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2014 Amateur Draft

Cubs To Sign Carson Sands, Justin Steele

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The Cubs have agreed to sign fourth-round pick Carson Sands to a well-above-slot $1.1MM bonus, reports John Manuel of Baseball America (via Twitter). He was taken with the 109th overall pick, which came with a $480.6K slot allocation.

Chicago has also added fifth-rounder Justin Steele — also a high school lefty — on a $1MM bonus, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. His 139th overall draft slot came with a $359.9K allocation.

Baseball America and MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis both listed Sands as the 53rd-best talent available. The lefthander, who had been committed to Florida State, reportedly has boosted his fastball into the low-to-mid 90s and has decent secondary offerings that he can command.

ESPN.com’s Keith Law was somewhat less bullish on Sands, ranking Sands at 85th on his own top-100 list. But he had Steele higher than the other two observers just noted, placing him at 99th. Steele had been destined to play college ball for UCLA.

The extra cash needed to lock up Sands and Steele takes a big bite out of the approximately $1.5MM that the club saved by getting fourth-overall choice Kyle Schwarber to sign for less than his slot allocation. Sixth-rounder Dylan Cease has, like the two players just inked, been noted as a tough-sign prospect who will likely go above slot.

Red Sox Sign Michael Kopech

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JUNE 16: The signing is now official, as Kopech’s father tweeted a photo of his son inking his first professional contract. MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (via Twitter) that Kopech receives a $1.5MM bonus, meaning Boston saved about $178K on the selection.

JUNE 10, 2:30pm: Kopech says that he will sign for “a little under” slot, reports Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The bonus will land around $1.6MM, Cotillo tweets.

2:08pm: The Red Sox have an agreement in place with compensation pick Michael Kopech for an as-yet unknown amount, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Kopech was taken with the 33rd overall pick, which comes with a $1.678MM allotment.

Observers were largely in agreement on Kopech’s stock, with Baseball America (37th), ESPN.com’s Keith Law (40th), and MLB.com (41st) all placing him in the same range on their top prospect lists. The latter outlet noted that Kopech could clean up his delivery, but already has a strong fastball and curve and “has a lot of projection remaining.”

Kopech, who was committed to the University of Arizona, becomes the first reported draft signing for Boston. The club’s other top selection, shortstop Michael Chavis, was also taken out of high school.

Royals To Sign Second Round Pick Scott Blewett

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The Royals have reached agreement with second-round choice (56th overall) Scott Blewett, according to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (via Twitter). Blewett lands a $1.8MM bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter), which lands well above his draft slot allocation of just over $1MM.

The 6’6 high school righty was placed as high as 20th on the pre-draft lists of observers, with ESPN.com’s Keith Law making that lofty assessment. Blewett landed at 51st on the list of Baseball America and at 55th on that of MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis. He is said to have a mid-90s fastball.

The Royals entered with just over $8.6MM in possible achievable pool space. Blewett’s big payday still leaves Kansas City $113.5K beneath its total pool, according to a tweet from Callis, who notes that two draftees (first-rounder Brandon Finnegan and seventh-rounder Brandon Downes) are still playing in the College World Series.

Cardinals Reach Agreeements With Top Three Picks

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JUNE 16: Weaver has officially signed and received the full slot value of $1.843MM, reports Jen Langosch of MLB.com (on Twitter). He will report to the Cardinals’ Gulf Coast League affiliate on Wednesday of this week.

JUNE 10: In an update late last night, Goold reported that the Cardinals do indeed have agreements with Flaherty, Weaver and Williams. Flaherty is expected to receive around $2MM, reports Goold, which is well north of his pick’s value of $1.65MM. Weaver and Williams are both expected to command slot money, he adds, which would come out to respective bonuses of $1.843MM and $834K.

JUNE 9: The Cardinals are nearing deals with their top three picks, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Specifically, he notes that the Cardinals are nearing an over-slot deal with No. 34 overall pick Jack Flaherty. No deals will be announced until the completion of physicals, Goold adds.

In addition to Flaherty, St. Louis drafted Florida State right-hander Luke Weaver with the No. 27 overall pick in the draft and prep right-hander Ronnie Williams with the No. 68 overall selection the draft.

Flaherty, another high school right-hander, was committed to North Carolina and was thought to be a difficult sign, so it’s not entirely surprising to see that he’s nearing an over-slot deal. Baseball America ranked him 39th among draft prospects and noted that he was a third base prospect just one year ago before impressing scouts on the mound in 2014 and generating some potential late first round buzz. He’s touched 93 mph with his heater and has a changeup that has a chance to be a plus-plus pitch, while his slider could also be a plus offering that generates swings and misses, according to BA.

Mets Nearing Deal With Michael Conforto

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The Mets are expected to have a deal soon with first-round pick Michael Conforto, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com spoke to a team official who said a deal isn’t absolutely done yet, but there won’t be any snags either (Twitter link).

Conforto, an outfielder out of Oregon State, was considered by many to be the best college bat in this year’s draft. ESPN’s Keith Law and Baseball America both ranked the 6’2″, 217-pound lefty swinger as the No. 8 prospect in this year’s draft class, while Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com ranked him 17th.

Conforto batted a whopping .345/.504/.547 with seven homers, 16 doubles and a pair of triples in 59 games for Oregon State in 2014 — his junior season. Law praised Conforto’s power to his pull side, also noting that he works counts well and is able to hit the ball to the opposite field. Law expressed real concerns about Conforto’s defense, however, questioning his range and his throwing arm in left field. BA offered a bit of a different take, writing that he improved his previously fringy defense and is now adequate, and their scouting report projected him as a 20-25 homer hitter down the road. MLB.com shared some of the defensive concerns and worried that he might swing and miss too much, however that scouting report also projected him to hit 25-plus homers with regularity at his peak.

The slot value for the No. 10 overall pick, where New York selected Conforto, is $2,970,800, according to Baseball America. The Mets have reportedly signed third-rounder Milton Ramos for about $100K over slot, and they went $200K over slot on 13th-rounder Erik Manoah as well. However, they’re also said to have saved roughly $517K on rounds 4-10 in the draft, so they shouldn’t be hindered in negotiations with Conforto.

Braves Sign Braxton Davidson

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MONDAY: Davidson announced (via his Instagram account) that he has officially signed with the Braves. Bowman tweeted earlier today that the agreement was indeed for the slot value.

THURSDAY: The Braves are getting close to a deal with first-round pick Braxton Davidson, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. According to Bowman, Davidson will graduate from high school this weekend and then make the three-hour drive from his home in Asheville, N.C. to Atlanta in order to sign his first pro contract. Davidson is expected to sign near the slot value of $1.705MM, according to Bowman.

Braxton Davidson

Davidson was ranked as the draft’s No. 16 prospect on the Top 100 list of ESPN’s Keith Law. Baseball America ranked the slugging high school first baseman/outfielder No. 35, and MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo ranked him 36th.

Law’s scouting report notes that when Davidson is at his best, he has one of the best swings in the draft class and at one point looked to perhaps have more upside than any hitter — college or high school — in this year’s draft class. Davidson draws praise for his ability to hit the ball to all fields — an element of his game that he discussed with me in depth when I spoke with him for MLBTR’s Draft Prospect Q&A series. Last June, Davidson set a tournament record with three homers in four games at the Tournament of the Stars, and that power along with an improved hit tool and a notable drop in strikeouts, helped boost Davidson’s draft stock in 2014. Davidson is regarded across the board as one of the best bats in this year’s class.

The Braves have just $4.5577MM to spend on this year’s draft — the third-lowest amount of any team — which is a reflection of both their strong finish in 2013 and the fact that they forfeited a draft pick to ink Ervin Santana in Spring Training. As Bowman notes, they’ve already agreed to deals with second-rounder Garrett Fulenchek, third-rounder Max Povse and fourth-rounder Chad Sobotka.

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Sizemore/Golden Fleece Media.

Red Sox Sign Second-Rounder Sam Travis

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The Red Sox have signed second-round draft pick Sam Travis, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (Twitter link).  Travis was taken with the 67th overall selection and will sign for that pick’s exact slot value of $846.8K.

Travis, a 20-year-old first baseman, posted three strong seasons playing for Indiana University and earned himself a solid mid-tier rank in several top-100 prospect lists (Baseball America had Travis at #56, ESPN’s Keith Law at #57 and MLB.com at #63).  BA’s scouting report describes Travis as owning pull power and the ability to drive the ball to all fields, while also noting that he walks as often as he strikes out.  “A team that drafts Travis is buying a bat, though he is a sure-handed but not flashy defender at first and fringe-average runner,” according to Baseball America.

Marlins Sign Tyler Kolek

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The Marlins have signed Tyler Kolek, the second overall pick of the 2014 draft, and will officially introduce their newest prospect later today.  Kolek will sign for a $6MM bonus, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reported over the weekend, which is the third-highest bonus ever given to a high school pitcher taken in the draft.

It is still, however, significantly below the approximate $6.822MM slot price for the No. 2 overall selection.  Miami has already freed some savings by locking up Blake Anderson to a bonus of about $400K less than his slot value, so the Marlins have quite a bit of extra money available in its draft pool to reach agreement with several of its purportedly hard-to-sign, later-round picks.

Kolek was a consensus top-three talent heading into the draft. The 6’5, 250lb Texas high school righty has been said to have perhaps the most powerful prep fastball ever, regularly hitting and even surpassing the 100mph plateau. ESPN.com’s Keith Law notes that he will need to develop a third offering to complement his heater and slider, but obviously his upside is tantalizing.

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com first reported that Kolek and the Marlins were “in advanced negotiations,” while Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reported that the two sides had reached an agreement pending a physical.

MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth and Mark Polishuk contributed to this post.

Rockies Agree To Above-Slot Bonus With Forrest Wall

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The Rockies have agreed on a $2MM bonus with supplemental first-round choice Forrest Wall, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 35th pick with which Wall was taken comes with a $1,614,500 allocation. A prep pick out of Orangewood Christian High School, Wall was committed to attend the University of North Carolina.

Baseball America ranked Wall the 34th overall prospect in the draft. The native of Winter Park, Florida is described as one of the best pure hitters in the draft class. According to BA, Wall’s best attributes include “extreme bat-to-ball ability” and “good knowledge of the strike zone” although his throwing arm limits him to second base.

The Rockies have now come to terms with their top three picks. Only one Rockies draftee from the first 10 rounds – high school third baseman Kevin Padlo – remains unsigned. Based on the numbers compiled by Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com, the club is currently about $537,000 below slot with their early round signings.

Brad Johnson contributed to this post.

NL East Notes: Scouts, Phillies, Mets

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Most scouts live unglamorous, travel-heavy lifestyles and are unknown to fans, but they play vital roles in the draft in particular and player evaluation in general. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post profiles Nationals assistant GM Kris Kline as he travels to watch players in preparation for the draft. The story follows Kline through the Nationals’ selection of UNLV pitcher Erick Fedde in the first round. It’s a difficult story to summarize here, but a fascinating read. Here’s more from the NL East.

  • The Phillies haven’t yet decided to be sellers at the trade deadline, but they’re preparing for that possibility, GM Ruben Amaro says in an interview with Philly.com’s Ryan Lawrence. “We’re making sure we know which players we like the most in certain organizations and preparing for that,” Amaro says. “At the same time, we’re continuing to assess what our needs are.” It may be tricky for the Phillies to tear down, of course — Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins have 10-and-5 protection, and Cliff Lee is hurt and has a contract that will be tough to deal. Amaro says he is hopeful that Lee will return soon, however, and he suggests that the Phillies may be willing to eat salary in trades.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson says the team will determine whether to have a higher payroll next year after this season is over, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York writes. Alderson adds that if the Mets are contending in July, they should have the resources to make a trade.
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