Baseball America | Blog | Baseball America Draft Blog | Braves Sign Minor For $2.42 Million

Vanderbilt lefthander Mike Minor, the seventh overall pick, agreed to terms with the Braves on a $2.42 million bonus yesterday and is expected to officially sign today. Minor’s bonus is the highest in club history and the highest ever for a No. 7 pick.

Minor’s bonus also was $242,000 over the recommendation by the commissioner’s office, making him just the second first-rounder to receive an over-slot deal this year. The other was California high school shortstop Jiovanni Mier, who got $1,358,000 ($26,000 above slot) from the Astros at No. 21. MLB slashed its slot guidelines by 10 percent across the board this year, and Minor’s bonus equals the 2008 recommendation for the No. 7 choice.

Nineteen of the 32 first-round picks remain unsigned.

Two sources said that Minor could have signed months earlier if not for interference from MLB. Minor and the Braves agreed in principle on the $2.42 million bonus before the draft—but before Atlanta received official word that the slots were reduced. The commissioner’s office pressured the Braves not to make the above-slot deal official so they wouldn’t hurt the Reds in their attempt to sign Arizona State righthander Mike Leake, the No. 8 pick, to a below-slot bonus.

MLB’s recommendation for the No. 8 pick is $2,043,000.

Good for Minor and the Braves not caving to MLB.

Jim, did Minor’s stuff slip much this spring? Last summer’s USA prospects profile said that he sat at 89-91, with some scouts saying he could pitch in the low 90s as a pro. This year’s draft preview said he was more of a pitchability guy at 86-89. That’s a pretty big difference in the two profiles–what changed?

Posted by Dave | August 6, 2009 at 12:18 pm | Shortcut

[...] Baseball America on how MLB f’ed the Mike Minor deal How can they screw a team like this when teams like the Yankees spend $200 million on every free agent known to man. They did this same thing with the Jason Heyward signing too. Imagine what another two months of pro ball on the front end could have done for his development or major league ETA. [...]

Posted by Two sources said that Minor could have signed months earlier if not for interference from MLB…. | August 6, 2009 at 1:40 pm | Shortcut

Posted by Two sources said that Minor could have signed months earlier if not for interference from MLB…. « wire2 | August 6, 2009 at 1:40 pm | Shortcut

There’s an awful lot of evidence that the commissioner’s office is illegally restraining trade in a manner that was not collectively bargained for in the way they are handling these draft deals. If the rumor is true that MLB threatened KC regarding the All-Star game, that seems to me to be a clear violation. Its very difficult to feel sorry for kids getting hundreds of thousands of dollars (or millions) to play and their agents but what MLB is doing is just wrong here.

Posted by Steve | August 6, 2009 at 2:03 pm | Shortcut

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable with how MLB approaches approving signing bonuses?

Not having so many recent draft picks play much the year they’re drafted takes away from the excitement of the draft — though it does spice up winter leagues.

What kind of changes might we see to the draft in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement?

I’ve heard the never-ending buzz about international talents being made draft-eligible start up again lately…also some talk about shortening the draft to 30 rounds — those two concepts strike me as mutually exclusive, though.

Posted by Adam Foster | August 6, 2009 at 2:07 pm | Shortcut

[...] According to Baseball America’s Jim Callis (great guy, by the way, he’s been very helpful to me), the Braves and Minor agreed upon the [...]

Posted by Shove This Up Your Bud, Selig! | Capitol Avenue Club | August 6, 2009 at 3:52 pm | Shortcut

The players association should file a grievance to prevent MLB from pressuring teams on the draft bonus issue.

Posted by Tony Passaretti | August 6, 2009 at 4:34 pm | Shortcut

His fastball wasn’t as good this spring as it was last summer, but Minor never really has been about the velocity. He struggled at times this spring, though a lot of that can be attributed to Vanderbilt’s catching problems, which made it hard for him to feel comfortable unleashing his most wicked breaking stuff. His velocity picked up toward the end of the spring too. Going forward, I’d expect him to work in the 88-90 mph range. I wouldn’t necessarily have drafted him seventh overall, but he really can pitch.

Posted by Jim Callis | August 6, 2009 at 10:21 pm | Shortcut

When was the last time MLB cared that the Yankees payroll is now well over $200M? But they care that the #7 overall pick in the draft got the recommended bonus for that pick last year. And to say that this was agreed to in principle before the draft has just taken two months of development away from Minor. MLB needs to get their head out of their butt with issues like this and worry about making a salary cap in the majors. While they are at it, make an actual slotting system for draft picks based on where they are picked, not a recommendation, like in the NBA. They could even reward players that are promoted to the bigs quickly with an incentive clause in each contract. That would make Scott Boras cry, which would make me very happy.

Posted by Joshua | August 7, 2009 at 10:46 am | Shortcut

[...] make matters worse, MLB has this stupid slotting system. This article talks about the pressure that MLB is putting on teams who are trying to sign their picks. The [...]

Posted by Fixing the Baseball Draft « Weller and Bryan’s Sports Blog | August 10, 2009 at 11:18 pm | Shortcut