Even though he’s pledged his allegiance to the Washington Huskies, Jake Locker spent the weekend at spring training working out with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta reports that Locker spent the weekend in Tempe working out in the Angels’ minor league camp, who drafted Locker in the 10th round of last year’s MLB draft and signed him to a $300,000 contract to lock up his baseball rights for the next six years. While Locker made the trip to Arizona under the radar, UW confirmed that Locker participated.
Many thought Locker was a potential first round draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft if he’d have declared early, and he’s made it known that football is his first choice to play professionally. But his promise in baseball, where he’s viewed as an elite prospect even without playing collegiately, tempted the Angels to give him a signing bonus in line with a third or fourth round pick, even with the very real chance that he’ll never step on the field for them.
Condotta reports that the workouts this weekend could be the extent of his baseball playing until his time with the Huskies is over.