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2014 Amateur Draft Signings

Draft Signings: Daniel Mengden

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Here are Friday’s notable mid- to late-round draft signings, with all slot information coming courtesy of Baseball America…

  • The Astros announced that they have officially signed fourth-rounder Daniel Mengden. The agreement was first reported earlier this week by Tyler Stafford of the Associated Press and the Texas A&M Battalion (Twitter link). According to Stafford, Mengden’s deal is worth $470K, which is a bit south of the $494,800 slot value of the No. 106 overall selection. The A&M right-hander ranked 143rd on BA’s Top 500 list and 101st on MLB.com’s Top 200. BA notes that Mengden features an above-average slider with a fastball that has touched 95 mph and a changeup that is solid-average to above-average. However, BA also notes that he has dealt with back issues that prevented him from throwing his slider much this past season.

Draft Signings: Bryan Dobzanski, Spencer Moran

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Here are the day’s notable draft signings:

  • The Cardinals have signed 29th-round choice Bryan Dobzanski with a $700K bonus, reports Scott Chappelear of NJ.com (h/t to Jim Callis of MLB.com). The righty, who had been committed to Louisville, fell down the board because of signability issues. $600K of his bonus will count against the total allocation for the Cardinals.
  • Righty Spencer Moran, the 11th-round pick of the Rays, has agreed to a $390K bonus, according to John Manuel of Baseball America (via Twitter). As above, the amount over $100K will run against Tampa Bay’s tab. Moran was rated the draft’s 152nd-best prospect by Baseball America.

Draft Signings: Kevin McAvoy, Tanner Scott

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Here are the latest draft signings of note:

  • Fourth-rounder Kevin McAvoy has agreed to terms with the Red Sox, tweets Callis. McAvoy will get a $300K bonus, saving the club $77.6K against his 134th slot allocation. Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal profiled the Bryant University righty after he was selected.
  • The Orioles have agreed to sign sixth-round choice Tanner Scott, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter). Scott takes home a $650K bonus, which nearly triples the $240K slot value allocated to the 181st choice. Scott, a high school lefty out of Texas, was rated the 184th-best prospect by Baseball America but did not crack the top-200 list of Callis and his MLB.com colleague Jonathan Mayo.

Red Sox Sign First-Rounder Michael Chavis

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JUNE 23rd: Chavis’ deal is now official after the infielder passed his physical, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com.

JUNE 16th: The Red Sox have agreed to a full-slot bonus with first-rounder Michael Chavis, reports Ryan Hannable of MetroBoston (via Twitter). Chavis, taken with the 26th overall pick, will get $1,870,500 to forego his commitment to Clemson.

Chavis, a shortstop in high school ball who could transition to third (if not the outfield or even catcher) as a pro, is said to impress with his overall abilities more than any single tool. Reports say that he has a strong arm, solid power, good contact skills and bat speed, and decent running ability. That package, along with his reputed effort and work ethic, led Chavis to be rated the 21st overall prospect by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis, 26th by Baseball America, and 28th by ESPN.com’s Keith Law.

The signing of Chavis wraps up a notable day for Boston’s system. The club landed an at-slot deal with second-rounder Sam Travis. Meanwhile, we also learned that compensation round A choice Michael Kopech would indeed sign for just under his slot allocation.

Diamondbacks Sign First-Rounder Touki Toussaint

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MONDAY, 7:18am: Toussaint’s bonus is $2.7MM, well over the pick value of $2.338MM, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

FRIDAY, 6:27pm: The Diamondbacks have officially announced a deal with first-round selection Touki Toussaint. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported that a deal was close (via Twitter). His bonus is expected to exceed the $2,338,200 slot allocation that came with the 16th overall pick, though precise details remain unknown.

The high school righty, who is still just 17 years old, was rated as high as the eighth-best prospect available entering the draft. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis, who gave him that top-ten billing, say that Toussaint has a quick, loose arm and big curve ball. It sounds as if he still has work to do in commanding his offerings, repeating his delivery, and developing his third pitch (a change), but MLB.com’s experts feel that his raw stuff and athleticism give him an ample chance at success as a professional.

Baseball America (12th) and ESPN.com’s Keith Law (13th) both had Toussaint somewhat lower down their boards, but still agreed that Arizona received a good talent at its place in the draft. Indeed, in the view of Law, Toussaint arguably has more upside than any other high school right-hander in this year’s draft.

Arizona entered the draft with up to $7,228,300 in total pool space. According to Piecoro, via Twitter, the club has now inked all of its first twelve choices. Checking in at MLB.com’s bonus tracker, it appears that the Diamondbacks have saved $430.8K on their post-Toussaint picks, leaving a good deal of room to accommodate the over-slot spending needed to lure him away from Vanderbilt.

Draft Signings: Jake Cosart, Zach Risedorf

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Here are today’s notable draft signings, with the latest agreements at the top of the post…

  • The Red Sox have signed third-round selection Jake Cosart to a below-slot bonus of $450K, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. The slot recommendation for the 109th overall selection is $509.4K. Cosart, brother of Astros right-hander Jarred Cosart, is a right-hander from Seminole State JC.
  • The Padres officially signed sixth-round pick Zach Risedorf, the team announced.  The two sides originally reached an agreement two weeks ago, according to MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link).  Terms of the deal aren’t known, though the 177th overall pick carries a $249.4K slot value.  Risedorf, a high school catcher from Connecticut, had been committed to UConn.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

Draft Signings: Karsten Whitson

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We’ll keep track of Saturday’s notable mid-to-late draft signings here…

  • The Red Sox have signed 11th round selection Karsten Whitson for $100,000, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Whitson was formerly selected ninth overall in the 2010 Rule 4 draft by the Padres, but he turned down a $2.1MM bonus to attend the University of Florida. Speier adds that Whitson was recently gunned at 96 mph with an 88 mph slider (via Twitter).

Draft Signings: Andrew Morales, Trevor Megill

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Here are the day’s draft signings, with slot info courtesy of Baseball America …

  • The Cardinals have agreed to terms with compensation round B pick Andrew Morales, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). The senior righty out of UC-Irvine was taken 71st overall pick, which carried a $796.1K allocation. Morales will earn a $546.1K bonus, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com, meaning that the Cards will end up with exactly $250K in savings on the pick.
  • Meanwhile, the Cardinals learned that they will not land third-round pick Trevor Megill, who instead will finish his college career, reports MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. That takes his $504.4K bonus value out of play for St. Louis, though the club will gain another pick in next year’s draft (immediately following the third round).

Draft Signings: Brown, Benjamin, Dickey

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Here are Thursday’s notable mid- to late-round draft signings, with all slot info coming courtesy of Baseball America…

  • No. 81 overall pick Aaron Brown received an over-slot $750K bonus to sign with the Phillies, reports MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (on Twitter). Brown, who has already begun his pro career with Short-Season Class-A Williamsport, was a two-way star at Pepperdine, playing both center field and pitching in their rotation. Philly selected him as an outfielder. Brown ranked 89th on BA’s Top 500 and 120th on Mayo’s Top 200. The slot value for the No. 81 overall selection was $682,500.
  • The Rangers saved about $180K by inking fifth-rounder Wes Benjamin to an under-slot, $125K bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Kansas left-hander was up to 94 mph prior to Tommy John surgery in April, Callis notes. BA noted that the Jayhawks southpaw was moving up draft boards prior to his injury and still ranked him 371st in the draft.
  • Callis also tweets that Nationals fourth-rounder Robbie Dickey agreed to a $400K bonus that’s about $16K under slot. A 6’3″, 205-pound right-hander out of Blinn Community College in Texas, ranked 179th on MLB.com’s Top 200 and 210th on BA’s Top 500. Callis and Mayo note that Dickey turned heads last fall as a reliever, sitting 95-97 mph with his fastball and showing a solid slider and changeup. He dealt with biceps tendinitis this spring though and saw his velocity dip while his slider lost some of its bite.

Rays To Sign Third-Rounder Burke For $900K

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The Rays and third-round selection Brock Burke have agreed to terms on a $900K signing bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (on Twitter). That’s more than $355K north of the No. 96 overall selection’s slot value. A high school left-hander out of Colorado, Burke had been committed to Oregon. He is represented by agent Paul Cobbe of Sosnick/Cobbe Sports.

Burke didn’t rank among MLB.com’s Top 200, Keith Law’s Top 100 or even Baseball America’s Top 500. However, Law noted in his recap of AL teams’ drafts (subscription required and recommended) that Burke is “very projectable” and features an 86-91 mph fastball with sink. Law adds that Burke’s changeup and curve both need work, and he doesn’t use his lower half enough. BA does have a scouting report on Burke, noting that the 6’3″, 185-pound southpaw offers projection and has touched 92 mph but struggles with command, as evidenced by the seven walks per nine innings he averaged this spring.

BA also says that his breaking ball has depth and projects as average or better, and it’s worth noting that Burke struck out an incredible 19 hitters in a late April game this season (as written by Justin Groom of Colorado’s 9News.com). MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo noted at the time of the selection that Burke has continually improved his velocity and may have more velocity on the horizon, as he doesn’t get to throw as many innings as prep arms from warmer climates (video link).

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