Eighteen-year-olds don’t usually turn down $2 million job offers.
That’s exactly what Gunnar Hoglund, an elite pitcher from just north of Tampa, Fla., did last Friday. As the 5 p.m. deadline for MLB teams to sign their draft picks came and went, the righty wasn’t inking a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who took him in the first round* last month. He was attending summer school at Ole Miss.
*Technically he was drafted in what the MLB calls a “competitive balance” round between the first and second rounds.
Few people thought Hoglund would honor his commitment to the Rebels after he came off the board as the No.