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2017 Amateur Draft

Mariners Sign First-Rounder Evan White

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11:42AM: White’s bonus is worth $3.125MM, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports (Twitter link).  This saves the M’s $208.2K on their draft pool, money that could be made up to sign Carlson or another pick, or potentially a player selected outside of the first ten rounds.

11:12AM: The Mariners have announced the signing of 26 draft picks, including first-rounder Evan White.  Financial terms weren’t announced, though the slot value for the 17th overall pick (White’s selection spot) is $3,333,200.  White is represented by True Gravity.

White, 21, is a first baseman out of the University of Kentucky who was seen as a consensus top prospect in pre-draft rankings.  Baseball America rated White as the 12th-best prospect available, with MLB.com (18th), Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (19th) and ESPN’s Keith Law (33rd) also chiming in with strong grades.  Despite these uniformly positive grades, there is some question about whether White has enough power to stick at the first base position, though he is seen as a good hitter overall.  White gets high marks for his athleticism and could be used as an outfielder in the majors, though he has displayed outstanding defensive ability at first base.

Seattle has seemingly accomplished much of the heavy lifting within their draft signings, as 11 of their top 12 picks are already under contract.  The only one of their early picks who has yet to reach an agreement is Sam Carlson, a high school righty taken in the second round (with the 55th overall pick).  The Mariners had an overall draft pool of $6,737,300.

Royals, First-Rounder Nick Pratto Agree To Deal

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The Royals and first-round pick Nick Pratto have agreed to a deal, pending a physical, report William Boor and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Pratto, the 14th overall selection, will sign for $3.45MM – slightly below the $3,727,600 slot value of the pick.

“We are extremely excited to have drafted Nick Pratto and confident we will sign him at the appropriate time,” said Royals general manager Dayton Moore. “We remain in the signing process and nothing is complete at this time.”

Pratto is both a high school first baseman and a pitcher, but the Royals drafted the 18-year-old California native as as position player. Thanks to his offensive abilities, Pratto ranked as the 13th-best player going into this year’s draft, according to both Keith Law of ESPN and Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (17th) and Baseball America (24th) also regarded the soon-to-be former USC commitment as a first-round talent entering the proceedings, with each of the aforementioned prospect gurus praising the lefty-swinging Pratto’s bat. Additionally, Pratto offers “very advanced” defense at first, per BA.

Twins Sign Royce Lewis

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5:50pm: The Twins have announced the signing. Lewis’ deal is worth $6.725MM, per Heyman, who notes that it’s a record for a high school player in the new system (Twitter links).

4:34pm: The Twins have agreed to a deal with first overall draft pick Royce Lewis, Fan Rag’s Jon Heyman tweets. Lewis will receive a bonus of a bit over $6.7MM. Lewis, a high school shortstop from California, will forgo his commitment to UC-Irvine, as expected.

It was reported late last week that Lewis would soon take a physical with the Twins and that he was expected to receive a bonus slightly higher than the $6.5MM 2015 first overall pick Dansby Swanson got from the Diamondbacks, so today’s news does not come as a major surprise. It appears Lewis’ bonus will not be the biggest overall in this year’s draft, however — that honor could go to Braves No. 5 overall pick Kyle Wright, who received $7MM, or Rays No. 4 overall selection Brendan McKay, who could receive slightly more.

The first overall pick had a pool value of $7,770,700 this year, so it appears that when Lewis’ signing is complete, the Twins will save around $1M against their total draft pool of $14,156,800. Notably, they’ve already struck a deal with third-rounder Blayne Enlow for $2MM, a little over $1.2MM more than the value of the No. 76 pick. The Lewis and Enlow deals, then, will essentially balance one another out.

The Twins were reportedly interested in both Lewis and McKay with the first overall pick, and Lewis’ willingness to accept the Twins’ bonus offer was reportedly a key factor in their decision to select him. Lewis, though, did rate as one of the premium talents in this year’s draft. MLB.com rated him the No. 5 prospect available, noting that he has excellent athleticism and good range either in the infield or center field. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen rated Lewis similarly, noting his feel for hitting, projectable body and the likelihood he could become a plus center field if he’s eventually moved off shortstop. Baseball America (subscription required) noted Lewis’ plus makeup, speed and raw power.

Lewis will join a collection of young Twins talent that includes big-leaguers Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios, along with prospects Nick Gordon, Stephen Gonsalves and Enlow. Lewis only turned 18 the week before the draft and could require ample time to develop, but he’ll immediately become one of the crown jewels of the Twins’ system.

Notable Draft Signings: Twins, Rays, Braves, Angels, Reds

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Here’s a roundup of notable recent signings from last week’s draft.

  • The Twins have agreed to terms with compensation pick and outfielder Brent Rooker, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press writes. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Rooker will receive the slot value of the No. 35 pick, which is $1,935,300. The Twins selected Rooker in the 38th round last year, and he gave them permission to draft him again, Berardino writes. Rooker batted a ridiculous .387/.495/.810 this season for Mississippi State. MLB.com rated him the No. 50 prospect in the draft, noting his track record of performing well with wood bats in summer leagues.
  • The Rays have signed second-round pick Michael Mercado, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Mercado will receive about $2MM, somewhat above the slot value of $1,714,500 for the No. 40 overall pick. MLB.com ranked Mercado 70th-best talent available, noting the California high school righty’s ability to throw four pitches for strikes. He was committed to Stanford.
  • The Braves have announced that they’ve signed their second-round pick, Georgia high school outfielder Drew Waters. Waters will receive a bonus of $1.5MM, saving the Braves about $175K against the $1,674,600 slot value of the No. 41 pick, as Hudson Belinsky of Baseball America tweets. Waters ranked as MLB.com’s No. 42 talent in the draft, praising his speed and the hard contact he makes at the plate. Baseball America was even higher on him, ranking him No. 23 and praising the switch-hitter’s power as both a lefty and righty. He was committed to the University of Georgia.
  • The Angels have agreed to a deal with second-rounder Griffin Canning, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Fletcher notes that Canning will receive close to the slot value for the No. 47 pick, which is $1,459,200. Canning, a righty from UCLA, originally projected to go in the middle of the first round, but his stock reportedly dropped due to concerns over the results of an MRI. MLB.com rated Canning the No. 17 prospect in the draft, praising his simple delivery and describing him as a future mid- or back-of-the-rotation pitcher.
  • The Reds have signed fourth-rounder Cash Case for $1M, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets. The Florida high school shortstop will presumably need some sort of bag or other implement to carry that hefty sum, which comes in at significantly above the pick value of $501,900. Case has the potential to become an offensively-minded second baseman, Callis notes. Case did not rank in MLB.com’s top 200, but Baseball America rated him the No. 324 prospect in the draft. He was committed to Notre Dame.

Rangers Sign Top Three Draft Picks

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The Rangers have reached agreements with each of their top three picks from the recent Rule 4 draft, executive VP of communications John Blake announced on Twitter.

First selection Bubba Thompson was taken with the 26th overall pick, which comes with a roughly $2.45MM bonus allocation. He’ll get $2.1MM, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). The Alabama high-schooler ranked as high as 21st on the boards of draft analysts, earning that mark from Eric Longerhagen of Fangraphs, and drew a strong consensus as a top-thirty prospect. Thompson is noted for his excellent speed, center-field-capable glove, and burgeoning power.

The views were decidedly more divergent on shortstop Chris Seise, who went just three picks later with a comp selection. He’ll get a $2MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter), meaning that Texas will save $238,900 to allocate elsewhere. The Florida high schooler rated as low as 76th overall (ESPN.com’s Keith Law) due to a questionable bat, though the MLB.com analyst team placed him within the top 40 available players while expressing the view that his bat has “start[ed] to catch up to his other tools” as he has added strength.

Finally, with their second-round pick (#66, $926,500 allocation), the Rangers took righty Hans Crouse. The prep hurler, who had been committed to USC, out-ranked Seise on all the major pre-draft boards and drew consensus top-forty billing. While there’s still a need for some refinement, Crouse is said to possess a top-end power arm. He’ll take down an above-slot, $1.45MM bonus, per Grant (on Twitter) — essentially absorbing the savings from the prior two picks.

Pirates Sign First-Rounder Shane Baz

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FRIDAY: Pittsburgh has announced the signing. Baz gets $4.1MM, just over the slot value, per Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter).

WEDNESDAY: The Pirates and No. 12 overall pick Shane Baz have agreed to terms, reports Mark Berman of Houston’s FOX 26 (Twitter links). Baz, a Houston-area native, tells Berman that the Pirates made an offer that he “can’t pass up,” calling it a “tough decision” to forgo his commitment to Texas Christian University.

Terms of the deal have yet to be reported, though Baz’s No. 12 slot comes with an assigned value of $4,032,000. The Pirates have a bonus pool of $10,135,900 and can go over that assigned slot value to sign Baz if they save money on other picks further down the draft board.

Baz ranked No. 11 on the pre-draft rankings of ESPN’s Keith Law, Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Baseball America. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com pegged him as the draft’s No. 12 prospect. Considered the top prospect in the state of Texas, Baz draws praise for his mid-90s fastball that has already reached 98 mph. He also draws potential plus grades on a cutter, slider and curveball, with each of the listed scouting reports offering varying levels of praise. Baseball America, in particular, suggests that his secondary offerings create a lofty ceiling, writing that Baz “has the ingredients to surpass [Hunter] Greene going forward due to his more potent breaking pitches.”

The 6’3″, 190-pound Baz would’ve played both third base and pitched had he attended TCU — both BA and MLB.com reference his plus raw power — but he’ll focus on pitching now that he’s embarking on his pro career. He’s one of the younger prospects in the top echelon of the draft class, as he has yet to turn 18 years of age. Most of the above-linked reports agree that Baz still needs to refine his command and doesn’t yet feature enough deception in his delivery, though there’s potential for him to develop into a front-line starter down the road. He becomes the first of this year’s first-round draftees to agree to terms.

Braves Sign Kyle Wright

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12:42pm: The Braves have now announced the signing. Heyman tweets that Wright’s bonus is exactly $7MM, which tops Kris Bryant ($6.7MM) as the largest bonus given under the current draft structure..

7:45am: The Braves have reached an agreement with No. 5 overall pick Kyle Wright, reports MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. The Vanderbilt right-hander will receive a bonus worth a bit more than $7MM, placing him well above the $5,707,300 value of his draft slot. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported yesterday that the two sides were discussing a deal worth close to $7MM. Wright is represented by CAA.

Wright, at one point, was considered to be the likely first overall pick, but draft-day rumors suggested that the Twins had narrowed their choices to Royce Lewis and Brendan McKay, with Lewis ultimately going first. That allowed Wright to drop to the Braves with the fifth overall selection, giving Atlanta the opportunity to pick the player that they had ranked No. 1 on their board, according to scouting director Brian Bridges.

“It’s far-fetched when you get the guy who is still on the board who shouldn’t still be on the board who is advanced for his age,” Bridges said to Bowman. “He brings everything we want to see. He was definitely No. 1 on our board, so we feel really good about where we are.”

Wright was a consensus top five talent, per the pre-draft rankings of Baseball America, ESPN, MLB.com and Fangraphs. The 6’4″, 220-pound righty has drawn praise for a mid-90s fastball that he can run up to 97 mph — the best of his four-pitch mix. Wright is also said to have a curveball that ranges from above-average to plus as well as a slider and a changeup, both of which can be average or better big league offerings. He still has some work to do when it comes to consistently locating his pitches, but most scouting reports on him feel that he’ll ultimately have average or better command in the Majors as well.

Wright joins high school right-hander Shane Baz among first-round picks to reach agreements with their teams already just days after the draft. (Baz agreed to a deal with the Pirates yesterday.) The Braves will spend “approximately $8.7MM” between Wright and their second-round pick, Drew Waters, according to Bowman, which should mean that Waters will agree to a deal in the general vicinity of his $1.675MM slot value.

Angels To Sign First-Rounder Jo Adell

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The Angels have agreed to an at-slot, $4,376,800 bonus with tenth overall draft selection Jordon “Jo” Adell, according to Hudson Belinsky of Baseball America (via Twitter). Adell has already passed his physical, with the deal set to be made official in short order.

Adell, an outfielder out of Louisville’s Ballard High School, is said to possess eye-popping tools. But pundits split on his value as a draft prospect due to the uncertainty that scouts see in his game.

Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs joined the Baseball America prospect evaluators in ranking Adell as the seventh-best prospect available, citing his speed, power, and arm strength. But he has also shown plenty of glitches at times, and all acknowledge the risk. MLB.com (#21) and especially ESPN.com’s Keith Law (#50) were much more bearish on Adell’s outlook.

Clearly, the Halos will have a lot of work to do in developing Adell, who is also a notable prospect as a pitcher. While he won’t be expected to contribute in the majors for quite some time, Adell will become one of the top prospects in a weak Angels farm system from the moment he joins it.

Draft Notes: Lewis, McKay, Day 2, Gore, Greene, Wright, Beck

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No. 1 overall draft pick Royce Lewis will take his physical with the Twins soon, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. There aren’t expected to be any hangups in negotiations, per Berardino, who notes that the industry expectation is for Lewis to receive a bonus north of Dansby Swanson’s $6.5MM bonus from the 2015 draft. The top pick in the draft came with a slot value of $7.7MM, and MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger wrote this week that Lewis could sign for around $1MM less than that sum. That’d put his bonus in the $6.5MM to $6.7MM range, saving the Twins anywhere from $1MM to $1.2MM from the slot value. FanRag’s Jon Heyman pegs the expected value at “just a tick over” $6.7MM. Rays top pick Brendan McKay, meanwhile, is expected to sign for somewhere between $7MM and $7.2MM, according to Berardino. That’d be the largest bonus ever given to a college player under the current draft structure, surpassing Kris Bryant’s $6.7MM sum.

More notes on the draft…

  • The Twins “crushed” Day 2 of the draft, MLB.com’s Jim Callis opines. Adding high school right-hander Blayne Enlow, a potential first-round talent that dropped due to a strong commitment to LSU, kicked off a day in which Minnesota selected five players that ranked inside MLB.com’s top 200 draft prospects. Enlow, Callis writes, has the best curveball in the draft as well as a fastball that has touched 94 mph and has room to grow as his projectable frame grows. Callis also lauds the White Sox, Dodgers, Red Sox and Brewers for the talent they secured in rounds three through 10. ESPN’s Keith Law agrees that the Twins did quite well to land Enlow with the No. 76 pick and also gives quite a bit of praise to the Athletics, who landed a first-round talent (in his estimation) with the 81st pick by taking shortstop Nick Allen. Law opines that the undersized Allen, who is listed at 5’8″, would’ve been a top 10 pick if he were three inches taller.
  • FanRag’s Jon Heyman provides some insight into the progress being made with the top five picks in the draft. The Padres, according to Heyman, are expected to sign No. 3 overall pick MacKenzie Gore, a high school left-hander, for the full slot value of $6,668,100. Reds top pick Hunter Greene, meanwhile, is expected to sign for a deal “close” to the $7,193,200 slot value of his No. 2 overall selection, per Heyman. (Also of note for Reds fans: Heyman spoke to a rival exec who heaped praise on the Reds’ draft, opining that they “won the draft by far.”) And the Braves look to be going well over slot to sign Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright, as Heyman reports that they’re discussing a deal worth close to $7MM, while the No. 5 slot carries a value of $5,707,300. Of course, Wright was long rumored to be a potential No. 1 overall pick, so it stands to reason that he’d come with a fairly sizable price tag.
  • Baseball America’s John Manuel reported yesterday that Stanford right-hander Tristan Beck, a potential first-round talent that missed the 2017 season due to a stress fracture in his lower back, will not sign and plans to head back to Stanford (Twitter link). That didn’t stop the Yankees from drafting him late (29th round), though New York would obviously need to give him a massive bonus in order to convince him to forgo a return to college, as a healthy Beck would do quite well in next year’s draft. The Yankees may not have the leftover money even to make a legitimate effort to sign Beck, though he makes for a nice contingency plan if the team unexpectedly finds itself with some extra pool money to play with.

Twins Expected To Sign Third-Rounder Blayne Enlow To Over-Slot Deal

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The Twins are expected to sign third-round pick Blayne Enlow for a bonus of roughly $2MM, reports MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. That sum is more than two and a half times the size of the No. 76 overall selection’s slot value of $755,400.

Minnesota surprised many by selecting prep shortstop Royce Lewis over a more polished college product such as Louisville left-hander /first baseman Brendan McKay or Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright — long rumored as the two favorites to go first overall — but Bollinger notes that Lewis is expected to sign for around $1MM under the $7.7MM slot value at No. 1 overall. That gives the team some added flexibility, and it seems that Enlow will be one of the primary beneficiaries of that maneuvering.

A high-school righty-hander out of Louisiana, Enlow was rated as the No. 14 prospect in the draft by ESPN’s Keith Law but fell to No. 76, perhaps in part due to a reported strong commitment to Louisiana State University. Baseball America ranked Enlow as the No. 29 prospect in the draft, according to Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. He ranked 33rd on the lists of both Baseball America and Fangraphs.

Law notes that Enlow was a popular name among teams looking to go overslot later in the draft, which the Twins clearly appear to be doing. He draws praise across the board for his 6’4″, 180-pound frame that leaves him with room to add some size and likely some velocity to a fastball that sits in the low 90s. MLB.com notes that Enlow may have the best curveball of any high school arm in the class, and Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen notes that Enlow has the highest-measured breaking ball spin rate in the class. BA’s report on him notes that Enlow “is the kind of pitcher who sometimes makes it to [college], and if he does, blossoms into a potential front-of-the-rotation ace.”

The Twins have a bonus pool of $14.1MM in this year’s draft — the largest of any team in the league. That should give Minnesota the opportunity to spend a bid creatively even further down the line, whether on some of the players selected earlier today in rounds three through ten or tomorrow in rounds 11 and beyond.

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