The D-backs are in agreement with Competitive Balance pick Slade Cecconi on a $2,384,900 signing bonus, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The University of Miami right-hander’s slot value at No. 33 checked in a hair over $2.2MM.
Cecconi, 21, might’ve been a first-round pick back in ’18 had injuries during his senior year of high school and his commitment to Miami not caused clubs to shy away. As a draft-eligible sophomore this time around, he had some additional leverage but will take a slightly over-slot deal rather than looking to reenter what could be a flooded class in 2021.
Virtually all pre-draft rankings pegged Cecconi as a top 50 talent — most placing him right around the No. 33 slot at which he was actually drafted. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen was most bullish, ranking him 21st, while Cecconi checked in at No. 30 on Kiley McDaniel’s list at ESPN, No. 31 at MLB.com, No. 32 at Baseball America and No. 49 on Keith Law’s rankings at The Athletic. Cecconi draws praise for a plus fastball that sits 94-97 mph and a plus slider. There’s some debate on whether he’ll develop an above-average third offering — he also throws a changeup and cutter — and Law notes that he’s struggled at times to maintain his command over full outings as a starter.
The 6’4″, 219-pound Cecconi pitched 101 2/3 innings with Miami between his freshman and shortened sophomore season. In that time, he logged a 4.09 ERA with a 119-to-25 K/BB ratio (10.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9). With this deal in place, the D-backs have signed all of their picks from the 2020 draft.
Photo courtesy of Miami Athletics/Richard Lewis.
Slade is such a curious name
Slade is a cool name
This is the exact amount the Dbacks had left in their overall draft budget. Their 1st round and 5th round picks signed for significantly under the respective slot values. Their 3rd round and 4th round picks signed for over the respective slot values, as did Cecconi, their Competitive A Round pick (Dbacks didn’t have a second round pick because they signed MadBum). Way to efficiently maximize draft money, Dbacks.
The D-Backs are one of the best run orgs in MLB…Hard Stop.
Lol
Their current front office has been great
A complete 180 turnaround from their last regime.
I bet Diamond Back fans feel relieved that Hazen is actually a pretty good GM considering how bad Stewart was. Just makes me want to cheer for them more.
They have an interesting mix of young talent and established veterans. I hope nobody is expecting that the DBacks brought on an ace in MadBum but a decent no.4 that can soak up around 200 IP while passing on some ideas to the younger staff has plenty of value.
The problem is, other than the Braves, the team I cheer for in each division is the team who’s fans I pity the most, and you have some good cases here.
The Dodgers because I’m a Braves fan and I understand the frustration of watching playoff after playoff without the payoff. Padres because, let’s face it, they’ve been waiting for a .500 record for sometime let alone a playoff birth.
Snake Plissken.
The Dodgers are the class of the division. Win every year. Playoffs and WS appearances. This coming from a Angel fan.
K. What does that have to do with the dbacks signing their comp pick?
Indirect link. They are rivals.
I was responding to a response that said ThecD-Backs were a well runned organization. Is that okay with you?
It just didn’t make sense because instead of replying to the actual comment you were responding to… you posted it to the general comments section so out of context it didn’t make any sense… wouldve been better if you’d actually replied to the comment then no one would’ve gotten confused.
You’re the only one that questioning it. I did respond directly to the post I cant help it got placed where it did
Does this mean we can nickname him Deathstroke since his real name is Slade?
Dbacks have really gone heavy on pitching the last 2 drafts.
As they should. At one time we had Parker, Skaggs, Bauer and Corbin in the minors and our outlook in AZ was rosie. Having 4-5 stud middle infielders in the minors isn’t the best well to draw from.