Bubba Starling, a high-school outfielder from Kansas and a top football/baseball recruit at the University Of Nebraska, says he plans to start classes in Lincoln in July. But don't take that to mean he won't be signing with whichever baseball team picks him in the MLB Draft.
"I'm coming up there July 10th," Starling said.
Such an arrival date would be in time for the Husker football recruit to enroll in UNL's second session of summer classes, which begin the following day.
Starling is represented by Scott Boras and he's a very-highly-prized recruit at Nebraska, so you can expect him to drive a hard bargain with whichever team selects him. Still, he's a good bet to sign - he'll probably get around $5 million as one of the top five draftees in the country, and that's an opportunity that will be really hard to turn down.
Could the Pittsburgh Pirates take him with the first overall pick? Perhaps. In a different season, Starling, who's extremely athletic but raw, might not get much consideration with the first overall pick. But since most of the other top picks (Anthony Rendon and Gerrit Cole) come with major question marks, Starling looks like a possibility. Here's a good scouting report. He has a big body, good speed, and tons of hitting potential, but he has a long way to go before turning those tools into major-league-caliber skills.