The MLB draft ended today, and we’ve already heard word of four first round picks who will be signing. The Astros have agreed with Carlos Correa, the Blue Jays with Matt Smoral, the Braves with Lucas Sims, and the Brewers with Victor Roache. That’s a huge change from the old system, where most first round picks would wait until late July to sign.
It’s not just the first rounders though. Baseball America looked at a few college seniors who were taken in the top ten rounds. Toronto’s fourth round pick, Tucker Donahue, received less than $10,000. Kyle Barraclough, the Cardinals’ seventh round pick, is hoping to crack five figures.
As I pointed out yesterday, the players don’t have much leverage in this system, especially college seniors in the middle round.
For the Pirates, if we assume all of their seniors sign for $10,000 (which based on the above article, sounds like it would be high), then they’ll have an extra $372 K to spend. Add sixth round pick Eric Wood to that group, and the number goes up to just under $551 K. That, plus the $100,000 for picks after round ten, could be enough to land 14th round pick Walker Buehler. And if you find an extra $400-500 K from rounds 1a-5, you might be able to throw a bit extra to Mark Appel to keep him happy and make sure that he signs.
I’ve already heard a lot of talk that the Pirates are aggressively negotiating with players. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a huge list of signings right off the bat. And so we begin my favorite time of the year.
Links and Notes
**The Draft Street Freeroll has returned! You can win money just by playing a one night fantasy baseball league. There’s a $150 prize pool, and it’s FREE to join. Click here for the information.
**Draft Day Three Recap: Prep Players, Pittsburgh Kids, and Tommy John surgery.
**For all of the draft coverage, check out the 2012 Draft archives.
**Bookmark the Draft Pick Signing Tracker to keep up with all of the player moves. Also includes links to all of the player pages.
**The Pirates lost 5-4 to the Reds. Kristy Robinson’s notebook looks at Brad Lincoln’s role with the team after he struggled in his spot start.
**Prospect Watch: Tim Alderson struggles, Nick Kingham has a decent start.