Sports
La Costa Canyon's Evans Joins Mets Farm System
Mavericks shortstop decides on a professional career over an SDSU scholarship after lucrative offer from New York.
Tony Gwynn and his San Diego State baseball program just couldn't compete with the New York Mets' big check book.
Phillip Evans, who earned All-CIF honors at shortstop for La Costa Canyon High as a senior this spring, has signed a lucrative pro contract and headed to the Mets' training facility in Florida instead of to Montezuma Mesa, where a scholarship to play for the Aztecs awaited.
Though a 15th-round selection, Evans reportedly received a $650,000 signing bonus, “the highest bonus ever paid by New York outside of the first two rounds," according to Baseball America. The amount is equivalent to what teams would offer picks in the supplemental round held between the first and second rounds of the annual June draft.
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"I'm definitely relieved," Evans told the North County Times after signing as the deadline neared earlier this week. "It has been a long road from Little League to travel ball to high school and now to sign a professional contract. I'm grateful to the Mets for giving me the opportunity to play pro ball."
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