LSU football coach says Dodgers’ first-round pick Zach Lee has no intention of signing

When the Dodgers selected Texas high school pitcher and LSU-bound quarterback recruit Zach Lee with the 28th overall pick Monday night there was immediate speculation that they did so because he’s considered unsignable. With owner Frank McCourt going through an ugly divorce the idea is that the Dodgers could take a compensation pick for failing to sign Lee and delay the investment of first-round money until next year. Assistant general manager and draft boss Logan White denied those claims, saying the Dodgers have every intention of making a legitimate effort to sign Lee, but yesterday LSU football coach Les Miles issued a statement saying Lee has zero intention of signing:

Zach wants to come to LSU, get a degree and play football and baseball for the Tigers. I met with Zach and his parents today, and I think that they are looking at LSU as a great opportunity both academically and athletically. Zach is an outstanding student, and he’s excited about the college experience.

Miles added that Lee has enrolled in summer school, which would certainly seem odd for someone planning to sign for millions of dollars and begin playing pro baseball soon. It’s tough to blame White and the Dodgers for not fessing up to their plans, because surely MLB would frown on such behavior being laid out publicly, but for now at least what’s going on seems pretty clear. Lee will play football (and baseball) at LSU, the Dodgers will save a couple million bucks this year, and they’ll get the No. 29 overall pick in next June’s draft as compensation for failing to sign a guy who everyone knew wasn’t going to sign.