The Reds have agreed to sign second overall pick Hunter Greene, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter links), with a record-setting $7.23MM bonus landing the multi-talented youngster. Things came right down to the wire for the California prep star, though most believed all along that he’d end up putting pen to paper.
Greene was taken second overall in the recent Rule 4 draft. That slot came with an allocation of $7,193,200. Just how much bonus money Greene would land, though, could only be sorted out through post-draft negotiations. It was long suggested that his reps were pushing for the highest-ever signing bonus under the current draft slot system, which he did ultimately achieve.
Greene’s alternatives were to attend UCLA, where he had committed, for at least three years; or instead to enroll in a junior college — thus permitting re-entry into the draft after just one season. For the team, missing on Greene would’ve meant landing the third overall pick in next year’s draft. Clearly, though, both saw a deal as the optimal outcome, and that’s just what occurred.
Unsurprisingly, there was a considerable amount of jockeying among the first several draft selections. Fourth overall pick Brendan McKay (Rays, $7,005,000) and fifth overall selection Kyle Wright (Braves, $7MM) both took home more than first overall pick Royce Lewis (Twins, $6.725MM).
Entering the draft, Greene was generally seen as the top available talent. ESPN.com’s Keith Law had him atop his board, as did the prospect analyst teams at Baseball America and MLB.com.
Though he’s considered a significant prospect at shortstop, Greene’s greatest upside lies on the mound. Per the scouting reports, he works off of a huge fastball that he commands well with a smooth delivery and excellent athleticism. Though his secondary pitches are in need of refinement, that’s to be expected for a player who won’t even reach 18 years of age until August.
Well that was close
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Next he will sign with Boras
Why would he switch to Boras now, after already signing the deal? Unless you are talking about in like 7 years when he’s negotiating his next deal
Agents do more than just negotiate the contract
So how much did he get?
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Can he start tonight against the D’backs?
Harold Reynolds probably thinks yes
Don’t doubt H
Kid is showing to have an extremely large head, hope that doesn’t catch up to him.
I think his handlers had more to do with the lengthy negotiations than Hunter did.
He was supposed to sign for free?
For free? No. For his 7mil+ slot? No. Get the record (current model) and give your new team time to sign one or more prospects still on the board. By signing at the last minute, Greene killed that. Cubs got two more decent prospects because Lange gave them time to get deals done.
Lange just signed about the exact same time Greene signed.
Reds had already signed all other top ten round picks
Let’s not exaggerate how great the Cubs are. The Reds handled their negotiations with all picks just fine. The Cubs did fine, too. Not great, not bad, but fine.
I think a better example would have been Lewis with the Twins. Lewis signed quickly and due to the lower bonus allowed the Twins to spend over on Enlow who they took in the 3rd round but was considered by just about everyone to be a late first round talent and only fell that far because everyone thought he wouldn’t sign.
@Florida what a ridicules comment, What he’s supposed to do is sign a contract in a reasonable time frame. That kind of drama is not good for him or the organization he signed with. I wish that they did not come to terms. We would have had the 3rd pick next season and not had to deal with this pre-madonna.
anybody who says that he has a big head from this is so wrong. This is not unprecedented
Just because it’s not unprecedented doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a big head. That statement is not mutually exclusive. Obviously he deserves to sign the best contract that he can, but the fact it took LITERALLY to the last minute is a huge red flag. If you don’t see that then you’re blind. If this kid is truly a phenom then why didn’t he go 1st. It’s probably his attitude. If that’s not the case give me another plausible answer.
@ksoze
You obviously do not know how the draft works. You say he did not go first because he has a big head? Sorry. He did not go firsr because the twins wanted someone to sign substantially under slot and he would not.
In fact 3 of the first 5 picks all signed for more money then the first pick.
I do know how the draft works. I also know you shouldn’t pass up on Michael Jordan to get Sam Bowie. Are you telling me that the Twins draft plan was to use the 1st pick of the draft to sign budget friendly option over the best available player. I feel bad for the Twin fans if that is the case.
That is the case yea. MLB draft is messed up.
Houston did the same when they signed correa. Signings liked that allow you to throw money at a hard to sign guy you draft later and not be screwed if you don’t get him.
Ksoze: next time you negotiate a raise, make sure to take the first offer, just so you avoid any drama or conflict. Give up freedom to negotiate and take what the offer, please.
I’ve been in sale for 14 years, I negotiate for my salary everyday. Go be an expert negotiator with your cable bill. Both parties in a negotiation need to win. If not you will have a strained relationship.
Yes, obviously that was the Twins’ mindset. And by questioning this you’re showing that you in fact do not know how the MLB draft works. This isn’t out of the norm. Signing guys for under slot in round 1 happens all the time and it allows teams to spend significantly in later rounds on guys who want big bonuses.
“The Twins not only own the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 Draft, but they also have the benefit of the largest bonus pool. MLB has notified teams of the official allotments, and Minnesota leads the way with $14,156,800 in spending power.” Per Jim Callis on MLB.com
@ksoze This is what the Twins were able to do with their saved money.
mlbtraderumors.com/2017/06/twins-expected-to-sign-…
Or, they could have just taken and Greene and paid him 7.5 mil (270k below slot) and taken Enlow at pick 35 with a 1.94 mil slot instead of taking a 4th round pitcher at 35. Passing on Greene did not get them Enlow. The pitcher they took at 35 is the guy they got for passing on Greene.
So you’re saying the Twins should have taken a guy that they got in the 3rd round in the 1st round instead and that would have been better for the team? Not sure where you logic comes from when you say that they got Rooker (35th [pick) for passing on Greene, they would have been able to taken him no matter who they selected and he signed for the slot amount unlike Enlow who they took a risk on, again Lewis helped the twins in the rest of the draft.
I think my original point got missed, he is either a “generational” player who is a pre-madonna or he’s approximately as good as any other top 5 pick. If he was as good as he was hyped the only reason you’d pass on him is fear of issues. I’m not saying the twins didn’t take a player they could sign under slot value with the 1st pick. What I was saying is if this kid is that special they would have picked him and employed a different draft strategy.
I meant the 37th pick – Leach – who was rated 101st overall and signed for 1..4 mil. All I’m saying is take the best player at the top of the draft. If they think that was Greene or McKay (sounds like McKay since there were reports he turned down Twins offer). They still could have got Elnow with pick 37 for the $2mil he signed for, it just would have been 14,000 above slot. The 3rd round pick could have been anyone they could have signed at slot – probably not Leach, who still would have been available to be drafted at 76
They could have at pick 37 taken Ellnow or Sam Carlson, a local high school kid ranked 15 overall and also signed for $2mil after being drafted 55 overall by Seattle.
This is what they did
Pick rank player signed slot savings/overage
1 5 Lewis 6.725 7.77 -1.05
35 50 Rooker 1.935 1.935 0
37 101 Leach 1.4 1.86 -.46
76 29 Elnow 2.0 .755 +1.245
106 150 Barnes .450 .507 -.057
136 140 Bechtold .6 .378 +.222
This is what they would have gotten if they just picked the best player off the board.
Pick rank player signed slot savings/overage
1 1,2 Greene/McKay 7.37 7.77 -.4
35 50 Rooker 1.935 1.935 0
37 29 Ellnow 2.0 1.86 +.14
76 anyone they can sign at around .9 (.145 above slot)
106 150 Barnes .450 .507 -.057
136 140 Bechtold .6 .378 +.222
if this was a trade, it would be Greene/McKay + a 3rd round slot player for Lewis and Leach. If Leach doesn’t pan out, it was a dumb decision.
It’s Prima Donna (not pre-Madonna, though that is funny) to indicate one that doesn’t work well or get along with a team or group.
That said, Greene is none of that. Wanting to sign for highest pay happens every draft. There was no question Greene was the #1 talent, so he wanted #1 money. The difference between slot and what he wanted was a couple of hundred thousand…in other words, chump change or between the couch cushions for most MLB franchises these days. Certainly you pay what he wants as a few hundred K now might lead to an ace pitcher on the cheap for several years in two or three years. Spend 300k now to save $50 million later…works for me.
how is he getting a big head, he wanted to get paid, and he got paid. end of story. Stop acting like you wouldn’t do the same thing
Trololol
How so? Because he wanted to get what he was owed? This may very well be the only payday this kid gets. In fact, just the law of averages says it will be. He deserves life-changing money
Why does he deserve life changing money at 17? For playing High School baseball? What exactly has he done to deserve this? Serious question.
Besides signing a professional contract? Not sure where you’re going with this….
He has a talent that is quite obviously in demand. He should absolutely be allowed to leverage that talent as much as he can in a free-market system. This isn’t 1938 when the Yankees could give Phil Rizzuto 2,000 bucks.
If you were, say, one of the best 1000 people in the world at your job wouldn’t you want to monetize that? Especially if you knew that your career would almost certainly be over by age 40?
And here is he serious answer. Because that is how it works in baseball. The fact that he is in high school is totally irrelevant. Heck the slot for the number 2 pick was over 7 million dollars. But he is in high school so the Reds dont have to pay that much? Huh? You make no sense
because at 17, he is so far above everyone else that the market demands it.
why does Larry Ellison, at 72 deserve generational wealth? why does age matter? does ANYONE deserve that kind of money?
That’s a bigger question than baseball, of course. We could argue that nobody deserves 7 million dollars to play a game when people are starving to death in the forgotten corners of the world, but that’s not really an argument to be hashed out here.
His head looks normal sized to me.
Damn! Thought he wasn’t going to sign and was going to be available next year. Guess the California boy didn’t want to risk it by pulling a Harper and playing a year of JUCO to see if one of the California teams end up with the first pick. The Giants and Padres would have been elated if he did.
We can tell you’re smart. Why would you turn down a record bonus to play for free.. when you won’t earn any more by playing another season.. for free I might add
Cincyfan- because he quite clearly wanted to be chosen by SD or a different Cal team and really had no desire to be drafted by Cincy.
wish he did, our system would be better off.
Pulling a Harper??? Harper never turned down a contract to play in Jr College. He graduated High School early
Gee whiz, should I take more than enough money than I need to live for the rest of my life or should I go to school some more to learn if I made the proper decision???
Why not let him play shortstop and hit, and if that doesn’t work out you can make him a pitcher again, he also would have gotten to save his arm, and he’d still be around 20 years old giving him plenty of time to develop.
Bc the kid throws 102. Cincinnati is stocked w infielders in the majors and minors. Also, if you wait, you end up wasting a 40 man spot when he’s not ready to contribute in 5 years Bc he’s a raw pitcher. Scouts agree his best potential is as a pitcher
Scouts probably said 4-5 (if ever) till he reaches big leagues as a shortstop. And he could be an average shortstop. Around 2-3 if healthy as a starting pitcher. Has ace potential. A lot easier to find a shortstop over an ace.
That makes no sense. So you are not going to pitch him for two years? To save his arm? Then you think he easily just goes back to pitching?
Oh and you say let him hit and play SS but then you already have him going back to pitching in 2 years? But you want to blow off 2 years of development?
If they were going to have him as a SS he would not have been picked number 2
Nice. Hope to catch him in Billings soon. Exciting talent
Would be interesting if the Reds try to make him a full time 2-way player with Otani about to come to MLB, would be especially interesting if the Reds got Otani too, that would be some next level lineup possibilities!
I think Otani’s almost guarenteed to go to an AL team
What would be the benefit of a 2 way player in the AL over the NL? Not trying to be funny, just curious of what I’m missing.
AL would DH him for 3-4 days and then not have him hit when he starts. NL teams would likely be more wary of having the wear and tear of him fielding and hitting everyday
No that would not be interesting. It would be stupid. You are not going to play shortstop and pitch?? Think before you talk
Everything about him screams Barry Larkin and if he can have half the career Barry had, Reds fans should be excited. I do agree with those whole feel like he should try SS first and if the bat doesn’t play in the lower levels of the minors then they can always transfer him back to the mound. I feel like the transition from hitter to pitcher is smoother than pitcher to hitter. Either way, good for the Reds. Guys like this don’t come around to often.
I doubt he plays shortstop for more than half a season or so. As a courtesy to him. He’s going to be a pitcher; arms like this are pretty special.
As far as the notion that one transition is easier than the other, it’s kind of a crapshoot. Matt Bush, despite the setback of spending two years in prison, transitioned fairly easily. And of course, there’s Dave Winfield, but it’s hard to compare anyone to one of the best players in the history of baseball.
Yeah, the move from position player to pitcher worked well for Trevor Hoffman and Kenley Jansen as well.
Yep; those were both done really early. Winfield is the big outlier here, but that makes sense considering he’s one of the best players in history; a once-in-a-million talent
Relief vs. Starting is a whole different ballgame. A guy throwing 102 with anything that curves is probably going to have some great years as a reliever but if you got ace potential he turns into a pitcher only
Blue Jays Dave Stieb was an outfielder converted to starter who had back-to-back one hitters plus a solid all-star career.
I agree with you David Coonce!! I’ve heard of more players that were successful beginning as a regular player then turning to pitcher than the other way around. But, 3 prime examples of a pitcher turning to an everyday player are; Babe Ruth, Stan Musial
Yep. Ruth wasn’t going to make it as a pitcher in the live-ball era, but obviously his skills as a hitter way more than made up for it. Winfield was never supposed to make it as a hitter and was only one of the best hitters of all time.
an athletic black guy is pretty much where the Larkin comparison ends. you sound like harold reynolds.
Back in the day, Jered Weaver signed I think a five year, 85 million dollar extension. People gave him crap because he could’ve had Sabathia money. He said, “”If 85 (million) is not enough to take care of my family and generations to come, than I’m pretty stupid.” My point is Greene didn’t NEED to be the highest paid ever. He just wanted every extra dollar.
Yeah, 7 million is way less than 85 million. This is free-market capitalism like it or not. Greene will possibly never reach major league free agency; Most prospects don’t make it. He is well within his rights to cash in now while he has a chance to.
Absolutely. People are generating drama over nothing. He knew how much the Reds had available to spend. Everybody knew what the deadline was. He wasn’t going to walk away from a contract, given the risk of injury, etc.
All I’m saying is I’d be stoked with 7 mil at 17. I’d be stoked with 1 mil at 17. Call it what you want. All I know is weaver showed that not everyone has to get every last dollar they can get. And Greene showed he pretty much demanded he get every last dollar he could get.
You’re presumably not one of the very best people at your job in the whole world at age 17, entering a billion-dollar industry.
You’re right. I’m not. But you’re still missing the point
You would not be stoked to get 1 million dollars at 18 years old when you can easily get 7 million or you are a fool
would you be stoked if you could have gotten 7m but got 1m instead? I wouldn’t be.
No you make no point at all. This is business. He signed on time. He got a few bucks more then slot. So what. Maybe the Reds should have agreed to that earlier. Dont blame the kid. He did not negotiate the contract or threaten the Reds
98 % of the first 10 round picks sign. There have been some notable non-signees, and almost all of them regret not signing. There is ample incentives for both sides to come to an agreement. Happy for all parties that Hunter will be hitting/pitching/both soon. Congrats!