MLB's 2018 8th Overall Pick Just Signed With A Japanese Baseball Team

Well this is a wonky story.  Carter Stewart was getting some top 5 buzz last year until he ultimately fell to the Braves at 8 due to financial demands.  Even then, the Braves didn’t want to pay him his full slot value at 8 because he had an injured wrist, so he said fuck it, went to a JUCO and figured he’d just do it all again in 2019.  Risky?  Yes.  Uncommon?  Not really.  We’ve seen players not reach agreements with their teams a handful of times, most notably with Brady Aiken when he went 1-1 to the Astros in 2014.

Carter is a new case study though.  Apparently he wasn’t as consistent for his JUCO team this spring and still had some lingering injury concerns, because a player who should seemingly go 1st round but instead chooses to sign with a Japanese organization hasn’t happened before, at least not to mine or google’s knowledge.

But let it be known that Stewart has freak potential.  He should carve up his new league with his 157KPH fastball

and his knee bending 11-5 curve ball

Obviously there is a ton of variation on HS pitchers and their success, but he has 1-1 pure “shit” at his core:

He’s got that athletic, 6’5″ frame that scouts drool over.  The one that can add 30 pounds of mass while still staying loose.  So why’s he going to play over in JAPAN and not just taking his shot at the Show Again?

Oh, that’s why.  He’s going to get 1-1 money and I assume be inserted into their starting rotation immediately.  Obviously Japanese baseball isn’t anything to sneeze at and he might struggle here and there, but he’ll do so while taking in a fuck ton of money as a signing bonus while also taking in a shit load of Yen as his every day salary:

which is…

about $290,000/year.  So yeah, he made the right call.  Fuck outta here with playing baseball on JUCO sandlots.  Fuck in here with being 19 years old and wealthy as shit.

Now assuming this goes well for Stewart, I wouldn’t be shocked if this happens a lot more frequently, especially with pitchers.  I’m of the opinion pitchers should always take the money and run 100% of the time.  You just never know if your arm will hold up.  Such a crap shoot.

Minor League Baseball salaries are absolute dog shit and unless you sign for a lot of money, you can hardly survive.  It’s more or less a feudal system so don’t be surprised if Japan starts plucking off more and more of the top prep talent in The States.  They can develop overseas while making money on top of it.