‘It definitely wasn’t an easy decision at all’: NC State SS signee Aidan West to sign with Los Angeles Dodgers

Aidan West’s phone buzzed just after midnight following Sunday’s opening three rounds of the MLB Draft. The No. 1 prospect in Maryland didn’t hear his name called, but his agent had positive news: the Los Angeles Dodgers were going to take him Monday. 

The Columbia (Md.) Long Reach High shortstop wasn’t sure when exactly his name would appear on the television screen during the second day, but the Dodgers had a prearranged deal ready to go. Sure enough, West didn’t have to wait long as he was the last pick of the fourth round, the No. 135 overall selection. 

West will sign with the Dodgers for “second-round money,” which would put his expected signing bonus in the ballpark of $1.35 million to $2.2 million, forgoing his college commitment to NC State. Although he is set to become a professional baseball player once he puts pen to paper early next week, well ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, West didn’t take this decision lightly. 

“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision at all,” West told TheWolfpacker.com. “I did take a good amount of time to talk to my family about it, but at the end of the day, the Dodgers are a great organization to start out with. They’re a winning team, winning organization. That was something we felt we couldn’t pass up on.”

While West was home in Maryland for the draft, he spent three weeks earlier this summer on NC State’s campus for summer school, along with seven other incoming freshmen on the team. It was an accelerated college experience, but West was glad that he was able to get a taste of what it would have been like with the Wolfpack. 

After all, he committed to NC State as a high school freshman and never wavered on that pledge due to the bonds he created with his future classmates and the Wolfpack’s coaching staff, led by coach Elliott Avent and associate head coach Chris Hart.

West, who took a couple classes and spent several nights hitting on Doak Field with his fellow incoming recruits, said NC State’s coaching staff handled his decision to sign professionally with the utmost class and respect.

“They were awesome,” West said. “It’s anything you could ever ask for, a coach in that position and how they handled it was perfect. … I had a really good talk with Coach Hart. There’s a reason why I committed my freshman year and there’s a reason why I never decommitted — because of those guys. 

“They do an awesome job. It was always my dream school. Them providing me with that opportunity of a lifetime meant everything to me. I made sure they knew that.”

West marks the second straight standout infield recruit to not make it to fall ball at NC State. Parkland (Fla.) Stoneman Douglas shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald was in the same situation last summer as he was a fifth round pick by the Texas Rangers — he eventually signed for $900,000. 

While West is the first of NC State’s eight total picks between current players and high school signees to announce he will turn professional, he is likely not the last. The Wolfpack expects all of its picks to sign with their respective teams, including right-handed pitcher signee CJ Gray, who was picked in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Angels. 

But for West, an elite shortstop prospect that hit .538 with 14 extra-base hits, 30 RBI and was 34-for-34 stealing, beginning the next chapter of his baseball career with the Dodgers is something that he doesn’t want to take for granted. 

Now, instead of having a goal of helping NC State back to the College World Series for the third time in six years, West has his sights set on making his Major League debut in the coming years.

“It’s definitely an exciting thing that I’m going to be able to experience,” West said. “I’m looking forward to it, obviously. I want to keep building up, working up and make it to the majors as fast and as efficient as possible.”