TODAY: Tyler, too, has agreed to terms with Colorado, Callis tweets. He’ll receive the slot value at 38th overall ($1,701,600). MLB.com rated him the 25th-best prospect available, noting that he shows a tall ceiling when he’s on. Tyler has a big fastball with movement and a promising change to go with it, but needs to work on his breaker and clean up his command and mechanics to remain as a starter.
YESTERDAY: The Rockies have agreed to terms with second-round draft pick Ben Bowden, a Vanderbilt lefty, according to reports from MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo (links to Twitter). Bowden lands a $1.6MM bonus, which is $177,100 over the slot value for the 45th pick.
Likewise, the team has agreed to terms with third-rounder Garrett Hampson, a shortstop from Long Beach State, and high school infielder Colton Welker, who was taken in the fourth round. The latter ended up taking down a bigger payday, receiving $850K (well over is $541,800 slot value) while Hampson got $750K (just shy of the $776,700 allocation).
That results in a net $468,600 overage, but Colorado already reportedly saved $458,700 against the pool value of fourth overall choice Riley Pint. In the aggregate, then, GM Jeff Bridich still seems to have some wiggle room as he moves through the team’s harder-to-sign selections. The top unsigned pick is competitive balance selection Robert Tyler, a college righty.
Bowden rated as high as the 75th-available prospect, per Baseball America. In rating him 77th, ESPN.com labelled him a likely reliever as a pro but noted there’s a chance he could work out as a back-of-the-rotation starter. Hampson was rated 156th by Baseball America, which praised his speed and defense while calling him a high-floor player. Welker, too, only received a nod from BA; the University of Miami commit rated 168th.
I didn’t think Pint or Nikorak would sign with the Rockies both had commitments to strong college programs and being drafted by the Rockies isn’t the greatest thing. I say good for the Rockies though, they have Gray up Hoffman coming and 2 very high potential High School arms from the past 2 drafts.
They’ve got a lot more than that. Their minor league pitching depth is just sick. Besides Hoffman, there’s Freeland and Senzatela in AA, Peter Lambert in A, and about a dozen more. Nikorak isn’t even in the top 10. They have five man rotations everywhere except AAA with at least three major league arms in them.
Way too early to properly rank a 19 year old especially a pitcher vs college guys and guys with more than 1 year of pro ball experience, all I know is Nikorak and Burrows were two of the highest rated high school pitchers in the country in 2015.
I’m also sorry if I misread that and you were just making a statement on how good the system is that a guy like Nikorak isn’t even top 10, In that case even more reason to be excited for Rockies fans.