‘I know my worth’: Brock Rodden turns down MLB to return to Wichita State baseball

Turning down a six-figure contract to play professional baseball to return to Wichita State was “one of the most difficult” decisions Brock Rodden has ever had to make.

Rodden was selected in the 10th round with the No. 304 overall section of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics on July 18. For the past two weeks, Rodden and the A’s have been haggling over the contract money.

On Monday, Rodden turned in his final decision: he rejected the A’s offer “right at” the slot value of $151,300 and will play the 2023 season for the Shockers. As a junior-college transfer, Rodden is eligible to enter the MLB Draft next summer as well.

“I’ve bet on myself for a long time and I’m planning on betting on myself again and getting the job done,” Rodden told The Eagle on Monday. “I know what I’m worth. We didn’t come to an agreement with the Oakland A’s. In the end, it came down to I know my worth and we didn’t see eye-to-eye on that.”

It’s a major victory for WSU coach Eric Wedge and the Shockers, who now return the best player on their roster from last season. Rodden was a breakout star in his first season of Division I, following two years at a junior college, leading WSU in batting average (.338), on-base percentage (.441) and slugging percentage (.653) to earn American Athletic Conference Newcomer Position Player of the Year honors.

Before the 2023 season, Rodden is also scheduled to sit down with Armchair Strategies to work on a Name, Image and Likeness deal, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.

Rodden is eager to prove last season’s numbers weren’t a fluke, which could potentially see him improve his draft stock when he enters the draft again, but he also mentioned the pull of returning to play for the Shockers was a “big factor” in his decision.

“Obviously my ultimate goal in my baseball career is to play professionally, but I love playing at Wichita State and I love the coaching staff and the university as a whole,” Rodden said. “Coming out of junior college, I really felt the love and that’s made it really enjoyable playing in Wichita.”

After briefly playing in the Cape Cod league at the start of the summer, Rodden returned to Wichita and played a handful of games in the Sunflower Collegiate League. The switch-hitting second baseman has since returned to his hometown of Oktaha, Oklahoma, where he will train on his own until he returns later this month for the start of the fall semester at WSU.

Despite the superb individual season, Rodden was disappointed it did not translate to team success in WSU’s 21-36 record from last season. Reversing that record is what he wants to accomplish with the Shockers before he decides to pursue his MLB dream.

“One of the most exciting things about coming back for me is just trying to change the culture,” Rodden said. “Wichita State has been a powerhouse program in the country for many years and the last 15 or so years we’ve kind of fallen off a little bit. So I’m excited to get back and get to work and try to put us back on the map and go make a Super Regional, maybe even make a run to Omaha. We beat some teams that went pretty deep in Omaha, so the talent is there, we’ve just got to put it together.”