After reading about Chipley High School’s Karsten Whitson turning down a pretty good chunk of change last week to play pro baseball and deciding to go to the University of Florida instead, I couldn’t help but wonder if he made the right decision.
The San Diego Padres used the ninth overall pick to select the 6-foot-4, 190-pounder in the first round of June’s MLB Draft and offered him between $1.9 and $2 million to play. But Whitson apparently felt he was worth a little more and declined the offer. Kent Whitson (father) said the terms offered by the San Diego "were not even close” to sway the right-handed pitcher. “He just had a value on his talent, and put himself at a certain value," Kent Whitson told the Floridan. "The team, based on the monetary value of their offer, didn’t see the value that Karsten felt was warranted by his abilities."
How much is an 18 year old kid right out of high school really worth?
We may never know. Once he enrolls at UF, Whitson won’t be eligible to be drafted again until after his junior season in three years. An injury, either on or off the field, could easily end his career and the opportunity to earn some serious bank while playing the game he loves. He could have even opted to go to a junior college, where he would have been eligible to be drafted again next spring.
The bottom line… Since his decision to reject the Padres offer, his story has been covered by ESPN, USA Today and a multitude of other media outlets. Unfortunately, it appears he will probably be remembered not as a great baseball talent, but as the greedy kid who turned down $1.9 million because it wasn’t enough.
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing; others judge us by what we have done.”
- Henry W Longfellow
(Thanks News Herald & Jackson Floridian)
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