The deadline for 2015 draft picks to sign is today at 5pm ET, and entering Friday, there were seven players from the top two rounds that remained unsigned: No. 1 overall pick Dansby Swanson;Â Dodgers top picks Walker Buehler (No. 24) and Kyle Funkhouser (No. 35); Brewers Competitive Balance (A) pick Nathan Kirby (No. 40); Blue Jays second-rounder Brady Singer (No. 56); Orioles second-rounder Jonathan Hughes (No. 68); and Twins Competitive Balance (B) pick Kyle Cody (No. 73).
Swanson, Buehler and Kirby have reportedly agreed to sign, but we’ll run down the list of top picks that have elected not to sign right here…
- Baseball America’s John Manuel reports (on Twitter) that Cody will not sign with the Twins and will instead return to Kentucky for his senior season. Minnesota will receive the No. 74 pick in this year’s draft.
- Singer will indeed attend college rather than sign with the Blue Jays, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. As Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper tweets, this marks the third time in five seasons that the Blue Jays have failed to sign a first- or second-round pick. Toronto will receive the No. 57 pick in next year’s draft.
Earlier Updates
- Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the D-Backs have offered Swanson a bonus of $6.5MM or more, but he’s yet to decide on whether or not to accept. That’s about $2.116MM below the slot value at No. 1 overall. Swanson is reportedly being advised by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management.
- It “looks like” Singer will attend Florida rather than sign with the Blue Jays, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter links). That’s not the same definitive type of report listed below, however, so there would at least appear to be room for the two sides to strike a last-minute deal in the final hour. The Blue Jays would receive the 57th pick in next year’s draft if the high-school righty elects college over pro ball.
- Funkhouser tweeted today that he will not sign with the Dodgers and will instead return to Louisville for his senior season. The college right-hander was at one point thought to be a potential Top 10 pick, but as Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill wrote last night, attrition of Funkhouser’s stuff as the draft approached caused his stock to slip. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that the Dodgers offered Funkhouser roughly $2MM, which was above his $1.756MM slot, though also considerably lower than the amount he’d have gotten without the late dip in his draft stock. The Dodgers will receive the No. 36 pick in the 2016 draft as compensation, and they’ll now turn their focus to signing Buehler, a right-hander out of Vanderbilt. Because Funkhouser did not sign, however, his $1.756MM slot value will be subtracted from the Dodgers’ allotted draft pool.
- MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports that Hughes will not sign with the Orioles and will instead Georgia Tech. A high school righty out of Georgia, Hughes’ No. 68 overall slot came with a value of $907K, though it’s not clear what sort of offer the Orioles made. Baltimore will be awarded the 69th pick in next year’s draft as compensation for failure to sign Hughes. Still, the loss of a top pick just one year after not picking until the third round (the Orioles forfeited draft picks to sign both Nelson Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez) and just months after trading a Competitive Balance pick to the Dodgers to relieve themselves of Ryan Webb’s salary is a tough blow for the Baltimore farm system. They did, however, net an extra pick when Cruz, who had received a qualifying offer, signed in Seattle.
John Bowman
Jon Heyman reports that it “looks like” Jays #2 pick, Brady Singer, will not sign and go to U Fla instead.
thecoffinnail
Good.. The Gators need him..
flyerzfan12
What are the new rules with trading players who were just drafted/signed as PTBNL? I remember reading they were changing something after the Trea Turner trade, but I can’t recall what it was. Thanks to anyone who can clarify.
John Bowman
Drafted players can be traded after the season.
m.mlb.com/news/article/121720476/mlb-mlbpa-agree-t…
flyerzfan12
Awesome, thanks.
Dock_Elvis
Sure is a lot of risk for Funkhouser going back as a senior. I suppose even if a worse case scenario Tommy John surgery occurs he’ll still make money… But he’s risking millions. Make you wonder if some of these players that have injury concerns revealed will be played closer to the best than the drama that ensued with Brady Aiken.I suppose he’s walking away from 2m now and maybe in a stronger class next year he could improve a bit.
mikesciosciasucks
No way he makes Brady Aiken type money if he has TJ. Aiken’s ceiling was supposed to be ace level when he got hurt. Some people think Funkhouser might end up in the pen. If he gets hurt in any way he’s going to end up in the 4th round or 5th round like Matt Purke did at TCU.
thecoffinnail
Funkhouser either thinks way too high of himself or got some bad advice.. From what I have read his ceiling is mid rotation.. If he has a good year he might move up a few spots and get another million.. The risk is that he gets injured or otherwise doesn’t produce and falls to the later rounds and loses quite a bit.. Either way, he was already drafted into the Dodgers org that is stacked and primed to be contenders for years and years.. That alone would make me sign.. I would prefer to go to a top org like the Dodgers over getting picked higher and ending up on the Marlins or Padres…
Dock_Elvis
If next season truly is a deeper class, he could improve and still fall in the draft. I’m all for guys playing college ball….but that’s alot of money to walk away from, and seemingly a low percentage to really improve on.
myaccount
Your thoughts on the Dodgers are just your opinion, though. Perhaps he would rather go to the Marlins or Padres where he has a better shot of landing in the rotation and a lesser likelihood of being traded. It seems like you’re only considering a couple factors, when in reality he probably had a few dozen or more come into play.
YourDaddy
With their 1st round picks the Dodgers buy a hurt pitcher who it is looking more and more like he will need TJ surgery and another turns them down flat.
YourDaddy
Isnt Close the agent that “advised” Brady Aiken last year? Lets hope this turns out better for the kid.