People were a little stunned when the Seattle Mariners drafted LHP Danny Hultzen out of Virginia with the number two overall pick last year. He was not projected to go that early, the Mariners were seemingly in need of a hitter and not a pitcher, and then rumors that he’d be too expensive to sign were the icing on the cake.
Many fans commented that a supposed financial incentive for Hultzen to go to medical school would prove to be too costly and that sort of insinuated that greed would come before anything else. To overcome doubts about his ability to live up to his lofty draft status will have to be answered on the mound, but whether or not Hultzen has an ounce of greed? That should be solidly answered now.
Hultzen signed for a whopping $8.5 million bonus but before he went out and bought Escalades, mansions, or jewelry, he gave back in the form of a $100,000 donation to his school’s baseball program.
“They made me who I am today,” Hultzen said. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without the University of Virginia, so I just wanted give them a token of my admiration. All of the money I’ve run into, they deserve a lot of it.”
It’s the sort of maturity that helps explain why Seattle felt very comfortable in drafting him at number two last season. No word yet on how much Hultzen will donate towards the Mariners signing a big, free agent bat.
For more on Hultzen’s progress and the Mariners, frequent Lookout Landing.