Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • 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

Marlins Sign First-Rounder Kahlil Watson

By Mark Polishuk | August 1, 2021 at 12:03pm CDT

The Marlins officially announced their deal with 16th overall pick Kahlil Watson.  MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (Twitter links) originally reported on Friday that the two sides were in agreement on a deal, and Watson passed his routine physical yesterday.

Watson is expected to receive a bonus of $4,540,790, which is well above the $3,745,500 slot price attached to the 16th selection.  Watson’s bonus would also put the Marlins in excess of their original $9,949,800 draft pool, but under the five percent threshold.  Miami will have to pay a 75% overage tax on any money spent beyond 10 percent of their overall bonus pool, but exceeding the five percent mark would also cost the team a future first-round pick, which is obviously a price the Marlins (and any team) aren’t willing to pay for any prospect, even one with Watson’s pedigree.

Given that he received some consideration from the Pirates as the first overall pick, Watson’s surprising slide down the board was one of the chief storylines of draft night.  Watson was seen as a consensus top-seven choice by draft evaluators, with Fangraphs and MLB Pipeline each ranking the high school shortstop as the fourth-best prospect in the entire draft class.  It isn’t exactly clear why Watson was still around by the time of the 16th selection — the first 15 teams might have simply been higher on other prospects, or some clubs (like the Pirates or Orioles) were focused on spreading around their pool money, or Watson may have been to some extent hampered by the presence of two other highly-touted high school shortstops in Marcelo Mayer and Jordan Lawlar.

Regardless, the Marlins must undoubtedly believe they landed a steal midway through the first round.  Watson may not remain a shortstop in the long term (another potential reason for his draft day fall), though Pipeline’s scouting report believes he has the athletic ability to handle multiple different positions.  Watson makes a lot of contact despite what Pipeline describes as an “aggressive power-over-hit approach,” and Fangraphs calls the 18-year-old “electricity personified” due to both his bat speed and foot speed.  Evaluators generally see Watson as a plus player across the board, though he is a little on the smaller side at 5’9″ and 178 pounds.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

2021 Amateur Draft 2021 Amateur Draft Signings Miami Marlins Transactions Kahlil Watson

Marlins Select Sean Guenther, Option Lewin Diaz
Main
Brewers Select Blaine Hardy
View Comments (5)
Post a Comment

5 Comments

  1. Joe It All

    4 years ago

    As a Reds fan, the Marlins crushed me when they took Watson right before the Reds picked. I still like the Reds draft but Watson would have been the cherry on top. Hopefully Matt McLain turns out to be the better major leaguer and it is a moot point

    Reply
  2. Mjm117

    4 years ago

    Back to back excellent drafts by the Fish.

    Marlins badly need their bats to pan out and complement the bounty of SP’ing talent ready for the bigs, as well as, the SP’ing talent in the lower levels.

    2022 should be the year this franchise begins to compete long term.

    1
    Reply
  3. formerlyz

    4 years ago

    Let’s goooo! Big time draft for the Marlins this year. Honestly thought they weren’t going to be able to sign him. Felt like they were taunting him, after things I heard, but they got the job done, and signed everyone, except their 16th rounder who went back to school for 1 more year, which was kind of a known thing

    Reply
  4. Joel Peterson

    4 years ago

    Timing is everything in life. Would Watson have slid the way he did if he was a part of last year’s draft? Doubt it.

    Reply
  5. Murphy NFLD

    4 years ago

    Well the same happend with Martin last year but he only slid to 5

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

    Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

    Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

    Diamondbacks Place Pavin Smith On IL, Select Tristin English

    Details On Bryan Reynolds’ Limited No-Trade Protection

    Tigers Select PJ Poulin

    Blue Jays Place Andres Gimenez On 10-Day Injured List

    Yankees Sign Geoff Hartlieb To Major League Deal

    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