The Royals have announced that they’ve signed No. 17 overall draft pick Brandon Finnegan. MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets that Finnegan will receive the full bonus pool allotment of $2,200,600.
Finnegan, a junior lefty from TCU, was ranked the No. 15 draft prospect by MLB.com, No. 18 by Baseball America and No. 24 by ESPN’s Keith Law. MLB.com notes that he throws 93-95 MPH and has what could be a good slider. He also uses a changeup, although he might stop throwing the pitch if he ends up in the bullpen.
Finnegan could end up as a closer in the long term — he’s undersized at 5’11”, and MLB.com notes that there are questions about his durability. Finnegan also missed a few weeks in April and May with shoulder tightness. But he has excellent stuff. The Royals could use him as a starter, but Callis notes that he could make it to the big leagues quickly as a reliever.
