{"id":605191,"date":"2026-03-04T06:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/605191\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T06:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:08:15","slug":"will-kyler-murray-play-baseball-explaining-mlb-options-if-as-draft-pick-wants-to-change-sports-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/605191\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Kyler Murray play baseball? Explaining MLB options if A’s draft pick wants to change sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Kyler Murray play baseball? Explaining MLB options if A’s draft pick wants to change sports<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

JUMP TO:<\/p>\n

Did Kyler Murray play baseball?<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray baseball career<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray MLB draft pick<\/p>\n

Do the A’s still own Kyler Murray’s rights?<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray baseball contract<\/p>\n

Why did Kyler Murray choose football over baseball?<\/p>\n

Last time Kyler Murray played baseball<\/p>\n

Will Kyler Murray play baseball again?<\/p>\n

NFL players to switch to baseball<\/p>\n

Before Kyler Murray became a starting quarterback in the NFL, there were serious questions about whether he’d even play football at all.<\/p>\n

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Murray was a standout baseball player at Oklahoma and was on track for a professional baseball career before breaking out as the 2018 Heisman Trophy winner. In the span of a year, he was a first-round pick in two different sports and faced a legitimate choice between the two leagues.<\/p>\n

Murray chose football, but it\u2019s still possible he could return to baseball at some point. Here\u2019s a look at his baseball career.<\/p>\n

MORE: Why did the Cardinals release Kyler Murray?<\/a><\/p>\n

Did Kyler Murray play baseball?<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray was a dual-threat player while attending Oklahoma, playing both football and baseball in his college career. While Murray was a backup quarterback initially upon transferring to Oklahoma, he more immediately found playing time on the baseball team.<\/p>\n

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MORE:\u00a016 NFL stars you didn’t know were also drafted to MLB<\/a><\/p>\n

Kyler Murray baseball careerWhat position did Kyler Murray play?<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray was an outfielder in college, spending the majority of his time in center field but also moving around to both corner spots.<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray baseball stats<\/p>\n

Year<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

League<\/p>\n

Games<\/p>\n

Hits<\/p>\n

Runs<\/p>\n

HRs<\/p>\n

RBIs<\/p>\n

SB<\/p>\n

BA<\/p>\n

OPB<\/p>\n

OPS<\/p>\n

2017<\/p>\n

Oklahoma<\/p>\n

NCAA<\/p>\n

27<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

0<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

.122<\/p>\n

.317<\/p>\n

.440<\/p>\n

2017<\/p>\n

Harwich<\/p>\n

Cape Cod<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

.170<\/p>\n

.273<\/p>\n

.549<\/p>\n

2018<\/p>\n

Oklahoma<\/p>\n

NCAA<\/p>\n

51<\/p>\n

56<\/p>\n

46<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

47<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

.296<\/p>\n

.398<\/p>\n

.954<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Ranking the best QBs taken with picks 1-32 in NFL history<\/a><\/p>\n

Kyler Murray MLB draft pick<\/p>\n

The Athletics drafted Kyler Murray with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft, immediately following his breakout season for Oklahoma baseball. However, the A’s let Murray play football in the fall, which resulted in the quarterback winning the Heisman Trophy that season.<\/p>\n

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MORE: How much money is Kyler Murray worth?<\/a><\/p>\n

Do the A’s still own Kyler Murray’s rights?<\/p>\n

Although Murray hasn’t played for the Athletics since the organization drafted him in 2018, the A’s still own Murray’s MLB rights. Therefore, if Murray every wants to make the switch to baseball, he would be doing so for the Athletics unless the team decides to trade or denounce his rights.<\/p>\n

MORE: Meet Kyler Murray’s family<\/a><\/p>\n

Kyler Murray baseball contract<\/p>\n

Murray’s initial contract with the Athletics included a $4.6 million signing bonus. However, by opting to play football instead, Murray reportedly repaid a portion of that singing bonus back to the Athletics.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Most home runs in an MLB Game, from Lou Gehrig to Nick Kurtz<\/a><\/p>\n

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Why did Kyler Murray choose football over baseball?<\/p>\n

Murray entered the 2019 NFL draft on February 11, 2019, and he made it clear that football was his passion.<\/p>\n

“Football has been my love and passion my entire life,” Murray said. “I was raised to play QB, and I very much look forward to dedicating 100% of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships.”<\/p>\n

Murray likely got an inkling that the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> would draft him first overall, allowing him a chance to start immediately and giving a four-year, $35.7 million rookie contract out of the gate. Then, Murray signed a five-year, $230 million extension with Arizona in 2022.<\/p>\n

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Had Murray stayed with baseball, it would’ve taken longer for him to make his way through the Athletics organization, before having a chance to earn hundreds of millions of dollars. Ultimately, the path Murray chose gave him more immediate money and success.<\/p>\n

MORE:Complete list of every player in the 3,000 strikeout club<\/a><\/p>\n

How old is Kyler Murray?<\/p>\n

Kyler Murray was born on August 7, 1997, so he will be 29 years old when the 2026 NFL season begins. As Murray has spent most of his 20s in the NFL, it would be pretty unprecedented for him to make the switch back to baseball at this point.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Who are the oldest players to compete in a game in MLB history?<\/a><\/p>\n

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Last time Kyler Murray played baseball<\/p>\n

Murray last played baseball for Oklahoma in the Spring of 2018, when he played in 51 games for the Sooners. That season, Murray had by far his best performance in collegiate baseball, totaling 10 home runs, 10 stolen bases and a .954 OPS.<\/p>\n

MORE:Most home runs in a single MLB season<\/a><\/p>\n

Will Kyler Murray play baseball again?<\/p>\n

Murray has completely focused on football since 2019, so it is unlikely he could successfully switch sports at this point. Besides the fact that Murray hasn’t played baseball competitively since 2018, he needed time and development when he entered the MLB draft, and his skills have probably waned as he went away from the sport.<\/p>\n

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MORE:\u00a0The list of most home runs ever hit before the MLB All-Star break<\/a><\/p>\n

NFL players to switch to baseball<\/p>\n

Many football and baseball players were dual-threat athletes before choosing one path, but some tried to play both.<\/p>\n

The most famous dual-threat players are Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, as both reached the pros in MLB and the NFL. Brian Jordan also played both sports professionally, starting in football before moving to baseball.<\/p>\n

Recently, Tim Tebow gave baseball a shot after his football career but flamed out with the New York Mets\u2019 Double-A team. Jeff Samardzija was a wide receiver at Notre Dame but chose baseball, carving out a successful major league career as a pitcher.<\/p>\n

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Like Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson was drafted in baseball but dropped the sport to focus on the NFL. Jameis Winston was also a two-sport athlete in college but chose football as a No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.<\/p>\n

Other notable two-sport athletes include Tom Brady, John Elway, Todd Helton, Frank Thomas, Kirk Gibson, Ricky Williams, and John Lynch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Kyler Murray play baseball? Explaining MLB options if A’s draft pick wants to change sports originally appeared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2276],"tags":[13975,537,5,23583,4890,5421,30,160,78647,59776,18118,2291,4,1586,61,1082,459,18200,78646,33567],"class_list":{"0":"post-605191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-arizona-cardinals","9":"tag-athletics","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-baseball-career","12":"tag-baseball-player","13":"tag-baseball-players","14":"tag-baseball-team","15":"tag-cardinals","16":"tag-jameis-winston","17":"tag-jeff-samardzija","18":"tag-kyler-murray","19":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-mlb-draft","22":"tag-new-york-mets","23":"tag-nfl","24":"tag-nick-kurtz","25":"tag-oklahoma-baseball","26":"tag-play-football","27":"tag-russell-wilson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116169415352248891","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}