TRACKING THE PACK
16 ■ THE WOLFPACKER
wolfpacker spotlight
Baseball
In the summer of 2011, before ever playing an inning, star freshmen (left to
right) Trea Turner, Carlos Rodon and Brett Austin posed for pictures at an NC State
baseball media availability.
More than 11 years later, Austin is back with the Wolfpack after reaching AAA
in the minor leagues and also serving as a bullpen catcher for the Washington
Nationals for two seasons. He is an assistant coach with the Pack baseball team,
having joined Elliott Avent's staff in August 2021.
Turner and Rodon are still in the majors, and both are set to be among the
highest-paid players in the league. Turner signed an 11-year, $300 million con-
tract with the Philadelphia Phillies in December. That is the 10th contract in MLB
history to reach $300 million.
Turner has received MVP votes in each of the past three seasons, and he won
a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019 before being traded two
years later to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rodon has received Cy Young votes each of the past two seasons, during which
he went a combined 27-13 on the mound with a 2.67 earned run average in
310.2 innings, striking out 422 batters in the process.
Rodon made $21.5 million last season with the San Francisco Giants, but he
elected to opt out of the rest of the deal. MLBTradeRumors.com projected that
Rodon would land a five-year, $140 million contract in free agency. For some
perspective, Turner was projected by the site to get eight years, $268 million.
— Matt Carter/Photo courtesy NC State Athletics
TREA TURNER, CARLOS RODON, BRETT AUSTIN
