DENVER -- The Rockies signed all 21 of their draft picks Sunday, led by the No. 3 overall pick, Charlie Condon. Manager Bud Black described the mood around the organization as “jubilant” at being able to land the lauded college prospect, who Colorado didn’t think would be available by the time it picked.
Condon won the 2024 Dick Howser Trophy, given to college baseball's top player, as well as SEC Player of the Year honors, while being labeled a consensus All-American and the Golden Spikes Award winner. He led all of Division I in batting average (.433), home runs (37), OPS (1.565) and total bases (233), and at one point homered in eight straight games, one shy of tying the NCAA record.
“It’s definitely something I’m looking forward to,” Condon said of the prospect of hitting at Coors Field on Monday. “I was extremely excited and happy to hear my name called and to be tied to the Rockies' organization. It's been an organization that does really well developing hitters. They know what they're doing and how to teach power hitting. I’m really excited and really honored to be a part of the Rockies.”
Condon has the versatility to play a number of positions for the Rockies, and he emphasized that he would take his cues from the organization.
“My personal preference will be wherever I'm needed the most,” Condon said. “I would love to continue to bounce around and play the corners, play third, right and left, and then even some center field. My last year at college I was starting in five different spots throughout the year, and that was something I really took pride in. I think the plan for me here is to continue to be versatile and be a moving piece throughout lineups.”
Condon and the rest of the draft class went to the Rockies' training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, last Friday after the All-Star break, and they’ll be there for a week, going through an orientation mini-camp.
“It's been awesome,” Condon said. “We all signed on Sunday, and so today we started our work. It's been really good just getting to put names with faces and get to know some of the guys. It's a really good group of players and human beings, so it feels like home.”
With his contract signed, Condon has already entered the record books with his reported $9.25 million signing bonus, matching the biggest in MLB Draft history. He downplayed the dollar figure, focusing on the opportunity before him.
“For me, it's just about hearing my name called and knowing that my career was progressing to the next level,” Condon said. “I'm excited about getting to go out there and play better competition. I'm not really focused on the monetary side of things. If that comes with it, so be it. But I'm here because I love baseball. I'm here because I love getting better. I'm here because of the relationships that this game has brought me. It's an awesome perk, but it's not the main reason for me.”
Condon also downplayed any pressure to live up to his signing bonus.
“As far as expectations go, I wouldn't say that it's anything crazy,” Condon said. “External expectations seem to change as you continue to have success or not have success. What people around the game of baseball are going to think about me is going to continue to change, but I will always expect a much higher standard of myself than anyone else will expect from me.”
His approach to his first year at Georgia as a redshirt freshman backs up the values Condon focused on from as far back as his high school days and through his historic signing with the Rockies.
“I think the beauty of baseball is that it’s never just like one light-bulb moment, one thing where it clicks and everything changes, and that's why baseball is so beautiful,” Condon said. “You've got to show up and earn your victories every single day.”
That attitude allowed him to spend a year focusing on developing as a baseball player, knowing he’d have to wait to take the field in Georgia’s stacked lineup.
“I knew that there were still so many levels to this game that I could continue to improve at,” Condon said. “Just being able to buy into that and know that just because I can't show off on the field right now, the work that I was putting in was still for good reason. That's the approach I still take to this day.”