Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
The Oakland Athletics were overjoyed to choose Kyler Murray with the ninth pick in the baseball draft last June.
“We just don’t see athletes like this on the baseball field very often,” their scouting director, Eric Kubota, said then, praising Murray’s instincts despite his relative lack of baseball experience. “He’s just a tremendous athlete, which can translate to the baseball field in a lot of ways. He has a chance to really be dominant on both the offensive end and from a defensive standpoint.”
Kubota said the risk of Murray’s playing quarterback at the University of Oklahoma was worth taking.