Slade Caldwell is currently at Ole Miss, sure, but he’s ‘probably a high draft pick’ next week

The stock of decorated Ole Miss baseball signee Slade Caldwell remains unchanged (20-40 range) as the two-round MLB Draft readies to open in less than a week.

As in, Caldwell will likely never play a game for the Rebels.

The draft runs from July 14-16. Caldwell is a two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year. He’s been committed to Ole Miss since October of 2020 and signed in a 2024 Rebel class ranked No. 6 nationally.

Caldwell is the draft’s No. 27 overall prospect, according to MLB.com. He hit .485 as a high school senior and also posted a 1.63 ERA as a pitcher.

But it’s his advanced, line-drive hit tool that has next-level evaluators so excited. He’s also a plus defender in the outfield. Caldwell led Valley View High School to the Arkansas 5-A championship last season. He tallied 18 RBI, 58 runs scored and 51 stolen bases.

Caldwell set a new Arkansas state record for career steals (170).

“It’s pretty much just like speed-dating,” Caldwell said of the draft process, in an interview this week with Arkansas Preps Weekly. “It’s a cattle call.

“I’ve talked to scouts. They’re going through your background and the checklist and checking off everything because it’s an investment that teams are putting into their draft picks. They’re not going to spend millions of dollars if you’re not going to be a good human being on and off the field.”

Caldwell has enrolled at Ole Miss since June 24.

NCAA rules prohibit staff instruction, but he’s been working out at the team’s indoor facility adjacent to Swayze Field, while also taking online classes, among other activities.

He’s roommates with fellow Rebel freshman Owen Paino, who’s also a draft risk. Caldwell said he’ll watch the draft with a small group of friends and family back home in Jonesboro.

“I’ve been more of an Oxford kid than an Arkansas kid,” Caldwell said. “Oxford is a relatively-small, college town and kind of feels like home for me. Jonesboro is also a small, college town with Arkansas State being there. I went to school in Memphis, so we’d go down to Oxford and hang out and stuff. It’s always really cool.”

Sources indicate Ole Miss has a chance to hold onto him if he slips, but the Rebels are fully expecting a team to meet Caldwell’s number.

“He, like all the freshmen, is here,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement told the Ole Miss Spirit on Monday. “The exciting thing with him is he’s been a projected high pick for a long time now; for eight months now. He was so good on the summer circuit. Occasionally in the last three or four years the guys who perform really high at that level, we’ve had a couple who don’t come to summer school, ‘cause they know they’re going to sign (and) we know they’re going to sign. That’s not the case with him. He’s been loyal to us the whole way through.

“Certainly is going to have a big decision to make. We expect that he’s probably a high draft pick. But he’s been super honest with us, saying if he doesn’t get what he wants, he’s excited about being here. He’s here now.”

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