The Rays will announce the signing of first-round pick Nick Ciuffo on Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Ciuffo, a high school catcher from South Carolina, was the No. 21 overall pick in the draft. Ciuffo is advised by Frontline.
Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets that Ciuffo's deal will be for slot value, which would be $1.97MM for the No. 21 pick. ESPN's Keith Law ranked Ciuffo the No. 18 prospect in the draft, while Baseball America had him at No. 22 and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo ranked him No. 23. Mayo noted Ciuffo's potential to hit for power and average, and suggested he also had the defensive tools to remain behind the dish. Law, meanwhile, praised Ciuffo's receiving and notes that Ciuffo's power potential should at least make him a backup, though his upside is much higher than that.
