Here are Kumar Rocker's options after failing to sign with the New York Mets
Kumar Rocker made his last start for Vanderbilt on June 30. Coach Tim Corbin gave him a sendoff in the postgame press conference. In that moment, Rocker's future seemed clear: a high draft pick and pitching with a major league organization.
But after the Mets were spooked by Rocker's medicals, they failed to sign him at the deadline. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Rocker won't go back to the Commodores, either.
Rocker will now try to build his value back up. Because he was drafted this year, he is not allowed to sign with another MLB team until after the 2022 draft. With that in mind, here are Rocker's options:
Independent ball
Rocker could sign with an independent baseball league: non-MLB affiliated professional baseball leagues. College players have gone this route before after failing to sign, most notably Luke Hochevar and James Paxton.
The move worked out for Hochevar, a former Tennessee Vols pitcher, who went from the 40th overall pick in 2005 to No. 1 overall in 2006. It worked less well for Paxton, a former Kentucky pitcher, who fell from 37th overall to the fourth round, though Paxton was paid the kind of bonus he could've gotten as a late first-rounder.
Players in independent ball are usually those who went undrafted out of college or formerly played in the majors or minors and are trying to work their way back. The level of competition can vary, but Rocker would be pitching against players motivated to get signed.
If he went this route, Rocker would be draft-eligible in 2022.
Overseas
Rocker could try to sign with a professional team in Japan, South Korea or elsewhere. The most notable player who went this route was pitcher Carter Stewart, a first-rounder in 2018 who also failed to sign because of medical concerns.
If he played overseas, Rocker wouldn't be eligible for the draft in 2022. Instead, he'd look to make more money playing overseas than he would in the minors, then sign a potentially hefty free-agent deal.
International signing rules state that overseas players are subject to international signing bonus pool restrictions, which would limit the bonus Rocker could get, until the player is at least 25 and has played in an international professional league for six years.
Those rules make this path tougher for a college player like Rocker than a high schooler like Stewart. At 21, Rocker would have to play internationally until age 27 to be eligible for the type of lucrative deal that players like Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels get; Rocker probably would make the majors before that by pursuing a different route. It's possible these rules change when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2021 MLB season, but Rocker would likely want to decide where to go next before knowing how the rules might change.
Not playing at all
This is an uncommon option in baseball for players straight out of college, but it is one available to Rocker: He could choose not to play at all, instead working out for teams and potentially rehabbing whatever injury he has.
It would be a risky move because he would be less able to raise his draft stock if he isn't pitching in games, and it's unclear whether it would help assuage a team's injury concerns. But because Rocker has been one of the most well-known baseball prospects for years, he may well could find another team eager to take him in next year's draft.
The biggest downside is that Rocker wouldn't be paid if he didn't play somewhere, and he'd be less able to take advantage of the kind of name, image and likeness deals he could get at Vanderbilt if he is not pitching in games. However, that option could still end up being worth it if another team takes Rocker high in next year's draft and pays him similarly to what the Mets originally were offering.