Hunt and Peck

Paul DeJong almost quit baseball. On Monday he signed a historic contract - A Hunt and Peck

Life comes at you fast...

By lil_scooter93 Mar 6, 2018, 1:00pm EST

Minor League Baseball: Arizona Fall League-Scottsdale Scorpions at Glendale Desert Dogs

On Monday morning news broke that the Cardinals and Paul DeJong agreed to a six-year, $26 million contract extension. It is the largest contract ever issued to a player with less than a year of service time. Our own John Fleming broke down the contract in a post Tuesday morning.

Naturally, the baseball world was pretty pumped - we finally had something to talk about!

@Cardinals fans, @RealPaulDeJong is going to be wearing Cardinal red for a long time.

RT and his @ToppsGallery numbered rookie card could be yours. #MLBCards pic.twitter.com/6d7IQHjQR7
— MLB (@MLB) March 6, 2018

His teammates were very happy for the young infielder.

So happy for my boy @RealPaulDeJong gonna be fun to spin it with you for years to come! #cardinalnation
— Kolten Wong (@KoltenWong) March 5, 2018

Congrats to the man @RealPaulDeJong! #himynamesPaul
— Carson Kelly (@carskelly) March 6, 2018

Of course, the Cardinals and DeJong were pretty enthusiastic as well...

.@RealPaulDeJong is excited about his future with the #STLCards! pic.twitter.com/YwWLdn2PWz
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 6, 2018

I’m extremely excited to sign a long term contract with the @cardinals. I am fully committed to… https://t.co/cftMsBC8J6
— Paul DeJong (@RealPaulDeJong) March 5, 2018

Perhaps the most interesting angle of this story, though, is the fact that it almost never happened. A lot had to go right for Paul DeJong for him to get to this point, not just on the baseball field, but in his life.

Paul DeJong went undrafted in high school, walked on at Illinois State and nearly went to med school instead of playing pro ball. He just got a $26M contract extension from the Cardinals. The lesson, as always: Never become a doctor.
— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) March 5, 2018

Luckily for the Cardinals organization, DeJong stuck it out with baseball. And if that does not work out, I suppose he could always give that doctor thing a shot.