First-round picks Trey Yesavage and Vance Honeycutt agreed to contracts as all but four of the top 315 players selected in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft last month struck deals before Thursday’s deadline.
East Carolina right-hander Yesavage, taken 20th by the Toronto Blue Jays, agreed to a $4,175,000 bonus. North Carolina outfielder Honeycutt, selected 22nd by the Baltimore Orioles, agreed to $4 million.
Konnor Griffin, a shortstop out of Jackson Prep School in Mississippi taken ninth overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates, agreed Wednesday for $6,532,025.
The four picks from the first 10 rounds who failed to reach deals were Lincoln East High School shortstop Tyler Bell (No. 66 with the Tampa Bay Rays), Christian Brothers Academy right-hander Chris Levonas (No. 67 with the Milwaukee Brewers), Texas A&M left-hander Ryan Prager (No. 81 with the Los Angeles Angels) and University of Houston right-hander Jaxon Jelkin (No. 263 with the New York Mets).
Bell agreed to attend Kentucky and Levonas committed to Wake Forest.
Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and the Angels will receive an additional selection in next year’s draft as compensation. The Rays get No. 67, the Brewers No. 68 and the Angels a pick after the third round.
MLB’s deadline applied to all players in the draft except those who exhausted college eligibility, a group that can sign until until a week before next year’s draft.
Only one pick from the first 10 rounds failed to sign last year, UC Irvine outfielder Caden Kendle, a 10th-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals. He went to the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round this year and signed for $147,500.
Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns and Georgia outfielder Charlie Condon tied for the highest bonus this year at $9.25 million, a record since players were limited to initial minor league contracts as part of the draft pools system started in 2012. Under the prior rules, the Washington Nationals signed pitcher Stephen Strasburg to a $15.1 million, four-year contract in 2009 and Bryce Harper to a $9.9 million, five-year deal the following summer.
Burns was taken second overall by the Cincinnati Reds and Condon third by the Colorado Rockies. Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana was taken first by the Cleveland Guardians and signed for $8.95 million.
Cleveland spent the most on the draft at $19,236,100, followed by Colorado ($19,236,100), Cincinnati ($17,156,100), the Oakland Athletics ($16,103,900), the Chicago White Sox ($15,267,500), Pittsburgh ($14,700,525) and Washington ($14,575,200).
The Houston Astros spent the least at $6,210,412, just under the Los Angeles Dodgers ($6,411,300), the Texas Rangers ($7,327,600), Philadelphia Phillies ($7,744,900) and San Francisco Giants ($7,942,350).
Teams committed $342 million to this year’s group of draft-eligible players, up 8.3% from $315.8 million last year at the deadline.
No team exceeded its signing bonus pool by more than 5%, which would have caused the loss of a first-round pick in next year’s draft. Twenty-three teams went over their pool by 5% or less, Arizona spent exactly its pool and six were under, led by Tampa Bay ($250,300 short) and Colorado ($87,300 short).
Atlanta ($7,765,000), Baltimore ($10,920,900), the Chicago Cubs ($9,802,300), Detroit ($11,921,800), Houston ($5,914,700), the Los Angeles Angels ($12,041,800), the New York Yankees ($8,134,500), Pittsburgh ($14,000,500) and San Francisco ($7,566,200) all finished exactly at 5% above their bonus pool.
No team has ever exceeded its signing bonus pool by more than 5%.
