The latest on some notable Day Two draft signings. For more on the 2021 draft, check out the prospect rankings and scouting reports compiled by Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, here is MLB Pipeline’s breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.
- The Twins agreed to deals with Competitive Balance Round A pick Noah Miller and second-rounder Steve Hajjar, the team announced. As the 36th overall pick, Miller had an assigned slot price of $2,045,400, and Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via Twitter) reports that the high school shortstop’s bonus was under slot at $1.7MM. Hajjar’s bonus hasn’t yet been reported, but the 61st overall pick has an assigned price of $1,129,700.
- The Rockies announced the signing of second-round pick Jaden Hill, with MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reporting the LSU righty signed for the $1,689,500 slot price attached to the 44th overall pick. Also from Callis, the Rockies agreed to another at-slot deal with Ohio University southpaw Joe Rock, whose deal is worth the assigned $953,100 price for the 68th overall pick.
- The Mets signed 46th overall pick Calvin Ziegler for a $910K bonus, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports. The Canadian right-hander’s deal falls significantly below the $1,617,400 slot value, so the Mets gained some significant pool savings that were necessary for the above-slot deal in the works with tenth overall pick Kumar Rocker.
- The Brewers signed second-rounder Russell Smith for a $1MM bonus, Callis tweets. A left-hander out of TCU, Smith was the 51st overall pick, which has a slot value of $1,436,900.
- The Cubs agreed to a $2.1MM bonus with second-round pick James Triantos, according to Callis. It’s an overslot deal for Triantos, a high school third baseman from Virginia, as the 56th overall selection had an assigned price of only $1,276,400.
- The Rays reached a deal with second-rounder Kyle Manzardo, with Callis reporting that the Washington State first baseman signed for $750K. The 63rd overall pick (and the final pick of the second round proper) has a slot price of $1,076,300.
- The Astros went well over slot to sign third-rounder Tyler Whitaker, as Callis reported that the high school outfielder landed a $1.5MM bonus. That is more than double the $689,300 slot price for the 87th overall pick. Of note, Whitaker was Houston’s first pick of the 2021 draft, due to their punishment from the sign-stealing scandal.
- The Yankees also more than doubled the slot price on a third-round selection, as Callis writes that prep left-hander Brock Selvidge received $1.5MM. The 92nd overall pick has a recommended value of only $637.6K. The Yankees have now signed all their draft picks from the first 10 rounds, going underslot on eight of the 10 players.
nyr2k2
The Mets have signed all but two picks: Mike Vasil (8th round) and Matt Rudick (13th). Both are likely to sign, per their own comments.
Dutch Vander Linde
Kumar Rocker Hasn’t sign the deal yet either.
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Dorothy_Mantooth
I believe the Red Sox might struggle to sign 2nd round pick Jud Fabian. He is still young and can back to college and improve his draft position considerably (mid first round at worst). It would be tough to see them lose out on a potential stud OF if he chooses to go back to Florida.
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kenny217
Not having to go over slot to sign Mayer could help. If they can save another $200-300k with their remaining picks on top of the 100k they saved signing Litwiki, they could give Fabian 2.1-2.2 million, which is late first round money.
lsujedi
A lot riding on Whitaker for the Astros. Explains the college seniors they took to create room for signing him. Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t look like a bad prospect, but it’s not like he’s a first rounder who fell due to signing concerns a la Lance McCullers.
jkwdbu
He did have signing concerns. He had already committed to college and it was known that it would require paying him well over slot to get him to sign.
lsujedi
Right, he had concerns. But he wasn’t/isn’t a top tier talent to go along with it. Solid round 2/3 guy with upside. Not bad, but doesn’t scream first round money.
The Infinity Gauntlet
If the demand is high & the teams scouts love him, He can make 1st Round money