The Giants have signed infielder Gavin Kilen, their first-round pick from last week’s draft. Jim Callis of MLB.com reports that he signed for a bonus of $5,247,500, a bit below the $5,524,300 slot value for the 13th overall pick.
Kilen is considered one of the best pure hitters in the class. He slashed .323/.381/.554 during his three college seasons, including a .357/.441/.671 showing with Tennessee in 2025. Defensively, he spent a lot of time at both middle infield spots but spent more time at second base than at shortstop this year.
Pre-draft scouting reports from Baseball America, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Keith Law of The Athletic and MLB Pipeline all had Kilen as one of the top 21 players available in the draft. Law was the most bullish on the bat, putting Kilen in the #7 spot. All evaluators generally expect him to make his long-term home at second base, where he can be a capable defender.
Per Callis, the Giants went about half a million above slot to sign ninth-rounder Reid Worley. That was possible thanks to the roughly $300K saved here, as well as some other below-slot deals. According to the MLB.com Draft Tracker, the Giants also went about $100K below slot in signing second-rounder Trevor Cohen and almost $200K below slot with fourth-rounder Jordan Gottesman.
Photo courtesy of Saul Young, Imagn Images
I hope he has a head.
Hope he has a stronger bat than Joe Panik
We will see how passing on witherspoon plays out.
the giants have signed all of their picks except Elijah Mc/Neal, the last pick!
Great. Fills a clear need on this team – contact hitter and plays 2B. Would be nice to see him by ‘27 if not sooner.
Makes Schmitt (and Fitzgerald) expendable, as part of the package that nets us Skenes (and we’ll pick up K’B Hayes’ dead contract). Get it done Buster !
Kid crushed it this year. Be nice to see him have a solid career for the Giants.