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Hunter Greene signed with the Reds for the biggest bonus ever
Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball features Hunter Greene’s record signing bonus, best wishes for Terry Francona, and the loudmouths that run the Yankees’ front office.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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Friday at 5:00 pm ET was the signing deadline for players taken in last month’s amateur draft, and the time had come and gone without a word about Hunter Greene, the Reds’ first round pick and the second overall pick in the draft. Greene is a talented kid, a 17-year-old from Southern California who shows promise as a right-handed pitcher as well as a shortstop.
A few minutes after 5, the news broke. It went right up to the last minute, but the Reds got it done. Greene signed for $7.23 million, $36,000 overslot, and the highest bonus ever under the current draft system (which started in 2012). The Reds’ front office was outwardly confident about Greene signing, and they had good reason to be. It didn’t make a lot of sense for Greene to delay entering the majors for another year. He was the second overall pick, and was given an overslot bonus. Waiting a year to move up just one spot in the draft would have been a waste, since it wouldn’t have netted him much more money than he got by signing now. And there was no guarantee that Greene would have moved up that one spot.
There were limitations on what the Reds could give Greene. If he’d demanded more money, they could only give him $42,400 overslot before they incurred a 75% tax on every dollar over that. So it made sense for Greene to sign, but it wasn’t a sure thing. And if he hadn’t, the Reds would have walked away with an extremely nice consolation prize: the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, which they would get in addition to whatever pick they earned through their performance in 2017. But neither side has to think about what happens if he doesn’t sign anymore, because Greene signed and is now officially in the Cincinnati Reds system.
- Imagine MLB finally expanded and added that shiny new team. Which players would each team protect in the expansion draft? Chris Cotillo takes a look.
- Terry Francona had a heart procedure on Thursday and won’t be able to manage the AL in the All-Star Game. Cleveland’s bench coach Brad Mills will manage in his stead, but it just won’t be the same. Get well soon, Tito!
- No one really got the Troy Tulowitzki trade right, which is a great reminder that evaluating trades isn’t easy.
- Yadier Molina got second place in NL catcher voting for the All-Star Game. But is he really the second best catcher in the league?
- Ashe Russell, the Royals’ first round draft pick in 2015, has been struggling with his mechanics and his enjoyment of the game, so he’s stepping away from baseball for awhile.
- Talking Chop wants to remind the Braves that a few wins (or a few painful losses) shouldn’t tempt them to try and make a run for the postseason.
- The Yankees’ front office is wasting all the good feelings the fans have for the team by badmouthing the recovering Greg Bird to the press. Stuff it, Yankees front office.
- Four members of the Springfield Cardinals came in to catch a falling pop-up, and none of them managed to do it. It’s actually pretty amazing.
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