By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
He will likely not say how much high school signee pitcher Logan Schmidt will be paid by LSU via Name, Image & Likeness entities.
But he will talk about how the second round pick of the Cleveland Guardians in the Major League Baseball Draft last month turned down approximately $1.7 million from Cleveland and will be enrolling at LSU for the fall semester and will play next season. Schmidt signed with LSU’s class of 2027 several months ago.
LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson will be on Tiger Rag Radio at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss Schmidt (6-foot-4, 215 pounds), who was the 59th overall pick in the MLB Draft on July 11 by Cleveland.
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The Guardians were ready to pay Schmidt the draft-slotted $1.7 million approximate amount, but Schmidt was asking for more. And Cleveland did not reach an agreement with him before drafting him, whereas MLB teams often have agreed to terms with a player before they draft him.
LSU had to ante up a pretty penny as well – perhaps in the $1 million range – to keep him out of signing with a junior college, because he could have entered his name for the next MLB Draft again in 2027.
At LSU, or another four-year college, Schmidt cannot enter the draft again until after his junior season in 2029.
“We looked at it this morning, and the number of top five round draft picks that haven’t signed over the past decade is very small,” Johnson told the Baton Rouge Advocate over the weekend. “And so, I’m surprised, pleasantly surprised and excited about Logan. It’s a great deal for our program on a lot of levels. Having been doing this for a long time now, you don’t win these with Major League Baseball, typically.”
Schmidt could find his way into LSU’s weekend rotation in the Southeastern Conference this season. He was a top 60 play going into the draft by MLB.com.
“It’s a wide-open competition, and he has the ability to contend for it, as I think a number of guys do,” Johnson said of his projected weekend rotation. “Like, we have to perform better there.”
Schmidt will arrive with a reputation for command of the strike zone, which was an issue through much of LSU’s pitching staff in a disappointing season in 2026 in which the Tigers did not make the postseason for the first time since 2011.
“The standout quality is strike throwing,” Johnson said. “That’s what separates him. It’s a good arsenal of pitches.
Also joining Tiger Rag Radio on Tuesday will be LSU associate athletic director and chief financial officer Matthew LaBorde, who also works with football scheduling and men’s basketball.
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