This was not the path Cam Johnson expected to be on. But it was the path that he chose.

Days earlier, Johnson thought he'd be a first-round pick, on the verge of signing a contract worth millions of dollars and hopping on a course set to the major leagues.

But that's not where he and his family found themselves in the aftermath of the frenzy that was the 2023 MLB draft.

"Initially, Cam was disappointed," his father, Steve Johnson, said. "And the reason he didn't sign a pro contract is (because) we turned down a few offers in the first round. And we were firm that if they didn't meet our number that we go to college.

"And Cam was very comfortable with that."

Instead, Johnson finds himself at LSU, joining the reigning national champions as the No. 1 freshman in the nation heading into the 2024 season, according to Perfect Game.

He has a fastball that can reach 97 mph from the left side, a rarity in the sport, especially from an 18-year-old.

"It's left-handed. It's from a big body so you're dealing with a tough angle from the top, a tough angle from the side," LSU coach Jay Johnson said. "(The fastball) is up to 97 mph with all kinds of movement and he just pounds the strike zone."

Cam Johnson photo
LSU freshman left-handed pitcher Cam Johnson throwing at Alex Box Stadium during the fall of 2023 | Photo by: Courtney Howell, LSU Athletics
Courtesy of LSU Athletics
After his first semester with LSU, Johnson and his family know they made the right decision. Coming to LSU was always more of a Plan 1A than a Plan B for the Johnsons, despite the allure of MLB.

But for Johnson and his family, that peace of mind didn't make those three days in July any less stressful.

"It was crazy," he said.

Before the draft

MLB scouts began to show interest in Johnson as a potential draft prospect when he pitched at the 2021 WWBA World Championship tournament in Jupiter, Florida, the July following his sophomore year.

That showcase became a seminal moment in Johnson's young career, as it was also when he and his family agreed to have Tom O'Connell, an MLB player agent, become his MLB draft advisor.

"He's my guy who is always right by my side, no matter what," Johnson said. "I feel like anything that comes down the wire, he's the right person to handle it.

"When I text him he's always calling me. He's really accountable and I have a lot of trust in him."

Only two days after that event was when Johnson decided to decommit from Maryland — he grew up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and committed to the Terrapins before his sophomore year. It's also roughly around the same time he started building a relationship with LSU.

Johnson's father remembers Jay and LSU's staff going above and beyond during their family's visit to Baton Rouge, one of only two visits the family made after Johnson's decommitment from Maryland. He eventually committed to LSU in November of his junior year.

A high bar had been set for MLB teams to pass.

"When we first visited LSU, I fell in love with LSU myself," Johnson's father said. "Just with the people, the environment, the friendliness."

Finding Cam's worth

By Johnson's senior season, the interest coming from MLB teams regarding him was getting intense. His schedule at IMG Academy, where he pitched his senior year, was even adjusted so that he could meet with two or three MLB teams at least once a week.

That interest prompted Johnson, his family and O'Connell to begin assessing two related questions:

1. When could he get drafted?

2. What was his signing number?

To answer those questions, they began to compare him to previously drafted players with a similar profile to him.

One of those players was Brandon Barriera, a left-handed pitcher the Toronto Blue Jays selected with the No. 23 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft.

Barriera was also in high school when he signed a $3.579 million bonus with the Blue Jays. The contract he signed was an over-slot deal, meaning that he inked a contract that was worth more than the dollar value MLB assigned to the pick.

The bar Barriera and others set helped determine where Johnson could be selected, the mid-to-late first and early second round. But it wasn't the only factor for the Johnsons when assessing a signing number for their son.

Part of their calculation was also the value of a college education, even if Johnson's father admits that was almost impossible to do.

"It's invaluable to me... we wanted him to have a fallback and have other interests and other things as part of his life," Johnson's father said. "We said, 'You know, you may meet your wife at LSU or some of your best friends are going to be from college.' "

Other factors in their calculation included the literal cost of going to college, including inflation; the financial opportunities for Johnson over the next 10 years of his professional career after college; and the tax implications that would come with whichever team he would potentially sign with.

"Well, if you're a Florida resident and you're on a team that has a facility in Arizona, what's the impact?" the elder Johnson said.

"Well, they pay out. Teams pay out differently so you look at how they pay out and consider that as a part of your number."

All of these elements created a range of numbers that determined Johnson's worth. It was then up to O'Connell to negotiate with teams based on that scale.

The Johnsons had unwavering faith in O'Connell to stick to their evaluations. The elder Johnson remembers O'Connell, who represents Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zach Eflin among other major leaguers, being instrumental in their decision to stay firm with their number(s) and not potentially devalue their son.

"Tom didn't need to necessarily convince us. We talked about the risk. And if you think about it, the risk is Cameron goes to LSU," Johnson's father said. "So was that really a risk?... The other risk is that he gets hurt. Well, he can get hurt in minor league ball. So the benefits that we would achieve by going to college significantly outweighed any risk of signing a pro contract below value."