teams are. They’re just like every normal guy, they just have a different title.”
If the process sounds a lot like a college recruiting process for more publicized sports like football and men’s basketball, that’s because there are a lot of similarities.
The pre-draft workouts and combine certainly allow players to improve their stock, but they also give MLB teams a chance to roll out the red carpet and discuss their pro opportunities — much like official visits at the college level.
Money is also a factor, but in the form of a signing bonus that can dwarf what NIL and revenue sharing offer.
For example, Schaefer’s ranking by MLB Pipeline would make him a fourth-round pick, which comes with a slot value — MLB’s recommended bonuses for particular picks — in the $545,000-$723,000 range. Those numbers are flexible, though, and high school players typically command over-slot bonuses to skip school, so it’s not inconceivable that a player like Schaefer gets offered seven figures.
It will boil down to how much he and his family deem enough to warrant skipping college. If no one is willing to meet his asking price, Schaefer likely won’t be selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft that runs July 13-14 and would instead come to school.
The Case for Arkansas Baseball
The creme de la creme of high school players traditionally get drafted and sign with pro franchises, though it’s becoming more common for them to make it to campus.
Something working in Arkansas’ favor is the fact Landon Schaefer has been so intertwined with the Razorbacks over the last eight years. Being the son of a coach definitely comes with perks, like getting good tickets to basketball games against Duke and Kentucky and meeting NBA players like Isaiah Joe, Moses Moody and Jaylin Williams.
“You get to see all the backstage stuff that most people don’t get to see,” Schaefer said. “You get to go in places people can’t go. You get to stay after when the gym or the stadium’s empty and get to spend a little bit of time there.”
Schaefer isn’t the only Fayetteville High product set to join the Razorbacks next year, either. Two of his teammates — right-hander Mark Brissey and outfielder Jaison DeLamar — are part of the 2025 signing class, as well.
The three have known each other for a while, even though Brissey is originally from Batesville.
“To finally be able to be teammates for our final year in high school was really special,” Schaefer said. “It was honestly awesome. Just knowing that we’re going to be teammates again for the next three to four years is something that I’m looking forward to.”
It also helps that Schaefer will be part of the first crop of high school players to benefit from revenue sharing and the elimination of scholarship limits that came with the House settlement, which kicks off on July 1.
Even money from revenue sharing, coupled with NIL, may not be able to compete with signing bonuses from pro teams. The latter part of that is significant because in the days of 11.7 scholarships, it was rare for even the best players to get a full-ride. Now Schaefer and other talented baseball players won’t have to weigh the prospect of taking on debt or burdening their parents with school expenses.
“It eases a little bit of stress,” Schaefer said. “I mean, we already have enough stress as student-athletes trying to balance the athlete and the student aspect of it, and the social life, so that definitely takes a burden off our shoulders.”
There’s a development aspect to consider, too, as the Razorbacks have facilities on par with most Double-A and Triple-A teams. Theoretically, Schaefer could come to school, make some money via revenue sharing/NIL and improve to the point he commands a larger signing bonus while cutting down the time he needs to spend in the minor leagues.
He also went out of his way to tell BoAS about the close relationship he has with the entire Arkansas staff. That’s something he takes “very seriously” when considering his options.
Either way, Schaefer will be taking a major step toward achieving his ultimate dream this summer.
“I feel confident that I’ll make the right decision, whether that’s to come to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and play in front of tens of thousands of people every weekend or start my professional career early,” Schaefer said. “I mean, my goal is to be a big leaguer, and whether that means I started early or I come to Arkansas and develop and play in front of the home crowd, I have the best of both worlds.
“It’s definitely not going to be an easy decision, but I’m excited for it.”
Landon Schaefer Scouting Report & Intel
He has played a little bit of third base and center field over the years, but Landon Schaefer is primarily a shortstop.
While that is true of many high-level high school players who ultimately change positions at the next level, the Fayetteville High product has the ability to stick at that spot at the next level.
Already a subscriber? Log in here
Keep reading this article for free.
Sign up for a free account to continue reading and get access to the BoAS’ newsletter.
The free account you create gives access to more of BoAS’ stories delivered to your inbox. Unsubscribe any time.
***
***
More coverage of Arkansas baseball from BoAS…