Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo from MLB Pipeline posted some bonus information for two Pittsburgh Pirates draft picks on Wednesday morning. Here’s the info from them:
Eighth round pick JP Massey:
7th-rder J.P. Massey signs with @Pirates for $150k (slot 200 value = $243k). @GopherBaseball RHP, erratic but twitchy dude with live arm who can hit 97 mph & flash a plus slider when he's on. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 27, 2022
Ninth round pick Mike Walsh
9th-rder Mike Walsh signs w/@Pirates for $147,500 (slot 260 = $166,200). @YaleBaseball RHP has reliever profile, up to 94 w/big spin rates, control issues. Pitched well on Cape. @MLBDraft
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) July 27, 2022
Both players signed for under slot, though Massey got a lot more than you would expect from a 22-year-old senior. That’s usually a combo age/class that gets between $5,000 and $50,000 to sign. Our draft tracker is updated. The Pirates signed four players last night, bringing their total to 14 players signed out of 21 total draft picks. They still need to sign Termarr Johnson and fourth round pick Michael Kennedy to round out the top ten picks and both are expected to sign. We are also waiting on the bonus number for Tanner Tredaway. The signing deadline is Monday at 5 PM. The Pirates now stand at $548,400 for over-slot picks without going into the penalty (tax on 5% overage) and $1,235,465 including the 5% overage allowed before severe penalty.
Kennedy gets 1mill
Did you see the article on mlb.com about trades teams need to make by Henry Palattella between the bucs and Indians? Any thoughts??
I had skimmed the article and said I’d be down for that trade, until it was pointed out to me that Bednar was also included. Completely missed that lol
So, I’d say I like the guts of that trade if it was just for Reynolds. I’d also prefer to swap out Freeman for a different upper level bat.
Swap out freeman and the low level prospect for valera would make me happy, add a 10-15 arm if bednar is gonna be included too
I agree, no bednar, give them Crowe and stratton instead lol
Heh, I read it after you tweeted it and also overlooked Bednar’s inclusion.
Usually around this time we’re hearing that the first round pick is on his way to Pittsburgh to sign. The Bucs are home through the deadline to sign, so I expect those rumors will pop in the next day or two for Johnson.
‘They still need to sign Termarr Johnson and fourth round pick Michael Kennedy to round out the top ten picks and both are expected to sign.’
This is good news for me, as Kennedy is one of my faves.
Thankfully top 10 round picks are a super high probability to sign save for weird medicals, all but 2ish per year
Not saying it won’t happen but we have had a few first round pics the last 5 years not sign so it isn’t that uncommon
“Massey got a lot more than you would expect from a 22-year-old senior. That’s usually a combo age/class that gets between $5,000 and $50,000 to sign.”
The dynamics right now are a bit different. The 2020 season did not count towards using up a player’s eligibility because of the NCAA’s covid rule. So Massey, like most “seniors” still has another year of eligibility, either for Minnesota or for someone else.
Excellent point regarding the extra year of eligibility that can be overlooked just by the “Senior” tag.
Forgot to mention that if BC was not sure of the dollars to be available to sign overslot candidates, he would not have selected anyone who would expect anything near slot value to sign. Therefore, I think he knows he has everyone except possibly Tejada, depending upon what he has to work with. Johnson and Kennedy, wow, is this a Presidential discussion about 1963? Just caught that! With those two signed it is an excellent draft for the Pirates.
The one thing you can be certain this FO is good at is counting money.
Unless they plan on giving Termarr $8M ($1M over slot) they are not going to use their entire bonus allotment.
Kennedy and the 19th rounder will probs both be overslot
Yeah, those 2 will be the ones that take it to the limit.
I know Ben won’t do it, but I’d still like if they tried to think outside the box and convince a couple prep kids to forego their college commitment as UDFA’s. It’s probably easier with a Braylon Bishop as you can at least say, “Just focus on the fact you were drafted, and not what round” as opposed to a kid that wasn’t even drafted.
I don’t think you can go over the $100k or whatever the post 10 rounds max without needing slot for UDFAs can you? I think if you want to use pool to go over, you have to draft them, and once they go UDFA, you can’t use pool money anymore, it’s the $100k at most. I may be wrong on that, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case
From BA article:
“Effective this year, there will be no maximum on the signing bonus an undrafted player can receive, although any amount over $125,000 will count against a team’s bonus pool.”
Article if you have a sub:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-removes-20-000-cap-on-undrafted-free-agent-signing-bonuses/#:~:text=The%20change%20marks%20a%20return,place%20for%20the%202021%20draft.
I had missed that completely, thanks!
I had thought it was $150K now, but they can offer up to $125K, and anything over counts towards bonus pool. It’s a recent change. It was a max cap of $20K for last 2 drafts, until just before the 2022 draft.
In Masseys case, I’d have to imagine that’s a function of potentially having a Covid year available to him?
Yes, other than age he’s like a college junior in terms of leverage and development. The age gives him a little less leverage but not to the extent that he’d have to settle for a bonus in the low five-figures as he could get that type of deal next year.
Why can’t you just have minor league report to click on…its rediiculios to find…this is not the first time that I have asked..
Give us a minor league report button.
Bookmark this page: https://piratesprospects.com/category/prospect-watch
All the reports are there.
You can click on today’s prospect watch article then inside it click on yesterday’s so they’re all easy to find
When you say minor league report to click on, do you mean the Prospect Watch articles?
Does anyone else agree
90% of this site is minor league reports. Like @Bucs N Pucks(Jeff Reed) posted there is a daily Prospect Watch article that has the game reports for every day on it. What exactly is it that you want??
I agree with those who think you sound like a petulant child.
You just described 75% of the commenters on here
Not you of course, and I disagree. I’d say
90% of the comments on here are opinionated but respectful and accepting of others views with far less rudeness than most other similar sights. As a matter of fact the only truly rude and dismissive comment I can find on this particular thread is the one calling someone else petulant. Of course three others liked that comment so perhaps the truly petulant are hiding.
I resemble that remark!