Two-sport star Murray opting out of MLB Draft

Scouts rated Allen (Texas) High infielder Kyler Murray as having one of the highest upsides in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. But in a tweet Wednesday morning, he confirmed what most of them suspected: The lure of playing quarterback at Texas A&M was too strong to get him to turn pro in baseball at this point.

Opting out of the MLB draft. Looking forward to continuing my football and baseball career at Texas A&M University. See ya down the road!

- Kyler Murray (@TheKylerMurray) May 6, 2015

Murray is just as highly regarded in football as he is in baseball. The nation's top-rated dual-threat quarterback prospect, he went 42-0 as a starter at Allen, leading the Eagles to three straight state championships in Texas' highest classification. In three years, Murray passed for 10,386 yards and 117 touchdowns while rushing for 4,129 yards and 69 more scores.

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Ranked No. 34 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Draft Prospects list, Murray is just as dynamic on the diamond. He has well-above-average speed, a quick right-handed bat, surprising pop for a 5-foot-11, 180-pounder and a strong arm. Scouts haven't seen Murray at shortstop enough to know if he can stay there, but he's definitely an up-the-middle player, with second base and center field as fallback positions.

Hampered by a shoulder impingement this spring, Allen has mostly DHed for Allen. Nevertheless, he likely would have been a first-round pick when the Draft begins on June 8 had he been willing to commit to baseball full time.

"He's as much an impact guy as you can see running around out there on a baseball field," an American League scouting director said. "He can fly, he's athletic, he's in the middle of the field and he looks like he has feel to hit. If he decides to be a full-time baseball player, he'll be exciting."

Murray's father, Kevin, was also a two-sport star. He played briefly in the Brewers' farm system before becoming an All-America quarterback at Texas A&M. Murray's baseball bloodlines extend even further, as his uncle Calvin was a two-time first-round pick and spent five years in the big leagues.

Of course, Murray's tweet doesn't preclude him from getting drafted or signing with a Major League team. The only way a player can get removed from the Draft is if he's selected as one of the top 200 prospects by the Major League Scouting Bureau and declines to submit medical reports and take a drug test. Virginia left-hander Nathan Kirby, a potential first-rounder this June, opted out of the Draft in that fashion while at James River High (Midlothian, Va.) in 2012.

There are several players who have requested teams not select them, only to change their minds and sign after getting picked. Perhaps the most prominent example came in 2011, when Jesuit College Prep (Dallas) slugger Josh Bell wrote a letter to the MLSB in May stating that he didn't want to turn pro. Though Bell's mother is a college professor who wanted him to attend the University of Texas, the Pirates still drafted him in the second round -- and signed him at the Aug. 15 deadline for $5 million, by far the most in Draft history for a non-first-rounder.