Vanderbilt Commit Cooper Flemming Likely to Sign With Tampa Bay Rays; The Anchor
Heading into Sunday night’s MLB Draft it felt as if Vanderbilt commit Cooper Flemming could sneak through the draft. His earlier-than-expected selection in the second round by the Tampa Bay Rays appears to change things, though.
Flemming–a shortstop from Aliso Niguel High School in California–is likely to bypass college and sign with the Rays, a source told Vandy on SI. An educated guess could also serve to reason that Flemming would be likely to sign based off of the $1,803,500 slot value of his draft pick.
The Tampa Bay Rays draftee was the 20th-ranked shortstop in the draft and the 82nd ranked player in the 2025 draft class by Baseball America. The 18 year old helped himself this summer and was ultimately ranked the No. 51 player in the class by The Athletic after a strong summer showing on the Appalachian League.
Flemming was one of four Vanderbilt signees drafted on the first day of the draft. He was selected with the 53rd overall pick while high schoolers Seth Hernandez, Sean Gamble and Slater de Brun were selected in the first 30 picks.
Current Vanderbilt players JD Thompson, RJ Austin and Cody Bowker were also drafted on Sunday.
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_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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