We’ll use this post to round up some of the more notable recent draft signings:
- The Phillies announced they’ve signed #17 overall pick Justin Crawford. Jim Callis of MLB.com reports (Twitter link) that the lefty-hitting outfielder will receive a $3.8948MM signing bonus, a hair above the pick’s slot value. Crawford, the son of four-time All-Star Carl Crawford, was ranked by Baseball America as the #18 prospect in the class. A product of a Nevada high school, Crawford is an excellent runner who’s regarded as a possible plus defender in center field. The 6’3″ outfielder is seen as a hit-over-power offensive player. He’d been committed to LSU.
- The Red Sox agreed to a deal with #24 selection Mikey Romero, as first reported by Chad Jennings of the Athletic (on Twitter). It’s a $2.3MM deal to convince the infielder to bypass a commitment to LSU. A left-handed hitter from a California high school, Romero was ranked the #54 prospect in the class by BA, explaining why his deal comes in a fair bit shy of the pick’s $2.98MM slot value. BA praises his bat-to-ball skills but notes that his slender frame leads to below-average raw power.
- The Yankees announced agreement with #25 pick Spencer Jones. Callis reports (Twitter link) that he’ll sign for slot value at $2.8808MM. The class’s #49 prospect according to Baseball America, Jones is a 6’7″ outfielder from Vanderbilt. The left-hander posted a massive .370/.460/.644 showing with 12 home runs and 14 stolen bases through 272 plate appearances during his final season with the Commodores. Jones stuck out at a lofty 23.5% rate, an unsurprising development for a player of his size, but his combination of power and athleticism got him into the late first round.
- Astros first-round pick Drew Gilbert has signed, according to a club announcement. Callis reports (Twitter link) he’s landed a $2.5MM bonus, a little under the $2.62MM value of the 28th overall pick. A left-handed hitting center fielder from the University of Tennessee, Gilbert was the #24 prospect in the class, per BA. The 5’9″ outfielder has a well-rounded offensive skillset and a good chance to stick in center field, and he’s coming off a .362/.455/.673 showing with more walks than strikeouts in a breakout junior season for the Vols.
- The A’s are in agreement on an overslot deal with 2nd-round pick Henry Bolte, Callis reports (on Twitter). He’ll receive a $2MM bonus to sway him out of a commitment to Texas. A 6’3″ outfielder from the Bay Area, Bolte entered the draft as the #42 prospect in Baseball America’s estimation. He’s regarded as one of the higher-upside players in the class, showing an enviable combination of power, speed and center defense. However, the right-handed hitter also comes with question marks about the high amount of swing-and-miss in his game.
- The Blue Jays went overslot with a $2MM bonus for supplemental second-round pick Tucker Toman, Callis reports (on Twitter). That’s more than double the $846,900 slot value associated with the #77 overall selection. That reflects a loftier prospect status, as the 18-year-old infielder from a South Carolina high school had been the #40 player in the class, according to BA. A 6’1″ infielder, Toman is a switch-hitter with a chance for a strong hit/power combination, although it’s questionable whether he can stay on the dirt or will eventually have to move to the corner outfield. Like Crawford and Romero, he’ll forego a commitment to LSU and start his pro career.
Spencer Jones, a California kid (a bit like Judge) in Yankee Pinstripes
He’ll either become a left-hitting Aaron Judge or another Joey Gallo.
I’d settle for another Giancarlo Stanton.
You’d “settle” for a league MVP with over 370 career home runs?
I think it’s a bit unrealistic to ask for a Mickey Mantle.
The dude has 15 total college home runs and people are expecting Judge. Sheesh…
Some of his numbers align with Judge and he is about Judge’s size. Deeper dives into his numbers isn’t as kind to him as they were with Judge though. But the superficial comparison is there.
Judge had 18 HRs in 717 college PAs. Spencer Jones had 15 HRs in 421 PAs. It took Judge an extra 296 PAs to hit 3 more HRs.
Can’t wait to see what team Bolte ends up
On in a few years
Bolte is a lot bigger than you think for a young player at his age. He was launching home runs in batting cage and has the right attitude.
Very glad we signed Toman. I was just looking over things last night and was iffy on whether they could get it done; I figured it would take at least 1.5 million to get him signed so I was even low on that. I really like the first half a dozen or so picks they made, as well as Williams in the 7th round (Toronto’s 9th pick.)
I thought you got good value for Barriera at #23. I didn’t think he’d fall that low.
The A’s paying their second round pick $660,000 over slot value might diminish their chances to get a deal done with their first-rounder Daniel Susac, should they intend to take that money out of his pocket.
As a sophomore, Susac still has two years of college eligibility left and would easily be a first-rounder next year again. He’d be stupid to let the A’s stiff him, only to play for that garbage organization.
Yes, why would a young player want to play for a team that actually promotes their prospects to the majors on a regular basis? One that isn’t constantly adding players from outside the organization on long term contracts, blocking their advancement? Its much better to sign with a big market team like the Yankees, where they add one home grown player every 3-5 years.
The Yankees trade their prospects quite frequently. The best organization for a young draftee is one where his talent will be developed to the fullest, maximizing his ability to play at the ML level. That means an organization that invests heavily in coaching and facilities at the minor league level. The organization in which they end up playing is not necessarily the one that originally signed them.
I’m not an A’s fan, but the A’s have a great record of developing their prospects. That’s how they keep turning themselves back into contenders after short rebuilds with no money. Certainly they’ve done better than the Yankees in that development category.
And no kid signs his first professional contact thinking “I can hardly wait to be traded!” The trades are unpleasant facts of the business that disrupt life. Anyone would rather graduate to the majors with a class of their peers they’ve played with all the way up.
The $660,000 could come out of 3rd round or 4th round picks too. Susac still gets over $3 million deal which is hard to pass up.
What I like about Jones is his ability to hit the ball to all fields. This will help him at the next level. His athletic ability and his tools make him a 4/5 tool player.
I’m pretty sure that Bloom has all his nickels accounted for, but if Romero comes in $700k under slot, that means he drafted someone else that will come in $700k over slot. I don’t much follow the draft more than about 3 rounds in, so does anyone know who their over-slot players are?
Roman Anthony is well over slot…..
1 24 Mikey Romero
SS, Orange Lutheran (CA) HS $2,976,400 $2,300,000 LSU 65 54 54
2 41 Cutter Coffey
SS, Liberty (CA) HS $1,906,500 $1,847,500 Texas 105 65 98
CO 79 Roman Anthony
OF, MS Douglas (FL) HS $820,400 $2,500,000 Ole
Miss 56 72 43
3 99 Dalton Rogers
LHP, Southern Miss. JR $617,500 — — — 361 198
4 129 Chase Meidroth
SS, San Diego SO $461,200 — — — 258 350
5 159 Noah Dean
LHP, Old Dominion JR $344,000 — — 124 140 168
6 189 Alex Hoppe
RHP, UNC Greensboro SR $266,400 $32,2
Excellent write-up. It always pleases me when there are baseball fans out there willing to enable my laziness. Thanks….
Soxprospects dot com does a great job of keeping up with things like this on their site and forum.
Also Red Sox 9th round draft pick catcher Brooks Brannon is expected to sign for 2nd or 3rd round money.