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Phillies Sign First-Rounder Mick Abel

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The Phillies have signed their first-round pick, right-hander Mick Abel, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. As the 15th overall pick, Abel’s selection came with a recommended slot value of $3,885,800, but he’ll earn $4,075,000, according to Callis.

Abel played high school baseball in his native Oregon and committed to Oregon State before the Phillies signed him. While the coronavirus led to the cancellation of what would have been his final high school season, Abel was nonetheless the top prep pitcher available in this year’s draft, writes Callis. The 6-foot-5 hurler offers a “terrific” combination of stuff and polish, per Callis, as well as a 93 to 98 mph fastball and a promising slider-changeup combo.

With Abel under wraps, the Phillies have now signed four members of their five-player draft class. Third-round shortstop Casey Martin hasn’t officially signed, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia notes, though the two sides did reportedly reach an agreement earlier this month.

Padres, First-Rounder Robert Hassell III Agree To Deal

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On a day loaded with first-round signings, the Padres have become the latest team to reach a deal with their top pick. The Padres announced that they’ve come to terms with outfielder Robert Hassell III, the eighth overall selection in this year’s draft. Hassell will earn $4.3MM, down from the $5,176,900 slot value of his pick, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The 18-year-old Hassell committed to Vanderbilt before the draft, but the Padres managed to stop the Commodores from landing a highly promising prospect. MLB.com, FanGraphs, Baseball America, ESPN.com and The Athletic all ranked Hassell in the draft’s top 20 prospects entering the proceedings. Nobody was more bullish than ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, who ranked Hassell sixth of those available, wrote that he may “have the best hit tool in the prep class” and noted that he has drawn comparisons to high-end Braves outfield prospect Drew Waters.

Twins Sign First-Rounder Aaron Sabato

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5:20pm: Minnesota has announced the signing.

3:50pm: The Twins will sign their first-round pick, first baseman Aaron Sabato, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. He’ll make $2.75MM, which is a bit more than the $2.57MM slot value of the 27th choice.

Sabato’s coming off a two-year run at North Carolina, where he batted .332/.459/.698 with 25 home runs in 368 plate appearances over parts of two seasons. The 21-year-old has earned some comparisons to Mets 2019 NL Rookie of the Year winner Pete Alonso, Mayo notes.

High-profile prospect outlets such as MLB.com, Baseball America, ESPN, The Athletic and FanGraphs ranked Sabato in the high 30s or low 40s in this year’s class. FanGraphs called Sabato a “bat-only prospect,” though BA wrote that he has the raw power to rival Spencer Torkelson, whom the Tigers drafted first overall.

Rays Sign First-Rounder Nick Bitsko

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5:15pm: The signing’s now official, the Rays tweeted.

3:45pm: The Rays will sign first-round right-hander Nick Bitsko, per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. He’ll earn $3MM, an increase over the $2.83MM slot value of the 24th overall selection.

Bitsko is an 18-year-old right-hander from Pennsylvania who graduated high school a year early in order to enter the 2020 draft class. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently profiled Bitsko, writing that a good deal of scouts regarded him as the highest-upside hurler available in the draft.  As McDaniel explained then, Bitsko’s a hard thrower with excellent spin rates, though the coronavirus led to the cancellation of his final high school season and stopped teams from getting extensive looks at him in person. Bitsko did, however, impress clubs by posting workouts on social media and interacting via Zoom. In fact, according to Rays scout Zach Clark, Bitsko’s Zoom call with the team was among the reasons they took him.

“I think the Zoom call sent it over the top for our guys,” Clark said.  “Listen to Nick talk about pitching, preparation, what he’s done in the past, you’re like, ’Man, it’s really hard to believe you’re talking to a 17-year-old.’ ”

Shortly after profiling Bitsko, McDaniel ranked him as the 15th-best prospect in the 2020 class. MLB.com (14) FanGraphs (16), Keith Law of The Athletic (18) and Baseball America (19) placed Bitsko in a similar vicinity before the draft.

First-Rounder Nick Gonzales Plans To Sign With Pirates

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Pirates first-round pick Nick Gonzales will take a physical on Wednesday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Assuming there aren’t any issues, Gonzales plans to sign with the team, according to Mackey. As the seventh overall pick, he’s expected to sign for the slot value of $5,432,400, per Mackey.

The 21-year-old Gonzales was a star at New Mexico State, where he played in the middle infield (primarily second base) and slashed .399/.502/.747 with 37 home runs in 596 plate appearances from 2018-20.

On the heels of his stellar college career, Gonzales entered the draft as a top seven prospect according to MLB.com (No. 5), Baseball America (No. 5), FanGraphs (No. 6) and Keith Law of The Athletic (No. 7). Gonzales “has as much pure hitting ability as just about any bat in the 2020 class,” per MLB.com, which notes that some compare him to Brewers second baseman Keston Hiura.

Cardinals Sign First-Rounder Jordan Walker

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The Cardinals have announced the signing of first-round draft selection Jordan Walker (h/t Mark Saxon of The Athletic, on Twitter). He’ll forego his commitment to Duke University.

The Georgia high school third baseman will receive a $2.9MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). He was taken with the 21st overall selection, which came with a $3.13MM slot allocation.

Many draft watchers graded Walker as an early second-round player, but he went a fair bit higher to the Cards. Keith Law of The Athletic had the highest overall grade (#29). That viewpoint is presumably reflected in Walker’s signing value.

That’s not to say there’s a lack of excitement surrounding the big and athletic high schooler. Walker is a fleet-footed masher with a powerful throwing arm. The questions creep in with Walker’s relatively undeveloped hit tool. Here’s how MLB.com frames the situation:

“There are some mixed opinions on his hitting ability because his size creates a naturally long swing and he needs to improve his ability to recognize breaking balls. But he also shows some feel for hitting and the ability to make adjustments, so he should make enough contact to tap into his pop.”

It sounds as if Walker will be a fun player for Cards fans to watch as he develops. There’s upside aplenty, even if he ultimately moves to right field or first base.

Athletics Announce Three Draft Signings

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The Athletics announced that they have inked three drafted players. Second rounder Jeff Criswell, third rounder Michael Guldberg, and fourth rounder Dane Acker are all now under contract.

With these additions, the A’s have two remaining unsigned players. First rounder Tyler Soderstrom and fifth rounder Stevie Emanuels have yet to put pen to paper.

Criswell landed a $1MM bonus, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. That leaves over $200K for the club to put to use on other signings. Acker landed right at the slot value of $447,400, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). It’s not clear yet what Guldberg will take home.

Both Criswell (Michigan) and Acker (Oklahoma) are right-handed collegiate hurlers. Baseball America rated the former 53rd among draft-eligible players, citing his sturdy mid-nineties heater and suitably robust frame. The latter doesn’t possess loud tools, but is considered a well-rounded hurler who could perhaps end up in the back of a rotation one day.

As for Guldberg, he was an on-base machine at Georgia Tech, posting a silly .465 OBP over 393 career plate appearances. Unfortunately, his hit tool isn’t accompanied by power and scouts aren’t convinced he’ll remain a center fielder over the long haul.

White Sox Sign Garrett Crochet

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The White Sox announced today that they have signed their first-round draft pick, southpaw Garrett Crochet. He will receive a $4,547,500 signing bonus.

Garrett Crochet (via Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics)

 

That payday precisely matches the slot value allocated to the eleventh overall selection. The Chicago organization is still working on agreements with fifth-rounder Bailey Horn and second-rounder Jared Kelley, the latter of whom is expected to sign for well north of his slot value.

Crochet is valued for his big left arm. He pumps upper-nineties heat and controls it reasonably well. While his slider and change will both require fine-tuning, there’s said to be some real hope that he could round into a high-grade big-league starter.

If everything doesn’t quite come together? In that case, it still seems reasonable to anticipate that Crochet will be a compelling power arm from the bullpen, perhaps in the sort of multi-inning role he occupied at times at the University of Tennessee.

Most draft pundits (Fangraphs, MLB.com, Baseball America, ESPN.com) graded Crochet as a mid-first round talent. Keith Law of The Athletic acknowledged the upside, but obviously was swayed more by the concerns in grading Crochet as his 39th overall prospect.

Photo courtesy of University of Tennessee athletics department.

Cubs Sign First-Round Pick Ed Howard

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June 22: The Cubs have formally announced the signing. Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago tweets that Howard’s exact bonus is $3.7455MM (the full slot value for the No. 16 pick).

June 21: The Cubs have agreed to terms with first-round draft choice Ed Howard, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Howard will receive a $3.75MM bonus, on par with the slot value for the 16th overall pick with which he was chosen. The Cubs entered the draft with an overall pool of $6,721,600.

In Howard, the Cubs got not only the best high-school shortstop in this year’s draft class, but a hometown product as well, with Howard playing his high-school ball in Chicago. He’d been committed to continue his career at the University of Oklahoma, but as a surefire first-rounder, there was little doubt that Howard would instead play affiliated baseball.

Howard’s calling card is his steady, fluid defense at shortstop. With a strong throwing arm and smooth footwork, scouts almost universally think he’ll be able to stick at shortstop in the Majors. There’s less certainty about his offensive game, but evaluators laud his bat speed and believe there’s room for more power with a refined approach and some physical development.

At just 18 years old, Howard and the Cubs will have plenty of time to work on his game before he’s a finished product. Make no mistake, his selection likely has nothing to do with Javier Baez’s future in a Cubs uniform; Howard is an outstanding prospect regardless of the Cubs’ situation at shortstop, and we’ll look forward to seeing him make an impact at the Major League level in the near future.

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Sign Brandon Barnes, Waive Jared Hoying

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The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization have waived outfielder Jared Hoying and signed another former big leaguer, Brandon Barnes, to replace him on the roster, Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reports. The 34-year-old Barnes can earn up to $200K on his midseason deal, though only have that sum is guaranteed (with the rest available via incentives).

Barnes last popped up in the Majors back in 2018, when he hit well in a late-season cup of coffee with the Indians (.261/.333/.421 in 21 plate appearances). However, he hasn’t been a mainstay on a big league roster since his 2012-16 run between the Astros and Rockies. The former sixth-round pick (Astros, 2005) is a career .242/.290/.357 hitter in nearly 1300 Major League plate appearances and a .264/.329/.444 hitter in his Triple-A career. He split last season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Indians and Twins, connecting on 30 homers while adding 30 doubles and 11 steals. He’s capable of playing any of the three outfield slots.

Hoying, 31, was in his third season with the Eagles. He briefly saw MLB action with the 2016-17 Rangers but received only 126 plate appearances. He took the KBO by storm in 2017, erupting with a .306/.369/.573 slash, 30 home runs, 47 doubles, two triples and 23 stolen bases in his debut campaign. That easily earned him another contract with the Eagles, but Hoying hasn’t reached those height since. He still logged a solid .284/.340/.460 line last season, but he’s off to a dismal .194/.254/.323 start through 134 plate appearances this season.

Barnes isn’t expected to join the roster until July, Yoo details. He’ll complete a physical and go through a 14-day quarantine process before being added to the active roster. He’ll hope to help turn the tide for a last-place Eagles club that has slumped to a disastrous 10-32 record to begin the season.

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