The Cubs and Reds agreed to terms with top 15 picks this afternoon. A few other top 40 selections are also set to put pen to paper.
(See pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Keith Law of the Athletic, MLB Pipeline):
- The Mariners have agreed to terms with all but two draft choices, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. 29th overall selection Johnny Farmelo and 20th-rounder Will Watson are the only players who haven’t agreed to terms. First round pick Colt Emerson will receive a $3.8MM bonus, per Kramer. That’s above the $3.5MM slot value for the 22nd overall pick. A hit-first prep infielder out of Ohio, Emerson had been committed to Auburn. Seattle will sign 30th overall pick Tai Peete for $2.5MM, Kramer reports. That’s a little below the $2.73MM slot value. Peete is a 6’2″ infielder from a Georgia high school who draws praise for his power potential and athleticism but some hit tool questions. He’ll bypass a commitment to Georgia Tech.
- The Mets are in agreement on a $2.75MM bonus with 32nd overall draftee Colin Houck, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). New York went a bit above the $2.61MM slot value to sign the Georgia high schooler out of a commitment to Mississippi State. Houck, a right-handed hitting infielder, ranked between 10th and 21st on the referenced pre-draft rankings. There are questions about whether he’ll outgrow shortstop and eventually kick over to third base, but he’s viewed as a well-rounded offensive player with power projection and the ability to stick somewhere on the infield dirt.
Phillies have agreed to terms with Aiden Miller. Hasn’t been announced yet.
Mariners fans: What’s your opinion of the Mariners picking Colt Emerson?
Dipoto signed “The hopeful bats of tomorrow” and “The arms that never will be”. I don’t know… Seattle sports are roundly cursed with a few exceptions… 49 years of toil brings me little faith in anything up here
Way to not answer the question
A slow-motion knee-jerk reaction by Dipoto. Pathetic.
He suddenly realizes that the team can’t hit, so he quickly finds some hitters.
Too bad these kids won’t be ready for a few years. If they endure the quirky Mariners system for that long.
Emerson is a fine #22 pick, but like Cole Young, as boring as a first round, high school prospect can be.. He doesn’t seem like he has superstar upside, but is a really good probability to make the majors, and at least a decent chance to be an average or better starter. From that perspective, Peete and Farmelo are more fun to dream on.
Can the M’s develop consistent major league hitters? That’s the challenge.
Seattle sports have had decent success. Seahawks have been to three Super Bowls. The Sonics won a championship and went to the finals a couple of more times before leaving town. The Sounders have had success. The Storm have won multiple championships. The Kraken are on the rise. But kdevry, I agree with you regarding the M’s. I have been there since day one and have suffered these many years. DiPoto has built a great foundation of pitching and now must get a bat or two. If this ownership and management regime don’t capitalize on all this young, controllable pitching in the next few seasons then they may lose me. And I’m a guy that has watched more innings whether on TV or in person than probably 95% of their fans. I fear we have this nice little corporate team that makes money and draws the fans but has no Steinbrenner like leader that wants to win the World Series and only the World Series.
BPax… I do not question your sincerity. I fully believe this is your intention.
However, I AND Mariner management question your follow through on this.
M’s management fully believes that if the M’s are competitive enough, that there are ENOUGH fans willing to pay higher and higher prices for a game in the Seattle area that the M’s will continue to draw 2.5 million fans a year in the good years, and a 1.5 million in the bad years… meaning a nice profit for M’s shareholders and owners.
I have no idea what you think you may have seen over the past 25 years that contradicts this way of M’s management thinking.