The Marlins have agreed to terms with their first-round pick Noble Meyer, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Meyer will get a signing bonus of $4.5MM, south of the $5.48MM slot value for the 10th overall pick.
Meyer, 18, is a right-handed pitcher that was selected out of Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Oregon. Coming into the draft, he was a consensus first-round talent, though with disagreement about where to rank him amid the top 30 available players. Baseball America placed him #7 in the class, MLB.com #8, ESPN #9, FanGraphs at #12 and Keith Law of The Athletic at #26.
The 6’5″ righty is noted for having a fastball that sits in the low 90s that has can get to the high 90s. His slider is considered his best secondary offering, with his changeup deemed a work in progress. Law explains that he thinks Meyer could have been a top-1o talent but his relatively lower ranking is due to the lower success rate of high school pitchers taken in the first round.
The Marlins have shown a tendency to stockpile pitching depth in recent years, frequently having enough viable arms that they show up in trade rumors. They finally pulled off a significant deal along those lines in the most recent offseason, trading Pablo López and a couple of prospects to the Twins for Luis Arraez. Bringing Meyer into the system will add to their overall pitching corps, though he’s likely a ways away from the reaching the majors given his young age.