Here is today’s roundup of top-39 (first round, supplemental round, Competitive Balance Round A) draft picks who have signed their first pro contracts. For further reference, here is the full list of recommended slot prices, and you can click the links for full pre-draft rankings and scouting reports from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
- The Mariners have signed their picks from the first three rounds, according to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer (Twitter link). This includes 21st overall pick Cole Young, who received a $3.3MM bonus that is slightly above the $3,292,900 slot price. The high school shortstop was a consensus pick in the 12-20 range by evaluators, and is considered to have a high floor as an all-around talent and future big leaguer, though there is some question whether he has the skillset to be a regular starter.
- The White Sox agreed to a deal with left-hander Noah Schultz, according to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline. (The Sox officially announced Schultz’s signing later in the day.) Schultz’s $2.8MM bonus is also a touch above the $2,789,400 assigned to the 26th overall pick. A local product born in Napierville, Illinois, Schultz is already 6’9″ at age 18, and owns a plus slider and an unconventional low-slot delivery. McDaniel was the highest of the pundits on Schultz’s potential, ranking the southpaw 34th in the draft class.
- The Reds agreed to sign Sal Stewart for $2,097,500, Callis reports. This is under the $2,373,000 slot price attached to the 32nd overall selection, which could reflect a slight reach on the Reds’ part — BA was the highest on Stewart with a 58th overall ranking, and Law had Stewart 59th. That said, McDaniel thought Stewart could be something of a tough sign due to his commitment to Vanderbilt, but the high school third baseman will instead forego college for the minor leagues.
- The Orioles announced the signing of Dylan Beavers, the 33rd overall selection. Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Ruiz (Twitter link) reports that Beavers received a $2.2MM bonus, providing the O’s with some savings under the $2,315,100 slot price. Pipeline ranked the Cal outfielder 22nd in its rankings, writing that “when Beavers is locked in, he’s the proverbial five-tool player,” though Beavers had had some issues staying consistent.
I was surprised that the Orioles were able to save close to $700K in slot money for the #1 overall pick (Jackson Holliday). He did sign a record deal for a high school player ($8.1M) but the slot value for the #1 overall pick was $8.8M. I guess it makes sense not only because he’s a high school prospect but he wasn’t the consensus #1 overall pick either. It’s still an insane amount of money to pay a high school prospect regardless of his talent. If he manages his money correctly, he’s already set for life without taking a single at bat!
Saved some on Beavers, too….if the Orioles are able to sign their overshot guys this year again, it will be quite surprising, but they have been able to make it work out. I don’t think the O’s will be drafting the top again for a while unless they hit a lottery lol
Pretty good draft for the Os. Assuming they sign all the other slot-ish guys, if they can manage to sign Showalter and one of either Carter Young or Walters (all 3 of them we assume to be overslot) with the slot savings, this would have to be considered a hugely successful haul. Time will tell.
2nd ranked player signed for 2nd slot money. Not seeing the great strategy. If they put the extra 800,000 to good use it works. And, it becomes a great move, if Holliday turns out to be better than Druw Jones.
I like what they did and it’s pretty clear they made a plan and are executing it. By saving almost $1 mil between their 1st and 2nd selections they have a shot to sign some of their over slot guys. Jones and Holliday are both excellent prospects but they’re both HS players and neither of them are Bryce Harper level sure things. So, to me at least, I like that if they have another possible dart to throw to hit on upside rather than putting all their eggs in the Jones basket. But time will tell, obviously.
Orioles preferred Jackson to Druw, bottom line
Surprised? “Jackson, if we pick Druw, your slot is 8.18MM. Want to sihn at that bonus with us and be named #1 overall in the draft?“
Concerning Schultz…I know nothing!
All I know is they spelled Naperville wrong lol. But 6’9″ is a big boy
The next Randy Johnson!
Wow! And to think you know that before he’s even thrown a minor league pitch!
Granted that there aren’t many dudes his size, but of the ones who are, only a handful have thrown even 500 innings in the majors. When you’re that tall, it becomes easier for mechanical issues to creep in and throw off how you pitch. The fastball/slider combo and, obviously, his size do make people think Randy Johnson, but that is a pie in the sky hope. It shouldn’t be an expectation. I’d be happy enough if he became a reliable #3 or 4.
The focal point of this website appears to be getting articles out as quickly as possible with little concern for proofreading. It’s a troubling trend.
Sounds like a minor knitpick. I’d rather a few typos than to cut back on stories. After all they are providing content for 30 different team fans. They need lots of articles to keep everyone engaged.
There’s also the fact that, unlike The Athletic, this site is free. Just yesterday, The Athletic not only got the Pirates’ GM wrong, but misspelled his name, too. I’ll take the minor spelling errors if the info is right and timely.
They have time to police comments to promote woke thoughts, but cannot proofread their articles.
Deleting misinformation or a hate agenda is entirely different than promoting anything
The entire website is based upon misinformation. It’s the name of the website.
Nice Beavers
@TheRealMilo; agreed, 5 tool potential talent. Plus Beavers that have “some issues staying consistent” are surely better than having no beavers at all.