The Blue Jays have reached agreement with eighth overall pick JoJo Parker on a $6.2MM bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline. That’s a few hundred thousand dollars below the $6.81MM slot value.
Parker is a 6’2″ infielder who was drafted out of a Mississippi high school. A left-handed hitter, Parker ranked between seventh and tenth on pre-draft rankings from each of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and The Athletic’s Keith Law. Evaluators uniformly praise him as one of the best hitters in the class. McDaniel, who was highest on Parker among the aforementioned prospect rankers, suggests he could be a plus-plus hitter with average power in his prime.
While he played shortstop in high school, Parker is expected to move off the position by the time he reaches the majors. Scouting reports suggest he could fit at third base, though there’s a chance he’ll need to move to a corner outfield spot. That’d put more pressure on Parker’s bat, but it’s possible he could hit enough to profile as a regular anywhere on the diamond.
Parker had been committed to Mississippi State. He’ll bypass that commitment, but his twin brother Jacob will join the Bulldogs. Jacob Parker was viewed as a solid prospect in his own right, though he was seen as more of a fourth-round talent. He didn’t find a signing bonus to his liking. The Diamondbacks eventually drafted him in the 19th round, but teams only select highly-regarded high school prospects that late in case an agreement with one of their earlier picks falls through (leaving them with unexpected bonus money).
If an agreement with an earlier pick falls through that DOESN’T leave the team with “unexpected bonus money”. My understanding is that the team loses that bonus slot/money for the current year. They might get a compensation pick the next year depending on the round a player was taken.
I was just going to say the same thing.
I think they mean he didn’t find the overslot offering to him in the 19th round enough, so he will go to college. The team saves whatever overslot they offered they just lose the 19th round pick allotment. If they offered high schooler $1 million overslot in the earlier rounds and they don’t accept, that’s the savings they used.
Welcome JoJo <3 I had you falling to us and couldn't be happier (maybe if Ethan fell to us)
I thought his brother was KC?
He thought he was a loner, but he knew he couldn’t last.
Feiend of mine saw KC back in the day in the alley after a gig. Suddenly KC burst into tears. “Whats wrong big feller?” friend asked. “I used to be big. Back in the 70s. I was the man”, he welped. “Now noone cares. Waaah! Honk”
Jean Jean made a machine.
Jo Jo made it go.
Jean Genie lives on his back
So can he now be traded for Jacob DeGrom?
No, he can’t be traded until after the completion of the World Series.
Nobody is trading for that contract. Even if he had a 1 era nobody would.
Ob la Di, oh bla da, life goes on
“Look out behind you. Jojo’s got his gun”