Hard to believe the bonus money would be a major force in shaping the decision if that bonus is somewhere in low 6 figures.

The choice really becomes do you want to jump into minor league baseball or stay in school?

One of the things that bothers me a bit is that we have players who spend 4 years in the program but don't earn their degrees until later. If one isn't going to get a degree in four years, then I really don't see any reason to come back for a 4th year of college baseball. you might as well get paid to play if you are going to play.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think the best case for urging a player to come back for senior year would be

1. Your pro career is likely to be short and peak out at low level minors
2. If you have your degree in hand, you are well equipped to move rapidly to next chapter of your life

A case study for this might be Jeremy Rathjen. A fine student who likely would have been admitted to Rice straight up, Jeremy was a poor AA player at the age of 25. He is now a Wharton MBA student and a summer intern at Goldman Sachs at the age of 27 and has great opportunities ahead of him.

If Jeremy had left Rice without a diploma, he would not be where he is today.