Here are the latest signings from near the top of the amateur draft board. For more on these and other prospects, check out the pre-draft rankings and scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
- The Guardians signed first rounder Ralphy Velazquez and second rounder Alex Clemmey earlier this evening, per MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (Twitter links). Velazquez, a prep catcher from California, was the 23rd overall selection in this year’s draft and signed for $2,500,000. That number clocks in well below the 23rd pick’s slot value of $3,380,900. Velazquez receives universal praise for his power production, though opinions vary on his ability to stick at catcher and his hit tool. Those differences of opinion create some discrepancies in where Velazquez ranks among this class’s draft prospects, with Baseball America ranking him as high as #29 in the class while Fangraphs has him as low as #45. The savings on Velazquez allowed Cleveland to sign Clemmey, a high school pitcher whose #58 overall selection came with a slot value of $1,402,600, to an overslot deal worth $2,300,000. As a left-handed prep prospect with a fastball touching 100 mph, Clemmey’s stuff garners near universal praise, though he also earns widespread questions regarding his command due to an inconsistent delivery. Overall, Clemmey is considered a top-50 prospect in this year’s draft class by most services, though Fangraphs has him as low as #62.
I love your work MLBTR. I would like it if you would tell us who the picture is? Is that Ralphy Velazquez?
It’s the first guy they mentioned lol
I’m glad it was the Guardians that signed Ralphy so as to protect him from Scott Farkus and Grover Dill.
Have the Guardians yet signed Tommy Hawke and will he be traded to Atlanta?
Alex Mooney the SS from Duke got 1 million, well over slot for a 7th round pick. I’m wonder what they see in him to pay that much over, let alone how he lasted that long.
He’s a draft eligible sophomore so he had a lot more leverage, and he was ranked highly enough by most of the scouting outlets that he probably only dropped because teams didn’t think he’d sign.
Pretty much all the hitters they drafted (except Velazquez) have advanced contact skills but little to no power, and Mooney is one of them but if they think he has the upside of being an everyday player then going overslot is worth it. They also like hoarding guys who can play up the middle because their athleticism usually lets them move positions if they need to.