10:13am: Luplow receives a $500K bonus, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. The Pirates save a bit of money on the signing, as it’s $24,300 under slot.
1:18am: The Pirates have signed Comp Round A pick Connor Joe and third-rounder Jordan Luplow, according to the players themselves (Twitter links, with a hat tip to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects). Financial terms of the deals are unclear at this time, but the pick with which Joe was selected, No. 39 overall, comes with a bonus pool value of $1,457,600, and Luplow’s pick value at No. 100 overall is $524,300. The Pirates have now agreed to terms with all their picks from the first ten rounds except ninth-rounder Kevin Krause, a catcher from Stony Brook.
Joe, a junior outfielder and catcher from the University of San Diego, was rated the No. 102 overall draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 110 overall by MLB.com. Baseball America praises his swing and plate discipline but suggests that his bat might not play well if he ends up at first base, where he frequently played in college.
MLB.com ranked Luplow the No. 94 prospect in the draft, while ESPN’s Keith Law put him at No. 95 Baseball America had him at No. 103. MLB.com notes that the Fresno State outfielder has a solid bat, and while his other tools aren’t exceptional, he could be a “solid all-around performer,” comparable to A.J. Pollock.
