The Chicago Cubs’ draft class is slowly but surely becoming a signing class, with word that several of the Cubs’ top picks have signed.
As you may recall, the top 10 rounds of the draft are the picks that comprise your bonus pool, made up of the slot values attached to each pick. You can sign guys for however much you want, but the total of your signings in those top 10 rounds has to be under your total bonus pool, or you incur penalties. Fortunately for aggressive teams like the Cubs, you can overspend by 5% and the only penalty is a tax, so they always overspend by 5%.
In any case, the top 10 rounds take on special importance when it comes to signing draft picks, and so far, the Cubs seem to have locked down at least seven of those picks.
The Cubs announced the signing of top pick, righty Ryan Jensen (who reportedly got $2 million), but he’s not the only Cub who has signed (even if not officially announced by the club). Various reports also indicate that 4th round righty Chris Clarke, 5th round righty Josh Burgmann, 6th round catcher Ethan Hearn, 7th rounder Brad Deppermann, 8th round lefty DJ Herz, and 9th round righty Tyler Schlaffer have inked their deals with the Cubs.
The @Savermetrics account is great resource for these signings, and Jim Callis is also usually pretty quick with bonus details:
8th-rder D.J. Herz signs with @Cubs for $500k (pick 252 value = $162,700). North Carolina HS LHP, already up to 95 mph with more velocity to come, gets ugly swings with his slider. North Carolina recruit. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 14, 2019
4th-rder Chris Clarke signs with @Cubs for $426,600 (full pick 126 value). Southern California RHP, 6-ft-7 reliever with low-90s downhill sinker, tough curveball. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 14, 2019
The Cubs have about $1.8 million left to sign 2nd round second baseman Chase Strumpf ($1.1M slot plus overage), 3rd round righty Michael McAvene ($600K), and 10th round catcher Wyatt Hendrie ($150K).
I reckon the Cubs have it figured out so that they won’t risk any draft pick penalties, but it might also be the case that they won’t have a lot of money left over this year to go above-and-beyond for the guys picked after the 10th round (they can be signed for up to $125K before it counts against the pool). The Cubs opted instead to go over slot quite a bit more in the earlier rounds, rather than take a bunch of senior signs. Interesting approach, and time will tell if it was the right move.
For now, though, at least it seems like the Cubs will get their draft class in place. More on the class here, here, and here.