masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIn a season that has been extremely tough on their fan base, the Orioles made a move yesterday that avoided what would have been another gut punch. Within 90 minutes of the deadline to sign 2018 draft picks, the Orioles reached an agreement with University of Arkansas right-handed pitcher Blaine Knight.
During such a miserable season, letting one of the top college pitchers get away would have further riled up an already riled-up fan base. And it would have been a big mistake. The Orioles need…

In a season that has been extremely tough on their fan base, the Orioles made a move yesterday that avoided what would have been another gut punch. Within 90 minutes of the deadline to sign 2018 draft picks, the Orioles reached an agreement with University of Arkansas right-handed pitcher Blaine Knight.

During such a miserable season, letting one of the top college pitchers get away would have further riled up an already riled-up fan base. And it would have been a big mistake. The Orioles need all the young talent they can get right now. If the club is going to continue to be reluctant to sign international amateurs, they simply cannot let any top draft picks get away.

steve-rajsich-sidebar.jpgAnd, to their credit, they did not. So credit to scouting director Gary Rajsich and his staff, and to the club’s ownership for authorizing the signing of their top 19 draft picks, and 32 overall.

Draft math and history tell us that many of that 32 will never see the majors, but you still have to play in that market and do all you can within the current system. The Orioles did.

Allotted a budget of nearly $9 million to sign their picks from the first 10 rounds, the club spent all but $900 of that amount. And they added multiple picks from rounds 11-40 for the max amount of $125,000. Teams can spend over that amount on those picks, but the overage would have to come out of their draft pool.

The O’s were allotted $8,754,400 for their top 10 rounds’ worth of picks and they spent $8,753,500. Yep, the difference was 900 bucks. On top of that, and not counting against that amount, the Orioles signed 11 picks after the 10th round to that max amount of $125,000. I don’t have figures to prove it, but it seems that the Orioles this year have signed more post-10th-round picks to the max amount than they have in most years. Just those 11 accounted for another $1,375,000 in draft spending, not to mention the other bonuses that were signed for less than that amount in rounds 11-40.

Orioles’ picks in first 10 rounds, with amount signed for (followed by slot amount for that selection):

Round 1, No. 11 overall, pitcher Grayson Rodriguez – bonus of $4.3 million ($4,375,100)
Competitive Balance Draft Round A, No. 37 overall, shortstop Cadyn Grenier – bonus of $1.8 million ($1,923,500)
Round 3, No. 87 overall, pitcher Blaine Knight – bonus of $1.1 million ($663,200)
Round 4, No. 115 overall, pitcher Drew Rom – bonus of $650,000 ($483,300)
Round 5, No. 145 overall, outfielder Robert Neustrom – bonus of $300,000 ($361,000)
Round 6, No. 175 overall, pitcher Yeankarlos Lleras – bonus of $250,000 ($273,400)
Round 7, No. 205 overall, pitcher J.J. Montgomery – bonus of $190,000 ($213,700)
Round 8, No. 235 overall, pitcher Ryan Conroy – bonus of $150,000 ($170,700)
Round 9, No. 265 overall, pitcher Kevin Magee – bonus of $6,000 ($149,900)
Round 10, No. 295 overall, pitcher Dallas Litscher – bonus of $7,500 ($140,600)

The Orioles saved a lot of dollars on those picks in rounds nine and 10. That is a strategy employed by many teams under this slotting system. Sign college seniors to a much lower amount to save money for higher picks, which may seek overslot dollars to sign.

So the Orioles spent $7.2 million in bonuses to get their top three picks in Rodriguez, Grenier and Knight, even though Knight was the only one of the three that got an overslot amount. The listed amount for that trio was $6,961,800.

Here are the 11 players that signed bonuses of $125,000 in Rounds 11-40:

Round 11 – catcher Cody Roberts
Round 12 – shortstop Clay Fisher
Round 13 – third baseman Andrew Fregia
Round 14 – outfielder Doran Turchin
Round 15 – pitcher Cody Hacker
Round 16 – pitcher Parker McFadden
Round 18 – pitcher Jake Zebron
Round 19 – outfielder Andrew Jayne
Round 21 – pitcher Nick Meservey
Round 28 – outfielder Trey Whitley
Round 32 – pitcher Jayvien Sandridge

According to MLBPipeline.com in this article, all told, 310 of the 314 players taken in the first 10 rounds by all teams signed pro contracts. The four unsigned choices are the third-lowest total ever, after two in 2016 and three in 2017. So had the Orioles failed to get Knight yesterday, it would have been a big problem. But they got him. Per MLBPipeline.com, the O’s total draft spending was $10,406,000.