8:12PM: Miller will receive a $1.29MM bonus, as per Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline (Twitter link). This puts the Reds just under their bonus pool limit with $6,100 to spare.
6:02PM: The Reds have completed their draft signings by reaching an agreement with 65th overall pick Jackson Miller. The 18-year-old catcher announced the news himself on his Twitter feed.
Terms of the deal aren’t yet known, though the 65th overall pick comes with a slot value of $1,025,100. Since the Reds have already signed five of the other six members of their draft class, they have plenty of room remaining ($1,296,100) in their $8,552,100 draft pool to give Miller an above-slot bonus. Cincinnati could even offer more than that $1,296,100 figure if the team doesn’t mind paying a 75 percent tax on the overage for exceeding the draft pool limit, though topping the pool by more than five percent would be penalized with the loss of a future first-round pick.
The Athletic’s Keith Law described Miller as having “an advanced feel to hit,” albeit without yet much power in his left-handed swing. Law ranked Miller 62nd on his list of 2020 draft prospects, with other pundits like Baseball America (99th), MLB Pipline (104th), and Fangraphs (123rd) not being quite as high on the 18-year-old. As a catcher, the scouting reports noted some room for improvement, but plenty of promise for Miller to become at least an average defensive backstop. Miller had committed to Wake Forest, but he’ll now begin his pro career as the Reds’ potential catcher of the future.
