MLBTR will track which first and supplemental first round picks have signed leading up to the July 13th signing deadline. As for players selected in round two and beyond, here are some additional draft signings…
- The Twins have signed second rounder Mason Melotakis and fourth rounder Zach Jones, reports MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger (on Twitter). Both players are college pitchers; Melotakis a lefty and Jones a righty. Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (on Twitter) that Jones signed for $357K, exactly slot money.
- The Brewers have signed 25th rounder Lance Roenicke according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy (on Twitter). Lance, a college outfielder, is the son of Brewers manager Ron Roenicke.
- The Blue Jays will sign third round selection Anthony Alford, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports. Alford, a high school outfielder, might have been a first round selection, but he informed teams of his intent to play football and baseball at Southern Mississippi instead of signing out of the draft. The Blue Jays will allow Alford to play football, Callis reports. The outfielder’s bonus remains unconfirmed, but it could be close to double the recommended value of $424K.
- The Astros announced the signing of eight selections, including fifth rounder Andrew Aplin.
- The A's announced that they agreed to terms with 13 players, including their fourth round selection, high school center fielder B.J. Boyd.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
And the A’s already match the number of high schoolers signed out of last years draft class!
Im confused. He’s going to sign but is going to play football?
Yes, it’s allowed in these rules. He can go pro but is eligible to continuing playing Football. Eventually, he will have to make a decision which sport he will stick with.
Thanks. Seems like a big risk on Jays part because of injuries and not dedicating himself to pro ball strictly. This means he’s going to college correct?
where is the risk? The less then million they might spend on a 1st round talent?
If not a risk then definitely not the smartest choice. The jays might just have wasted their 3rd round selection if he does not end up signing.
wasted? how. who was the best available talent?
this is a team who picks a Navy guy in 10th round….
This pick will be wasted if he decides he’ll stick with football.
1-they get the pick next year (and draft cap space for it) if he doesn’t sign, but the article is saying that they most likely will.
2-the only real risks are injury or that he decides to stick with football. but, considering the likely bonus amount (not first round money) and the fact that he’s a first round talent, it REALLY isn’t a significant monetary loss even if the worst case scenarios happen.
About the draft cap space, not sure if you mean the space this year if he doesn’t sign. If that is what you mean, then that’s not quite right, if he doesn’t sign, the money allotted for that spot is subtracted from the total pool of the top 10 rounds, so they’d have less cap space to work with.
agree the only thing loss is the $425 next year, and maybe a gamble on someone like Kellogg
question: can he take the bonus and never actually join the organization? if he gets injured playing football i can see him keeping his money…but does this deal come with a commitment to play baseball after college or no guarentees..all bets are off..i can take your money and run?
pretty much. its just a signing bonus, they posses your baseball rights, so you can’t go play for another team or anything, but they cant force you to play baseball.
i think they can. he has to report immediately and play, which i figure i would be doing in 10 days when season begins
did you not read the article? he’s going to school
if he’s reporting anywhere, its for a physical in dunedin, maybe he’ll work out in the summer there to keep in baseball shape. but come september he’s in school.
so he is on the jays roster. Azor is leaving also in september and i don’t see anyone saying anything about that.
Alford has obligations, which he will have to fullfil… I am even willing to bet he will play more for the jays (as their 7th pick), than Giolito (at probably 5 times the bonus) will do for the nationals this year
Why do u mention that you think he will play more than Giolito? Cuz Gio is hurt currently?
Of all players, why Giolotio?
you’re not making any sense here buddy
read his signing bonus might be split up into different seasons to protect team from this scenario.
No, it’s just amortized over multiple years for accounting purposes. He still gets it all up front.
why different than anybody else?
So if I’m reading this right he plays football in the autumn, attends some more classes in the winter, and plays A-ball in the summer?
if im Alford and I’m dedicated to football…why not take this money…even if you have NO intentions of ever playing professional baseball…it means he cant play collegiate baseball but for 8-900K seems well worth it to me. its a risk no doubt but i guess they really love his talent..and with the 112th pick its a solid gamble on the bluejays end…especially if they view him as a 1st rd talent. glad they didn’t use a 1st round pick on him which he had said in an interview they wanted to do.
I’d say its a terrible deal for both sides. For the Jays they are going to be paying about 400 K over slot for a guy that won’t get yearly training and at least for now will only play in about 70 games a year, for him he severly hurts his chances of making the bigs by playing football and at same time hurts his chances in NFL if he does decide to go in that route.
Any team would have loved so sign alford, he would’ve been a top 10 pick if he wasn’t such a signability concern. Id say 800k is worth the outside chance he decides to choose baseball as his sport, I mean 800k is the cost of a replacement level player at the bigs, so not exactly a ridiculous sum of money. If he decides to play baseball professionally, this draft will be quite the coup for the jays, a 4 tool high ceiling center fielder (davis), a top 10 talent who slipped because of a foot injury (smoral), a guy who’s almost big league ready and could be an elite reliever (stroman) and now add alford potentially to that list, even if all the other guys the jays drafted are filler, that’s a good draft.
he would have been a backhalf first rounder if he was going to sign for slot and focus fully on baseball. Neither of those 2 things are the case. Gavin Cecchini and Hawks are better prospects and went at 12/13. I love the davis pick tho.