Blaze Jordan's future: Will Red Sox draft pick choose college ball?

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It's hard NOT to get excited about a kid named Blaze Jordan.

But the Major League Baseball Draft often produces delayed gratification, and the Boston Red Sox's third-round draft pick could fall into that category.

Jordan, a 17-year-old power-hitting phenom from Mississippi, originally committed to Mississippi State as an eighth grader. If he honors that commitment, he'll join the Bulldogs this coming season instead of entering the Red Sox's minor league system.

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And it sounds like he's bullish on his local school.

"Once I went down to Mississippi State, I felt like I was just at home," Jordan said this weekend on Mass Live's "The Fenway Rundown" podcast. "I loved the coaching staff at the time and I love the coaching staff now. They've been really supportive through this whole process. 

" ... When I was in the eighth grade, it was just a real easy choice to make and I just stuck with it through the whole high school career."

Jordan also has tantalizing big-league potential, though: The 500-foot home runs he was launching as a 13-year-old (just look him up on YouTube) have some comparing him to Bryce Harper, who broke into the majors at age 19.

So, will Jordan forgo his college career to head straight to Boston? Well, it's complicated.

"Not a lot of things are finalized, with coronavirus we can’t really fly anywhere or anything yet," Jordan said. "It’s just one of those things where I’m going to have to still talk to my advisers and my family, because they play such an important role in this whole situation. I’m going to have to see where it goes from here.

"Right now, I just feel amazing I got picked by such a great organization like that. It’s a dream come true and I know a lot of kids would love to be in this position and have this choice to make.”

Jordan has a few months to make up his mind: The deadline for draftees to either sign with their major-league club or head to college typically is in August. The coronavirus pandemic obviously complicates matters, however, as it's unclear which schools will even re-open in the fall. (Mississippi State said in May it plans to hold fall classes in 2020.)

We also don't even know if there will be a 2020 MLB season, so there are a lot of unknowns at the moment. That means all fans can do is watch more of Jordan's highlight videos as he mulls his next step.

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