The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Oregon State quarterback and Clemson transfer D.J. Uiagalelei in the 20th round of the MLB Draft.
The choice was unҽxpected given that Uiagalelei hasn’t played baseball since he was a high school student and hasn’t decided to concentrate on football.
The six-foot-five right hoop player for St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California, was a two-sport athlete back then. He began playing for Clemson after enrolling there in 2020, starting in 2021 and 2022 before moving to Oregon after losing to Cade Klubnik in the ACC Championship Game and having a difficult second season as the Tigers’ starting quarterback.
The California native has 2,521 yards, 22 touchdowns, and seven touchdowns at the end of the regular season. Despite not being particularly impressive, Uiagalelei’s numbers were nonetheless better than those from his first season as the starter, when he racked up 2,246 yards, nine touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Prior to transferring to Oregon State, Uiagalelei claimed to The Athletic in April that the Dodgers had contacted him, but he had declined their offer.
This obviously did not stop LA from spending a late-round flier to secure the MLB rights for the Beavers’ anticipated starting quarterback, should he ever decide to hang up his shoulder pads and return to the mound.
Although it does not appear that he will return to the field this year, the Dodgers must preserve those rights in order to keep their low-risk draft pick from going to waste, therefore he must sign a deal with them this summer.
Uiagalelei will have to defeat current starting QB Ben Gulbranson, who went 7-1 with the Beavers last season, in order to play for the team he plans to represent this season.
Uiagalelei will join a small group of football players who have been selected in the first round of the MLB Draft despite not having played baseball in college, including Colin Kaepernick, Dante Culpepper, and Tom Brady.