Major League Draft Services

1. Houston Astros - Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy - signed for $4.8MM
2. Minnesota Twins – Byron Buxton, OF, Appling County High School (Ga.) – signed for $6MM
3. Seattle Mariners – Mike Zunino, C, Florida
4. Baltimore Orioles – Kevin Gausman, RHP, Louisiana State
5. Kansas City Royals – Kyle Zimmer, RHP, San Francisco - signed for $3MM
6. Chicago Cubs – Albert Almora, Mater Academy (Fla.)
7. San Diego Padres – Max Fried, LHP, Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.)
8. Pittsburgh Pirates – Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
9. Miami Marlins – Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State
10. Colorado Rockies – David Dahl, Oak Mountain High School (Ala.) – agreed to sign for $2.6MM
11. Oakland Athletics – Addison Russell, SS, Pace High School (Fla.) – agreed to sign
12. New York Mets – Gavin Cecchini, SS, Barbe High School (La.) - agreed to sign for $2.3MM
13. Chicago White Sox – Courtney Hawkins, OF, Carroll High School (Tex.)
14. Cincinnati Reds – Nick Travieso, RHP, Archbishop McCarthy High School (Fla.) - agreed to sign for $2MM
15. Cleveland Indians – Tyler Naquin, OF, Texas A&M
16. Washington Nationals - Lucas Giolito, RHP, Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.)
17. Toronto Blue Jays – D.J. Davis, OF, Stone County High School (Miss.) - signed for $1.75MM
18. Los Angeles Dodgers – Corey Seager, SS, Northwest Cabarrus High School (N.C.)
19. St. Louis Cardinals – Michael Wacha, RHP, Texas A&M – agreed to sign for $1.9MM
20. San Francisco Giants – Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State – signed for $1.85MM
21. Atlanta Braves – Lucas Sims, RHP, Brookwood High School (Ga.) - signed for $1.65MM
22. Toronto Blue Jays – Marcus Stroman, RHP, Duke
23. St. Louis Cardinals – James Ramsey, OF, Florida State
24. Boston Red Sox – Deven Marrero, SS, Arizona State
25. Tampa Bay Rays – Richie Shaffer, 1B/3B, Clemson
26. Arizona Diamondbacks – Stryker Trahan, C, Acadiana High School (La.) - agreed to sign for $1.7MM
27. Milwaukee Brewers – Clint Coulter, C, Union High School (Wash.) - signed for $1.675MM
28. Milwaukee Brewers – Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern - signed for $1.525MM
29. Texas Rangers – Lewis Brinson, OF, Coral Springs High School (Fla.) – agreed to sign for $1.625MM
30. New York Yankees – Ty Hensley, RHP, Santa Fe High School (Okla.)
31. Boston Red Sox – Brian Johnson, LHP, Florida
32. Minnesota Twins (for Michael Cuddyer) – Jose Orlando Berrios, RHP, Papa Juan XXIII HS (Puerto Rico) - agreed to sign for $1.55MM
33.  San Diego Padres (for Heath Bell) – Zach Eflin, RHP, Haggerty High School, (Fla.)
34.  Oakland Athletics (for Josh Willingham) – Daniel Robertson, SS, Upland High School (Calif.)
35. New York Mets (for Jose Reyes) – Kevin Plawecki, C, Purdue - agreed to sign for $1.4MM
36. St. Louis Cardinals (for Albert Pujols) – Stephen Piscotty, 3B, Stanford
37. Boston Red Sox (for Jonathan Papelbon) – Pat Light, RHP, Monmount
38. Milwaukee Brewers (for Prince Fielder) – Mitch Haniger, OF, Cal Poly - agreed to sign for $1.2MM
39. Texas Rangers (for C.J. Wilson) – Joey Gallo, 3B, Bishop Gorman High School (Nev.) - agreed to sign for $2.25MM
40. Philadelphia Phillies (for Ryan Madson) – Shane Watson, RHP, Lakewood High School (Calif.) - agreed to sign for $1.29MM
41.  Houston Astros (for Clint Barmes) – Lance McCullers Jr., Jesuit High School (Fla.)
42. Minnesota Twins (for Jason Kubel) – Luke Bard, RHP, Georgia Tech
43. Chicago Cubs (for Aramis Ramirez) – Pierce Johnson, RHP, Missouri State – signed
44. San Diego Padres (for Aaron Harang) – Travis Jankowski, OF, Stony Brook
45. Pittsburgh Pirates (for Ryan Doumit) – Barrett Barnes, OF, Texas Tech
46. Colorado Rockies (for Mark Ellis) – Eddie Butler, RHP, Radford - signed for $1MM
47. Oakland Athletics (for David DeJesus) – Matt Olson, 1B, Parkview High School (Ga.)
48.  Chicago White Sox (for Mark Buehrle) – Keon Barnum, 1B, King High School (Fla.) - agreed to terms for $950K
49. Cincinnati Reds (for Ramon Hernandez) – Jesse Winker, OF, Olympia High School (Fla.) - signed for $1MM
50. Toronto Blue Jays (for Frank Francisco) – Matt Smoral, LHP, Solon High School (Ohio) - agreed to terms for $2MM
51.  Los Angeles Dodgers (for Rod Barajas) – Jesmuel Valentin, SS, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy - agreed to sign for $985K
52.  St. Louis Cardinals (for Octavio Dotel) – Patrick Wisdom, 3B, St. Mary’s - signed for $693K
53. Texas Rangers (for Darren Oliver) – Collin Wiles, RHP, Blue Valley West High School (Kan.) - agreed to sign for $975K
54. Philadelphia Phillies (for Raul Ibanez) – Mitch Gueller, RHP, WF West High School (Wash.) - agreed to sign for $940K
55. San Diego Padres (for Brett Austin) – Walker Weickel, RHP, Olympia High School (Fla.)
56.  Chicago Cubs (for Carlos Pena) – Paul Blackburn, RHP, Heritage High School (Calif.)
57.  Cincinnati Reds (for Francisco Cordero) – Jeff Gelalich, OF, UCLA
58. Toronto Blue Jays (for Jon Rauch) – Mitch Nay, 3B, Hamilton High School (Ariz.) - signed
59.  St. Louis Cardinals (for Edwin Jackson) – Steve Bean, C, Rockwall High School (Tex.)
60. Toronto Blue Jays (for Jose Molina) – Tyler Gonzales, RHP, James Madison High School (Tex.) - signed for $750K

There are a number of provisions within the standard Minor League contract that can be negotiated, but most contracts have standard inclusions:

• The length of a Minor League contract is seven years, including the year the player is drafted by an organization.
• Bonuses can be paid out from the time the contract is approved by MLB through December 31 of the following year.

Incentive Bonus Plan (IBP)

A player receives a bonus (which varies depending on the level of the team they are playing for within an organization) for staying on an active roster for a period of 90 days:

• AA- $1,000
• AAA- $1,500
• MLB- $5,000

The Incentive Bonus Plan Contract provision looks like this.

Note: If a player receives these bonuses, the funds are taken out of the College Scholarship Plan and converted to cash. There is no additional value added if College Scholarship Plan funds remain.

Learn more about other standard contract inclusions like:

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2011 MLB Draft Spending

Heading into the 2011 MLB Draft, teams were eager to bolster their farm systems with amateur talent. Given the uncertainty of what changes the new CBA might bring to the Draft for years to come, it was predicted by some that teams would overspend in 2011 in order to ensure an accumulation of young prospects. Ultimately, draft spending reached new heights totaling $236 million, but let’s take a look to see if teams truly spent more in 2011 compared to previous seasons and which players reaped the benefits.

One way to analyze how teams treat the draft from year to year is to compare bonus expenditures to changes in revenue. When revenues increase, teams have more resources and are able to spend more money to sign drafted players. When bonus spending grows at the same rate as revenue, it means that teams dedicate a specific percentage of resources each year toward signing drafted players. However, when bonus spending grows at a greater percentage than revenue, it indicates that teams chose to direct more resources that year to signing draft picks. 2011 was predicted by some to be a big year for draft bonuses given the possibility of hard-slotting and other potential changes that the new CBA might implement. Let’s examine the table below to see how draft spending grew compared to changes in revenue over the past 4 years:

In 2011, teams opted to spend much more in the draft. For every $1 increase in revenue, teams directed $4.06 more into draft bonuses. Between 2008 and 2009, draft spending increased a marginal 0.55% and from 2009 to 2010, draft spending increased merely 3.41%. However in 2011, total draft spending increased 16.46% compared to just a 4.05% increase in revenue. Compare this to 2007-2008; revenues increased 6% but draft spending inched up just 0.55% meaning that for every $1 increase in revenue, teams spent only $.09 more on drafted players.

Given this data, it seems that every team must have increased draft spending in 2011, but is that true? From the chart below, it can be seen that there was actually a 50/50 split in teams choosing to increase or decrease bonus expenditures from the previous season. Bonuses highlighted in green indicate an increase in spending from 2010 to 2011 and bonuses highlighted in red indicate a decrease in bonus spending. So why did bonus spending increase so drastically if only 50% of the teams increased spending from the previous year? When averaged out, teams which increased spending spent over $4 million more in 2011 whereas teams who decreased spending cut bonuses by an average of just $1.9 million.

As we have learned, some teams increased and some teams decreased spending in the Draft. But which players were most affected by teams’ change in expenditures? In the table below, you will see that from 2010-2011, players selected in the 1^st round and all players selected after the 10^th round saw a huge jump in bonuses. With no indication of what the new CBA would bring, teams certainly wanted to sign their top draft choice as well as stock their farm systems with a surplus of players. Since it is more likely that players selected later in the draft will not sign, teams had to offer more money to later round picks so that they would sign to ensure there would be plenty of talent to fill out their minor league system.

Many changes are coming to the Draft including an attempt by MLB to limit spending on amateur players. Though there is no telling how the new CBA will play out in terms of the draft, many are expecting bonuses to decrease for amateur players which could make it more difficult for MLB clubs to sign players into the professional ranks. For these reasons, it makes sense that teams would overspend in 2011 Draft, especially on 1^st and later round players.

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Lance McCullers, Jr. pitches and plays shortstop for Tampa Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. This fire-balling, two-way prospect has been on the radar for the 2012 MLB Draft for several years. While it looks like he’ll go early in the first round, the high school senior will have a choice ahead of him, as he has already committed to the University of Florida after graduation.

A lot of hype has surrounded McCullers; it is rare to find a prospect with such high caliber arm strength. Those who watch him in action come away with glowing praise and comparisons to Josh Beckett.

By the age of 16, McCullers he was throwing fastballs that registered 96 mph on radar guns, virtually assuring himself a spot in the first round of the Draft on power potential alone.

His father, Lance McCullers, Sr., was an MLB reliever. He pitched for four teams in his career, most notably for the San Diego Padres, over a span of seven seasons. His father likes to note that at age 16, his son was pitching with the same velocity as he was at 25. McCullers, Jr. has what scouts like to call, “good stock,” and will likely join the short list of fathers and sons that have played in the big leagues.

As a junior last season, McCullers, went 5-3 from the mound, with a 2.02 ERA and 79 strikeouts and carried the Tigers to their second consecutive class 4a state championship.

Most of the hype surrounds his wicked fastball that regularly registers in the high-90s, occasionally touching 99 and even 100 on radar guns. But the kicker is that this pitch has a ton of movement on it, breaking hard and late, baffling high school hitters and likely to hold up against Major League hitting. He also has a wicked breaking ball in the low- to mid-80s, and his change-up is developing quickly into a reliable part of his arsenal.

McCullers currently sits at no. 6 in Perfect Game’s Top 300 prospects (was all the way up at no.1 back in February) and ranks in at no. 7 in our own rankings compilation from last week. In addition to the Jackie Robinson Award, given by Perfect Game to the top baseball prospect of the year, the 18-year-old has won over ten awards and has been given countless accolades.

While so much of the buzz pertains to his performance on the mound, many overlook that he also swings a powerful bat. The left-handed hitter averaged .422 with 10 doubles, seven home runs, 24 RBIs, and 46 runs scored for Jesuit. While McCullers could find success through his power hitting, his fielding skills are sometimes called into question. He’ll most likely wind up making his bread on the mound, as his arm is a rare commodity.

In the last few months, McCullers has seen his rankings slide. Big college arms like Mark Appel and Lucas Giolito have stolen headlines and the top rankings. His detractors point to his lack of command, which could very well be the reason for the slight slide we’ve seen. But, as is the case with young, powerful arms, the command is frequently the last thing to develop. While it no longer looks like he’ll go no. 1 in next year’s draft, he will likely go in the top ten.

He will have a tough decision next year when the MLB Draft rolls around, as he’ll have a great amount of negotiation leverage as a high school athlete with the option to go to school. Will he take the college route or will he opt for the large signing bonus he’s slated to receive?

Links:

Q & A with Prospect Interviews

Video:

Baseball Factory Under Armour All-America

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Dean Karoliszyn is a blogger for Major League Draft Services.