Headlines

  • Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves
  • Kyle Gibson Announces Retirement
  • Yankees Interested In Mitch Keller
  • Pirates Trade Adam Frazier To Royals
  • Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson
  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Reds Sign First-Rounder Matt McLain

By Mark Polishuk | July 27, 2021 at 7:53am CDT

The Reds have agreed to a deal with first-round draft pick Matt McLain, the team announced.  MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (via Twitter) reports that the UCLA shortstop will receive a bonus of $4.625MM, well above the $3,609,700 assigned slot price for the 17th overall pick.

This marks the second time that McLain (who turns 22 in August) has been a first-round selection, as the Diamondbacks took him 25th overall back in 2018.  Rather than begin his pro career out of high school, McLain went to play college ball at UCLA and ended up elevating his draft profile, despite a broken thumb that shortened his 2021 season.

The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked McLain as the seventh-best prospect of this year’s draft class, and in fact the pundits (Baseball America ranked him 10th, Fangraphs 11th, MLB Pipeline 12th, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel 15th) all had McLain slightly higher on their boards than the 17th overall selection.  McLain’s throwing arm, hit tool, and running ability are all graded as pluses by BA and Pipeline, though his according to Baseball America’s scouting report, “his fringe-average raw power will likely translate more to doubles with a wood bat and limit him to 10-15 home runs per season.”  Defensively, McLain has improved his stock as a shortstop, though there is some feeling that he might eventually be ideally suited as a second baseman, or perhaps even as a center fielder given his athleticism.

Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

2021 Amateur Draft 2021 Amateur Draft Signings Cincinnati Reds Transactions Matt McLain

Twins’ Owner: Team “Absolutely Not” Going Into Rebuild
Main
Twins Sign First-Round Pick Chase Petty
View Comments (4)
Post a Comment

4 Comments

  1. nyy17 2

    4 years ago

    In related news, McDonald’s is bringing back the McLain. The first time around it didn’t work out but maybe this time it will. Still waiting for the return of the McLanahan.

    Reply
  2. hoff38

    4 years ago

    Scouts opinions are all over the board. Ranked 7th overall in pre-draft, as in 7th best prospect in all of college and high school with arm, hit tool and running ability graded as a plus, but many also fee like he will be best suited for 2B? Sounds like he is a great athlete, but this is a good example how scouting is still an educated opinion. Hard to grade how a young player will develop in a specific teams system. I found this pick a reach, but it will be interesting to see how all of these guys develop.

    Reply
    • gbs42

      4 years ago

      Scouting will always be an educated opinion because players are people, and physical and mental growth, adjustments, and injuries are impossible to predict with great accuracy, especially when evaluating several hundred new players each year.

      Stated differently…$#!+ happens.

      Reply
  3. somac

    4 years ago

    Can he pitch in relief though?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves

    Kyle Gibson Announces Retirement

    Yankees Interested In Mitch Keller

    Pirates Trade Adam Frazier To Royals

    Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Recent

    Reds Sign First-Round Pick Steele Hall

    Mets Interested In Danny Coulombe

    Rangers Select Cody Freeman

    Diamondbacks Sign Sergio Alcántara, Place Ketel Marte On Restricted List Due To Personal Matter

    Fantasy Baseball: Anticipating Bullpen Holes

    Rockies Place Thairo Estrada On IL With Thumb Sprain

    Ryan Burr To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

    Max Kranick To Undergo Elbow Surgery

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Minnesota Twins

    Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version