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2020 Amateur Draft

Amateur Draft Signings: 7/1/20

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We’ll round up most of today’s draft signings in this post…

  • The D-backs agreed to an $800K signing bonus with third-rounder Liam Norris, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis. That checks in north of the $658K slot value associated with Norris’ No. 90 overall selection. A high school southpaw out of North Carolina, Norris had been committed to the University of North Carolina but will instead turn pro. Baseball America ranked Norris 143rd in the class, noting that his stuff ticked up early in the 2020 season after fading late in the 2019 campaign. His fastball velocity and curve both impressed scouts, but the season stoppage didn’t allow them the opportunity to see whether the 6’4″, 215-pound lefty could maintain those gains over a full season. Callis and the team at MLB.com ranked Norris 122nd in the draft, also praising his fastball/curveball combo but expressing command concerns.
  • The Twins have formally signed fifth-rounder Kala’i Rosario, tweets Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Darren Wolfson of SKOR North Radio and 5 Eyewitness News tweets that Rosario received a $270K bonus, which lands shy of his $330K slot value. An outfielder from Hawaii, Rosario was ranked No. 88 on Baseball America’s Top 500 list. BA touts his plus-plus raw power, noting that some scouts even grade it at an 80. Despite his huge power, he’s not a major strikeout risk at the moment and can hit the ball the other way. At 6’1″ and 205 pounds already, most expect Rosario to move from center field to left field at some point. Between Rosario and first-round pick Aaron Sabato, the Twins added some considerable right-handed pop to their minor league ranks. With today’s agreement, the Twins have agreed to terms with their entire draft class.

Rockies Agree To Terms With Supplemental 1st Rounder Drew Romo

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The Rockies have wrapped up their draft business by agreeing to terms with catcher Drew Romo, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). He’ll receive a bonus for the precise $2,095,800 slot value of the 35th overall pick.

Romo will bypass a commitment to Louisiana State University to go pro with the Rox. He’s seen as a defensively proficient switch-hitting backstop, which is certainly a nice starting point for a player hoping to maximize his opportunities to reach the majors.

The question remains whether Romo will really ever emerge as a compelling player on offense. Baseball America cites “swing-and-miss concerns” and indicates that the upside is limited. Per BA, Romo “has a good understanding of the strike zone and could provide enough offense with his plate discipline and ambush power.”

Though high school catchers constitute a generally disfavored class of players, Romo’s serious defensive chops were sufficient to push him into the top forty players chosen. That’s at the top of the range at which prospect watchers graded him, but all agreed he was at least a second-round talent.

Giants Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Patrick Bailey

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The Giants have agreed to a $3.8MM bonus with first-round selection Patrick Bailey, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). He was selected 13th overall, a position that came with a $4,197,300 slot allocation.

This represents the first big draft strike for the San Francisco organization, which has quite a bit of signing left to do. The savings on this selection will presumably be rolled over to later-drafted players.

Bailey, a backstop out of N.C. State, will slot in behind recent top selection Joey Bart in the long-term catching pipeline. If and when the club ends up with some tough decisions to make involving those two players and long-time star receiver Buster Posey, it’d surely consider it a good problem to have.

Entering the draft, all major pundits graded Bailey as one of the twenty best players available. ESPN.com and Fangraphs each rated him within the top dozen. The switch-hitter isn’t exactly hyped for his endless ceiling, but prospect watchers seem to agree he has solid all-around skills and real potential to become a regular backstop at the game’s highest level.

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/30/20

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Here’s a look at the latest draft signings from around the game. Unless otherwise specified, the news comes courtesy of Jim Callis of MLB.com…

  • The Mariners wrapped up their 2020 draft signings by inking right-hander Connor Phillips on Monday, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. Phillips, the 64th pick, signed for full slot value of $1,050,300. The Mariners acquired the selection they used on Phillips from the Brewers during the offseason in a trade centering on catcher Omar Narvaez. Phillips, previously with McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, entered the draft as MLB.com’s 94th-ranked prospect available. The 19-year-old is capable of reaching the high 90s with his fastball, though he’ll need to improve his offspeed offerings to realize his potential, per MLB.com.
  • The Pirates have signed fourth-round righty Jack Hartman for $60K (Twitter link). That sums checks in well below the $538,200 value of Hartman’s selection, No. 108. The ex-Appalachian State hurler pumps high-90s heat, possesses a high-spin curveball and is on track to be a reliever in the majors, Callis writes.
  • Brewers fifth-rounder Hayden Cantrelle has agreed to a bonus worth $300K (Twitter link). Cantrelle’s pick, No. 151, carried a recommended value of $353,700. The former Louisiana-Lafayette shortstop’s stock dropped in an abbreviated final season in college, in which the switch-hitter batted .136/.320/.237 in 17 games, but Baseball America still rated him as the draft’s 138th-best prospect.
  • The Diamondbacks have secured fifth-round righty Brandon Pfaadt for $100K, easily below the $360,800 slot value of the 149th choice (on Twitter). Pfaadt posted a 4.09 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 92 1/3 innings at Bellarmine University from 2018-20.

Marlins, First-Rounder Max Meyer Agree To Deal

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June 30: Meyer is taking his physical for the Marlins today and will receive a signing bonus of “about” $6.7MM, Heyman tweets.

June 10: It hasn’t been long since the Marlins made University of Minnesota right-hander Max Meyer the third overall pick in the draft on Wednesday, but the two sides have already reached an agreement, pending a physical, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. He’ll earn a bit less than the $7,221,200 slot value of his selection, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

The 21-year-old Meyer was a member of the Golden Gophers from 2018-20, when he combined for a sterling 2.13 ERA with 11.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 over 148 innings. Meyer carries a 99 mph fastball and a devastating slider, according to Keith Law of The Athletic, who contends he’s possibly “the most major-league ready player in the draft” (subscription link). Marlins director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik agrees, having said (via Frisaro) that Meyer is “just about” ready for the majors.

Meyer is now the latest high-end pitching prospect in the Marlins’ system. Before the team selected Meyer, it already boasted fellow righty Sixto Sanchez, a 21-year-old who ranks as MLB.com’s 22nd-best farmhand.

Padres Agree To Terms With Cole Wilcox

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The Padres and third-rounder Cole Wilcox are in agreement on a $3.3MM signing bonus, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (on Twitter). With the deal, Wilcox, a right-hander out of the University of Georgia, receives a record bonus for a third-round pick and absolutely shatters his slot value of $767,800.

Entering the draft, Wilcox was widely regarded as a potential first-round talent, but as a draft-eligible sophomore, he had some leverage working in his favor. Concerns over signability might’ve caused some clubs to pass, and the fact that Wilcox’s eventual bonus aligns closely with what would’ve been Top 20 slot money illustrates the difficulties other teams may have had in hammering out a deal. The Padres signed top pick Robert Hassell III nearly $900K under-slot, though, and they also “saved” $450K on third-rounder Owen Caissie and fourth-rounder Levi Weaver alike.

Wilcox, 20, ranked inside the draft’s 25 best prospects in the opinion of The Athletic’s Keith Law (No. 14), FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (No. 18), ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (No. 23) and the team at MLB.com (No. 23) and Baseball America (No. 24). Wilcox’s fastball reached 100 mph in a bullpen role and sat mid- to upper-90s as a starter, Law notes. He also has the makings of a pair of above-average offspeed pitches, with his slider ahead of his changeup by most counts (although Callis & Co. believe the opposite to be the case in their report).

As with any pitching prospect, there are some red flags — notably Wilcox’s at-times spotty command — but his 6’5″, 232-pound frame and arsenal of power offerings are enough for Padres fans to dream on as the organization adds yet another high-end talent to its minor league ranks.

Orioles Sign Heston Kjerstad

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The Orioles have signed second overall draft pick Heston Kjerstad, per a team announcement. The University of Arkansas product will receive a $5.2MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter link).

Kjerstad was expected to go near the top of the draft, but not with the second selection. The O’s obviously liked him quite a bit, but also saw an opportunity to save some bonus pool capacity to draft and sign other talented players in later rounds. The club was able to reapply over $2.5MM of the second overall slot value.

As things stand, the Orioles are known to have deals in place with five of their six selections. Jordan Westburg (30th overall) and Hudson Haskin (39th) secured at-slot bonuses. High schoolers Coby Mayo and Carter Baumler were lured with over-slot promises, though their deals aren’t yet official. That leaves Ole Miss infielder Anthony Servideo, the team’s third-round choice, left without a pact (so far as is publicly known).

Perhaps it’s easy to get caught up in the machinations and overlook Kjerstad’s own promise. While teams obviously see the appeal in spreading draft bonus pool availability over multiple players, they also aren’t generally inclined to spend premium draft choices on sub-premium talent.

All major draft pundits graded Kjerstad as one of the dozen or so top-available talents. Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs had the highest ranking, listing him in the seventh slot.

Most agree on the profile here. Kjerstad is seen as a solid right fielder with big potential at the plate. He was drubbing high-end college pitching (.448/.513/.791) when the 2020 season was suspended. There are some concerns over his complicated swing and proclivity to strike out, but obviously the consensus is that Kjerstad will grow into a quality offensive performer at the game’s highest level.

Dodgers Sign 2nd-Rounder Landon Knack

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The Dodgers have signed second-round right-hander Landon Knack for $715K, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. It’s an under-slot deal for the 60th overall pick – whose selection carried a recommended value of $1,157,400 – but may be a record bonus for a fifth-year college senior, Callis notes.

The 22-year-old Knack was previously at East Tennessee State, where he logged a 2.29 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 in 122 innings from 2018-19. Despite the dominant numbers he posted in school, Knack did not rank among the top 100 draft prospects available at MLB.com, Baseball America, ESPN.com, FanGraphs or The Athletic. BA, which placed Knack at No. 113, writes that he possesses a high-90s fastball but only “fringy” offspeed offerings.

Although he’s just a couple weeks removed from coming off the draft board, it’s possible Knack will make his major league debut sometime this year. At the very least, there’s a good chance Knack will end up in the Dodgers’ 60-player pool, Callis suggests.

Mets To Sign Second-Rounder J.T. Ginn

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The Mets have inked second-round draft pick J.T. Ginn, Tim Healey of Newsday reports on Twitter. He’ll receive a $2.9MM bonus, per Joe DeMayo of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

This puts a bow on the Mets’ 2020 draft class. The club had already inked their other five draftees, with its four selections after Ginn all going for well under the slot values attached to their picks.

The New York org needed every penny to reel in Ginn. He was taken 52nd overall, a position that came with a $1,403,200 pool allocation. Clearly, he wasn’t willing to turn pro for that amount.

Ginn, a draft-eligible sophomore out of Mississippi State, is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. But the Mets obviously feel the talent is compelling enough to roll the dice on a full recovery.

Most draft watchers graded Ginn as a first-round talent, in spite of the obvious risk. He was already selected there once before, but spurned the Dodgers back in 2018. Ginn is said by some to possess a potentially front-of-the-rotation arsenal — a big heater, compelling slider, and promising change-up — though others anticipate he’ll settle in more as a back-of-the-staff starter or late-inning reliever.

Athletics Sign Tyler Soderstrom

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The Athletics have announced a deal with top pick Tyler Soderstrom. It includes a $3.3MM signing bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reported yesterday that Soderstrom would sign today and is expected to be added to Oakland’s 60-player pool.

Also going under contract was fifth rounder Stevie Emanuels. The University of Washington righty receives a $400K bonus. With his signing, the A’s have completed all of their draft business.

Soderstrom, a high school catcher out of California, received a bonus that weighed in about $646K north of his slot value at No. 26. Emanuels also went over-slot, with both players getting an extra payout from the cash the Athletics saved in signing second-rounder Jeff Criswell and third-rounder Michael Guldberg to below-slot deals.

The A’s obviously had their eyes on Soderstrom entering the draft. All major draft pundits rated him among the 25 best players available. ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel was particularly bullish, grading the youngster as the tenth-best player available due to his promise as a hitter.

While it’s awfully tempting to imagine Soderstrom as a bat-first catcher, there’s concern with his ability to develop defensively while also maximizing his offensive potential. It remains to be seen what course the A’s will take, but most scouts seemingly believe Soderstrom is athletic enough — and sufficiently talented with the bat —  to man other areas of the diamond (third base or the corner outfield, most likely).

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