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<\/p>\nAs the first day of the NFL\u2019s free agent frenzy ended with former Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray still in the wind, a debate-show topic flickered to life: What if Kyler went back to baseball? Sure, he\u2019ll almost surely sign with the Vikings, Jets or some other QB-needy organization, but \u2026 what if? Could Murray pull an Involuntary Jordan and jump from his chosen sport to his second one?<\/p>\n
Murray established himself as a legitimate two-sport prospect coming out of high school. After one full season of baseball at Oklahoma, the Athletics thought highly enough of his prospects to select him at ninth overall in the 2018 MLB draft.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe had power, speed, bat speed, defensive ability that gave you the glimpse of what he could be,\u201d one longtime baseball scout told Yahoo Sports. \u201cIf it all came together, the impact \u2014 he had All-Star-type of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the 51 games of his 2018 season at Oklahoma, Murray averaged .296 with 10 home runs, a .398 on-base percentage and a .556 slugging percentage. Scouts projected him as a center fielder, with the speed to chase down balls and the arm to whip the ball back into the infield on a rope. (Baseball bonus: opposing ballplayers can\u2019t intercept relay throws.)<\/p>\n
Murray\u2019s athleticism was on a big-league track in college, and even now, he could play himself into professional-level performance within a season or so. The exception \u2014 and it\u2019s a big one \u2014 is contact. Hitting the baseball is the toughest act in sports, requiring a consistent repetition that Murray simply didn\u2019t have because he bounced back and forth between the gridiron and the diamond.<\/p>\n
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The then-Oakland A’s selected Kyler Murray with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 draft. (Michael Zagaris\/Oakland Athletics\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
(Michael Zagaris via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to hit the ball is the most important thing from the scouting side, and the most uncertain with him,\u201d the scout said. \u201cThat\u2019s the hardest thing to project. He was just behind on exposure, pure at-bats, things of that nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Still, the scout believes that had Murray dedicated himself to baseball, he could have figured out hitting in relatively short order.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody that\u2019s able to play NFL quarterback is probably able to figure out a lot of things,\u201d the scout said. \u201cHitting a baseball is a very challenging thing, but I also assume reading a defense is challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scouts knew from the jump that Murray favored football over baseball, not least because football offered more immediate financial rewards. The Athletics gave him a signing bonus of $4.66 million \u2026 but scouts estimate he would have had to work his way upward for around six years, with no guarantees, to sign a massive baseball contract. The Cardinals, by contrast, signed Murray to a fully-guaranteed $35 million rookie deal. Not much of a choice there.<\/p>\n
When the A\u2019s signed Murray to that initial deal, Billy Beane, then the A\u2019s VP of baseball operations, termed him \u201cone of the most dynamic athletes that we\u2019ve selected since I\u2019ve been here.\u201d High praise from the guy who inspired Moneyball.<\/p>\n
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