Griffin Jax's Baseball Career Resumes

Congrats to him.   Glad to see him able to fulfill both his service obligation and go back to following his dream.   Good luck brother and Godspeed. 

That is really interesting. Does the military pay better than the minors? Maybe you'll see some minor leaguers enlisting!  

So he will make 3 k a month give or take. Is he enlisted or an officer? Officer is around 50k depending on rank. Pay scale is available online as it goes by a set scale.

What a weird arrangement. But whatever.

Good luck to him

So he will make 3 k a month give or take. Is he enlisted or an officer? Officer is around 50k depending on rank. Pay scale is available online as it goes by a set scale.

When  I checked, I think he was a 1st Lieutenant (O-2). $3850 + $250 + housing (1400 - 2200, depending on which base in FL he is stationed at - I think it was Patrick AFB.)

I guess I am the only person interested in how he does on the field and not how much he's paid.

I guess I am the only person interested in how he does on the field and not how much he's paid.

No, you are not.  But I do expect part of the deal the Air Force worked out with him is that if the Twins pay his housing, travel, etc., the Air Force won't be paying his housing allowance.

More important, however, is that this is FANTASTIC news for both Jax and the Twins.  He has a lot of talent which can now begin being developed.  Don't know where he will start his season, but expect he will end it back in Florida with the Miracle.

So what does this all mean if he would make the majors in 2-3 years when he still has the military commitment?

Good news for him and the Twins. There are so very few military personnel that would ever truly be affected by a legitimate chance to play professional sports that I always felt a workable solution for something like this, or finishing their comitment in a reserve capacity made the most sense. It also can be used as a recruiting tool. For example, when David Robinson was allowed to do so, DID anyone, anywhere, not know about his Navy backstory? His nickname was the Admiral for goodness sake.

Now, how his overall prospect status has been affected is probably too hard to define. He does/did have some potential. Teams will take talented players wherever they can get them. If he turns out to be a quality pitcher at 27 instead of 24-25, I don't think the Twins, or anyone else, would simply turn a blind eye.

But it IS a good story.

I may be the only one asking this question, but I feel it needs to be asked. The taxpayers paid for Jax to attend the Air Force Academy because he signed a contract and swore an oath to protect and defend the United States of America for 4 years in the Air Force after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Now, less than 1 year after his graduation,  the taxpayers are paying Jax's salary, not to serve in the Air Force the remaining 3 years of his commitment, but rather the taxpayers are paying him $50,000 a year to play minor league baseball because he is a world class baseball player? Just asking.

That's unlikely to be a problem we will have to concern ourselves with.

 

The reality is, Jax is 23 years old (he's one month younger than Kohl Stewart) and hasn't thrown 40 innings since the Twins drafted him. He's made four starts in low A ball. He's really not a prospect anymore but more a feel-good story.

What???

We could say the same of any draft pick as there is no such thing as a "sure thing", and yes that means even the chosen one that is known as Royce.   But I have to ask, and yes I know I will regret this... but what the heck does that even mean?   Do you not like the fact that his obligation to his country has prohibited him, until now, to throw lots of innings in the minors?  

The guys has loads of talent given his high draft status and for you to so cavalierly sit there and declare him "not a prospect" because of his "advanced age" of 23 years and lack of innings thus far... well you'll have to excuse me for coming to the defense of my fellow brothers in arms.

In closing, I apologize in advance if I misinterpreted your statement, if I did not... please do not speak ill of those who serve.   It does not sit well with me.

He is absolutely a prospect. I'm pretty certain he would be in my Top 40 and I'm thinking by the end of the year, he could be much higher. Age just isn't a factor right now for him. He's young, he's been in college, he's got a big arm and good stuff... 

How old would a player be if he played his full college career? 22 or 23 depending on how old he was when he graduated high school.

No reason why he can't become a major league pitcher. It took Jake Arrieta until he turned 28 to figure it out. Whether that was due to a pitching coach or that he finally matured at what turns out to be a late age. No one knows.

I may be the only one asking this question, but I feel it needs to be asked. The taxpayers paid for Jax to attend the Air Force Academy because he signed a contract and swore an oath to protect and defend the United States of America for 4 years in the Air Force after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Now, less than 1 year after his graduation,  the taxpayers are paying Jax's salary, not to serve in the Air Force the remaining 3 years of his commitment, but rather the taxpayers are paying him $50,000 a year to play minor league baseball because he is a world class baseball player? Just asking.

The military has a demand for fit, athletic people to join the ranks, and currently about 75% of the graduating HS seniors are disqualified for fitness, drug, or legal issues. The World Class Athlete program is good advertising, and for every one that is in the program there are probably 30 more who will join because they know that signing on the dotted line isn't signing away the pro dream.

Fair enough.   I won't say that I agree with your view point, but I do respect it.   My only real umbrage with your point was my initial (and most likely incorrect) take that he was being cast down upon simply for being a service member and being put behind the developmental learning curve because of it.

It appears that is not the case, and as such you have my thanks for taking a moment to explain it as such.   That being said, I hope he can make up some for lost time and get back on track but I won't disagree that the odds may be against him though.

The military has a demand for fit, athletic people to join the ranks, and currently about 75% of the graduating HS seniors are disqualified for fitness, drug, or legal issues. The World Class Athlete program is good advertising, and for every one that is in the program there are probably 30 more who will join because they know that signing on the dotted line isn't signing away the pro dream.

Not to mention they changed the rules on him after the fact. That hardly seemed fair. 

Not to mention they changed the rules on him after the fact. That hardly seemed fair. 

The military changes rules all the time. I know on enlistment contracts there is some clause that you agree that if any promises have been made other than what is stipulated in the contract, they aren't binding. I don't remember the exact wording, but I'm sure the officers have a similar clause for commissioning.

The military has a demand for fit, athletic people to join the ranks, and currently about 75% of the graduating HS seniors are disqualified for fitness, drug, or legal issues. The World Class Athlete program is good advertising, and for every one that is in the program there are probably 30 more who will join because they know that signing on the dotted line isn't signing away the pro dream.

If 30 more sign up with the Air Force Academy that will cost US taxpayers 30 x $100,000 for the cost of 4 years at this elite academy...which is $3,000,000 for their educations then $50,000 per year for these 30 to play baseball while in the US Air Force. That's $1,500,000 more tax dollars to pay these "world class athletes" to play baseball for 1 year. 4 years of this would be $6,000,000. Add that to the cost of the education and you get a grand total of $9,000,000 for these 30 "world class athletes" to do what Griffin Jax will be doing, minus his 1 year of actual service in the military. Let's hope these 30 don't each attract 30 more world class athletes to attend the Air Force Academy.