And the first over slot signing is, more or less officially, in the books. (UPDATE: Make that the first two over slot signings. Giggity.)
Earlier today we noted that there were very, very positive signals that fourth round pick Carson Sands had signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Baseball America’s John Manuel comes in with the confirmation and the long-awaited financial figure:
Dominos starting to fall for #Cubs #mlbdraft class. They sign LHP Carson Sands for $1.1M. Slot at 109 was $480,600. LHP has touched 95
— John Manuel (@johnmanuelba) June 17, 2014
Sands, a high school lefty, was expected to cost a pretty penny to sign away from a Florida State commitment, and was ranked 53 by MLB.com, 99 by BP, and 53 by BA coming into the draft. After taking under slot types in the first three rounds of the draft (but still talented players), the Cubs went on a run of over slot types, with Sands being the first such selection.
It’s great to have Sands in the fold, and he is likely to be on the organization’s top 30 prospect radar instantly (and probably more like top 15/20). He’ll get a little experience later this year, perhaps in the Arizona League, but mostly in instructional ball this Fall. Having already pitched a full high school season this year, Sands won’t really step it up with the Cubs until next season.
Now that we’ve got a few reported signing figures to work with, I’ll have an update on where the Cubs stand in terms of their signing pool tomorrow morning.
In case you’re wondering, $1.1 million is the slot amount for the 50th pick in the draft, which is near the top of the second round. Clearly, the Cubs liked this young man.
UPDATE
And Jim Callis adds that 5th rounder Justin Steele is also officially in the fold:
More on @Cubs 5th-rder Justin Steele's $1 mil bonus. Pick 139 value = $359,900. Miss. HS LHP w/88-92 FB, touches 95, improving CB. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 17, 2014
Steele wasn’t quite as highly thought-of by the third party services – he was ranked 121 by BA, 122 by MLB.com, and 68 by BP – but obviously the Cubs thought he was just about right there with Sands.
You can read more on both Sands and Steele here. The $1 million Steele receives is approximately the slot value of pick 56, which is in the middle of the second round.
As I said above, I’ll have a signings update tomorrow, which will dig into where the Cubs are so far, in terms of their bonus pool.