The Yankees’ agreement with second-rounder Matt Sauer, which we reported here yesterday, is for an over-slot bonus of $2.5MM, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). That’s a bit more than double the slot value for the prep righty out of California, although many rankings listed Sauer as a potential first-round talent. The Yankees drafted injured righty Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John surgery) with their first-round selection, so presumably much of the savings from that selection will go toward signing Sauer.
Some other notable draft signings to close out the night (note that you can read up on all of the players listed here by checking out the free rankings from MLB.com and Fangraphs as well as the subscription-based but excellent work of Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law)…
- The Mariners announced that they’ve signed second-rounder Sam Carlson today — a high school righty of Minnesota that was widely ranked as a first-round talent but fell to the M’s at No. 55. He’ll take home $2MM, tweets MLB.com’s Jim Callis, which is about $800K over slot. Carlson was a Florida commit with a fastball that’s reached 97 mph and the makings of an above-average changeup and slider.
- The Rockies announced the signing of second-rounder Ryan Vilade, and Callis tweets that he’ll sign for the No. 48 pick’s slot value of $1,425,400. A high school shortstop out of Oklahoma, Vilade was committed to Oklahoma State but will instead embark on his pro career. He draws the most praise for his raw power and big arm strength, though a move to third base may be in order.
- The Tigers went way over slot to sign fifth-rounder Sam McMillan, Callis tweets. McMillan’s No. 155 slot came with a bonus of about $313K, but the prep catcher out of Florida will instead take home a bonus of an even $1MM. McMillan’s glove gets more praise than his bat right now, but he’s regarded as one of the better receiving catchers in the 2017 draft.
- Mets second-rounder Mark Vientos is taking home an over-slot bonus of $1.5MM — about $405K higher than the No. 59 slot’s value, tweets MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo. The high school shortstop’s bat is strong enough to play at third base if he has to move to the hot corner down the line, as many scouting reports believe will be the case. He’s projected to hit for power and had been committed to Miami before signing.
- Mayo also reports a pair of Padres signings — both of which are high school catchers (Twitter links). San Diego saved a little more than $400K on No. 39 overall pick Luis Campusano-Bracero, inking him for $1.3MM. Those savings (and then some) will go to No. 69 overall pick Blake Hunt, who receives a $1.6MM bonus that’s nearly double the $859K slot value of his selection. Campusano actually ranked higher on many draft boards despite his lower bonus thanks to his power potential. Hunt gets praise for his glove, but his bat isn’t as advanced.
- The White Sox landed second-rounder Gavin Sheets, a first baseman out of Wake Forest and the son of former Orioles outfielder Larry Sheets, for an even $2MM bonus, Baseball America’s Hudson Belinsky reports (on Twitter). That’s a bit more than $600K over slot for Sheets, who is limited to first base but draws praise for his power and improvements to his hitting approach that he made this season.
Dyson’ bunt was perfectly fine.
Yeah I agree…it was in the 6th inning, not with two outs in the 9th or anything
Anything past the 5th inning is bush league
It was a 4-0 game that they ended up winning 7-5… MAYBE you could call it bush league if they were getting crushed 10-0 or something like that, but even that’s a stretch…
If it was the 8th or 9th, I would kind of understand the bush league comments, but this was the 6th. Plenty of baseball to play and 4 to 0 is not insurmountable.
Ridiculous! The Mariners played meaningful baseball chasing the WC all the way through game 161 last year essentially missing the WC by one game. At the start of last nights’ game we were 1.0g behind in the WC- you expect the M’s to just roll-over and give up a game in the 6th frame, jeopardize their playoff chances because you mis-interpret an ancient rule? Wins don’t come easy in this league- Sorry but you sound like a sore loser to me.
Anyone who thinks it wasn’t doesn’t know baseball
Agreed. Verlander had 11 outs to go. Dyson didn’t break up a perfect game, he got on base in the 6th inning with one out.
Meh; Dyson’s a bad hitter. He was trying to get on base. Seattle won the game so big deal, right? It’s not like his bunt single was the only hit in a game. I can’t quite imagine a scenario in which a member of the opposing team should give himself up so the opposing pitcher can get a no-hitter or perfect game.
Stupid unwritten rules of baseball. College football teams win 63-0 in August/September non-conference games. In golf if someone is leading the pack by 6 strokes going into Sunday the other golfers don’t have to use less clubs to catch up. If I was Seattle’s coach I would have my hitters lay down 9 bunts in a row, since they couldn’t get a hit off of Verlander, hoping having someone on base might get a rally started. You baseball purist make it sound like your local youth baseball team had a perfect game through five and the opposing team brought out a 30 year old MLB slugger with 499 career home runs.
What an aggressive rant out of nowhere.
It would be different if Cano or Cruz tried to bunt on.. but Dyson has speed. That’s what he does best. It’s not out of the norm for him to do that.
Thats a fair play the whole way.
If it was an unwinnable game, as much as any game might be considered unwinnable, it might be considered bush league to bunt your way on base, but it obviously wasn’t an unwinnable game. The M’s won.
I don’t believe you just roll over and hand the game to the other team….a no hitter or perfect game would mean nothing then. If it is earned, because the other team made every effort to get on base, but didn’t, it has real meaning.
I don’t understand this “unwritten rule” If you want a perfect game play the right defense and pitch to all possibilities including the bunt. A guy has his right to bunt at any point if he wants, including 9th inning with 2 outs if it means he gets a hit. You want the perfect game….earn it.
THIS!
Yes!
It’s funny that if a perfect game went into the 9th inning and Nelson Cruz hit a home run, no one would say anything. How’s a bunt different?