The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed first overall pick Gerrit Cole, and second round pick Josh Bell, according to Jon Heyman (Cole, Bell).
Cole will get $8 M, and it’s a minor league deal, per Dejan Kovacevic. The bonus is the highest in draft history, topping the $7.5 M bonus that Stephen Strasburg received. It’s also a record for the Pirates.
Josh Bell gets $5 M. That’s the fourth biggest bonus given out by the Pirates, behind Cole, Jameson Taillon, and Pedro Alvarez.
The two bonuses bring the Pirates’ total spending to just under $16.5 M, which is a draft record. That doesn’t include unannounced bonuses, which will bring the total to over $17 M.
The Pirates have officially announced each move. The draft pick signing tracker is updated with the moves.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
WOW. just WOW – never thought we would get Bell. The Bucs are now a Big League Organization.
Woop Woop!
What a coup!
Great news to wake up to today.
While very happy they signed both Cole and Bell, 5M for a mid-1st round talent (Bell) is a lot of money. Lots of upside though, I’m looking forward to seeing him progress over the next few years.
any update on watts
watts didn’t sign
I think the system is finally rebuilt!
Unbelievable. Just… unbelievable.
What a great day for the Pirates. The Bell signing shows once again this team is serious.
Not too shabby of a draft. Maybe this just bought N.H. another year of fans’ animosity.
Not to mention the eye-rolling and head-shaking of the pundits and the denizens of the P-G Asylum who will moan “Same old cheap Pirates” when the club doesn’t go all-in on some free agent.
haha, exactly, just because they won’t pay 40-50% over market value for maybe, possibly one free agent, that could only pose a relative improvement of 5-10 games, when they’d need to win 20 to make the playoffs.