The Giants have locked up third-round draft choice Kyle Harrison, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). It was known already that a deal was close, but it’s now in the books.
Harrison is said to be lined up for a $2.5MM bonus, well over the $710,700 slot allocation that came with the 85th overall choice. It was long believed the UCLA commit would require a sizable bonus to forgo college.
Draft observers weren’t universally sold on Harrison’s future. He didn’t rank higher than #54 on any draft boards, earning that placement from Keith Law of The Athletic.
That said, Harrison’s fastball velocity and draft profile were on the rise and might well have gained further ground had the season not been suspended. Fangraphs cited his “weird angle of attack,” “deception and great feel to pitch.” MLB.com, which ranked Harrison 63rd overall, credits the young southpaw with “a feel to use all three offerings.”
Best pick of the draft for the Giants imo. The ceiling is extremely high for this kid, but nothing is given.
High School pitchers are about as easy to predict as the Powerball. The success of this draft is squarely on this kids shoulders hopefully he can take the pressure and criticism that is sure to come after signing for that high.
they are but without bumgarner who was a high school draft the Giants arguably wouldn’t have any of their rings.
How much of a difference would it really make if they picked him with their 2nd choice and not taken Glowenke til the 3rd round? Seems like a lot of dancing with pool money just to get to the same place.
Abel and other highly-rated arms were on the board at their spots and yet Zaidi passed on them. pato349 is correct, the success of this draft rests on this kid, given that this team desperately needed this draft to restock their pitching inventory and failed to do so.
The jury is out on this draft. Giants should have had a deal in place with this kid and the money settled before the pick was made.
Curious to know what they spent total on the draft and if they stayed under 105% of their slot money to avoid penalty. Lots of good players went undrafted.
How can you have a deal in place before you even make the pick? Doesn’t make sense.
It’s my understanding that teams negotiate signing bonuses with players before the draft. One of the reason Kjerstand went two overall.
How can you negotiate with a player that you don’t know if you’ll be able to pick them.
I don’t know the logistics, but I do know that teams do have a sense of which players are going to command what in terms of singing bonuses, which is why a lot of guys go to college from high school, return to school, etc. I’m confident there’s plenty of other people here that know more about the process than I do.
***Go to to college from high school, return to school, etc because they didn’t get drafted due to their asking price***