11:42AM: White’s bonus is worth $3.125MM, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports (Twitter link). This saves the M’s $208.2K on their draft pool, money that could be made up to sign Carlson or another pick, or potentially a player selected outside of the first ten rounds.
11:12AM: The Mariners have announced the signing of 26 draft picks, including first-rounder Evan White. Financial terms weren’t announced, though the slot value for the 17th overall pick (White’s selection spot) is $3,333,200. White is represented by True Gravity.
White, 21, is a first baseman out of the University of Kentucky who was seen as a consensus top prospect in pre-draft rankings. Baseball America rated White as the 12th-best prospect available, with MLB.com (18th), Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (19th) and ESPN’s Keith Law (33rd) also chiming in with strong grades. Despite these uniformly positive grades, there is some question about whether White has enough power to stick at the first base position, though he is seen as a good hitter overall. White gets high marks for his athleticism and could be used as an outfielder in the majors, though he has displayed outstanding defensive ability at first base.
Seattle has seemingly accomplished much of the heavy lifting within their draft signings, as 11 of their top 12 picks are already under contract. The only one of their early picks who has yet to reach an agreement is Sam Carlson, a high school righty taken in the second round (with the 55th overall pick). The Mariners had an overall draft pool of $6,737,300.
