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Message: [QUOTE="HCCForever, post: 3990233, member: 8959"] I found this story in the Athletic about the rivalry between Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. Cole could have signed out of high school being drafted number 28, but chose to pitch for UCLA. It would be nice if Frank followed this route. [URL unfurl="true"]https://theathletic.com/2645021/2021/06/14/why-do-those-two-clash-inside-the-legendary-gerrit-cole-trevor-bauer-rivalry-at-ucla/[/URL] Excerpt from article. [I]When Cole showed up to UCLA workouts in the summer before his freshman year in 2008, even those who didn’t know him knew of him. “That’s what happens when you throw 100 mph in high school and get drafted in the first round by the Yankees,” Rasmussen says. The Yankees had taken Cole 28th overall out of Orange Lutheran High. They had from June 5 until Aug. 15 to sign him. Bruins players were certain Cole’s training with them was a tactic Scott Boras, his advisor, was using to squeeze the Yankees for a bigger signing bonus. “You thought, ‘OK, it sounded nice. Gerrit could come here and be the Friday night starter. But now he can go take $4 million as an 18-year-old. How can he turn that down?’” says Danny Lee, a former UCLA broadcaster. On campus the day before the signing deadline, Cole asked Decker, the team’s senior captain, “Hey, Cody, you think I’m going to be here tomorrow?” “I looked at him and said, ‘No. If you are, I’m going to kill you,’” Decker recalls. “He asked why. I’m like, ‘Because you’re being offered so much money. … If you turn down your money, I’m going to lose my mind.’ “He looked me dead in the eye and, without even an ounce of (sarcasm), says, ‘Or I’ll just play here for three years, go first overall and sign for $10 million.’[/I] [/QUOTE]

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