Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG
According to Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline, the Mets have agreed to terms with outfielder Isaiah Greene, the 69th pick in last week’s first-year player draft.
The 18-year-old from Corona, California, was ranked as the 49th-best player available in this year’s draft. Scouts love his collection of tools, particularly his speed and feel to hit.
Perhaps surprisingly, Mayo relays that Greene will receive a signing bonus of $850 thousand, which is below the slot value by about $80 thousand.
The Mets had previously inked their third and fourth-round selections, shortstop Anthony Walters and catcher Matthew Dyer, to deals that saved the organization $755,600 against the total bonus pool.
Fifth-round pick Eric Orze is likely to command an underslot bonus as well. Whether it will be closer to Walters’ $20 thousand or Dyer’s $350 thousand remains to be seen, but as a fifth-year senior, it’s more likely to be the former.
That means the Mets will have about $5.9 million to spend on signing bonuses for first-round pick Pete Crow-Armstrong (slot value: $3.359 million) and second-rounder J.T. Ginn (slot value: $1,403,200).
If Crow-Armstrong signs for the slot value — and the indications are that he would — it would leave the Mets with about $2.5 million for Ginn, who carries a bit more leverage than the typical draftee, as an eligible sophomore with his stock pointing down following Tommy John surgery.
Hypothetically, he could return to school, prove that he’s healthy, and pitch his way into the top of the first round of the draft next year (where he would have gone if healthy this year) at the same age as the rest of the college draftees.
In short, it makes sense that it would take quite a bit extra to sign Ginn.
Thought the Mets’ bonus pool is capped at $7,174,700, they can spend up to $7,533,435 before being penalized for future draft picks. No team has ever crossed that threshold.
