Pittsburgh Pirates: Sign all their 6-10 Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates just wrapped up their 2016 MLB Draft on the 11th and they are now in the process of negotiating with their picks.

According to Baseball America the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to terms with multiple draft picks so far.  Due to the amount of draft picks, as they sign it will be broken into multiple articles.  So far the Pirates have signed 27 picks according to Baseball America.  Not all bonuses are reported right away, and they will not be written about here until those numbers are announced.

This article will cover the current top ten picks that have signed so far and will give a little bit of a scouting report on them (from their draft articles).  This will look at the sixth through the tenth round picks who have signed thus far:

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed sixth round draft Cameron Vieaux.  Cam Vieaux is a big, left-handed pitcher from Michigan State.  He will be receiving an estimated bonus of 175,000 dollars.  The slot value for the 195th overall pick was set at 238,600 dollars.  It looks like the Pittsburgh Pirates will save 63,600 dollars.  Vieaux was a red-shirt junior this past season and his draft stock would have gone down due to his age if he would have stayed another year (currently 23 years of age).  Here is some of our report on Vieaux:

“The Spartan product is 6’4” and 200 pounds.  Being a college pitcher he has already physically filled out and will not need a lot of time to mature.  His fastball sits about 88-92, so it will not blow anyone away by any means. However, he is a good strike thrower and can command all of his pitches.  The biggest thing is that many scouts believe because of his size and organization will be able to get him to add a few miles per hour to his fastball.  Which makes sense, he is big, and the Pirates organization does a great job of redefining pitchers and teaching them how to get as much as they can out of their bodies.  He also throws a plus slider and an average change-up.” “Player Comp: Chad Kuhl“

The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to terms with seventh round pick Brent Gibbs.  Gibbs, a catcher from Central Arizona Junior College, signed for an estimated 150,000 dollars.  The slot value for the 225th overall pick was set at 185,700 dollar. The Pittsburgh Pirates save 35,700 dollars.  Being a JuCo player, Gibbs likely was not going to cost the slot-value.  Here is our scouting report on Gibbs:

“The 22 year old, however, did hit very well last season at the junior college level. In 48 games and 179 plate appearances, the catcher hit .396/.497/.590 with five home runs and 11 doubles, walking 15 times and striking out only 22, a BB/K ratio of 0.68.The catcher is known for blocking the ball with a plus arm, something the Pirates always will like. This season for the Vaqueros, Gibbs threw out 14 of 30 attempted base stealer, a percentage of 46.67. This calling card should allow him to progress through the system more so than that of a high school catcher with similar defensive skills.” David Slusser

Related Story: 6th and 7th round Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates have also agreed to terms with their 8th round pick.  Dylan Prohoroff, a right-handed pitcher from Cal State Fullerton, signed for a bonus of 160,000 dollars. The slot value assigned to the 255th pick in the draft was 173,500 dollars.  The Pirates saved 13,500 dollars on Prohoroff.  He was a a junior college transfer, and will likely be a reliever in the minor rather than a starter.  With that the Bucs may give him a shot to start at first.  They were able to save money here, he was not ranked in Baseball America’s top 500 prospect list, likely meaning the Pirates reached on him at their pick.  Here is a our scouting report on him:

“Dylan currently sits at 92-94 and can hit 95 with his fastball, and he also features a slider. With his frame, and age, an increase of one to maybe two miles per hour is in his future. He has both a reliever and starting background, which can be interesting with the Pirates plans for him to start. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team starts him at first, before him moving over to the pen.” David Slusser

The Pirates signed their ninth round, Clark Eagen, an outfielder from the University of Arkansas.  Eagen, a center fielder by trade, signed for an estimated under-slot bonus of 160,000 dollars.  The assigned slot value for the 285th overall pick was 162,000 dollars.  The Pirates only saved 2,000 dollars on Eagen.  This was expected, Eagen was not considered a top 500 prospect in the draft, but still shocking it is as close to slot-value as it is. Here is our scouting report on Eagen:

“The 21 year old center fielder has played some corner infield in his time at Arkansas, having a .991 fielding percentage at first base in 2015, a season in which he only made four errors. With the bat in 2016, Eagan hit .298/.370/.444 with a 0.59 BB/K and a .147 ISO. His 32.1 at bats per home run is a career best, and is an improvement over the 114.5 at bat per home run.” David Slusser

For the last signing for this article, the Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to terms with Matt Anderson.  Anderson, a big, right-handed pitcher from Morehead State, signed for a very small estimated bonus of 10,00 dollars. The assigned slot value for the 315th overall pick was at 156,600 dollars.  The Pirates saved 146,600 dollars on their tenth round pick.  This is easy, Anderson struggled most of his college career.  He had his best season as a college senior this year, giving him no leverage in negotiations. This saves the Pirates a chunk of money to use toward other picks.  Here is our scouting report on Anderson:

“Anderson obviously has good pitches to be able to produce so many swings and misses. His fastball tops out at 94 miles per hour and he typically sits about 91-93 miles per hour. His second best pitch is a slider that sits in the lower 80s.  This year he learned to throw it with improved arm speed and it now sits around 85 miles per hour with more late movement to it. With that it is considered an average offering. He also throws a curve-ball that breaks more like a traditional, over the top curve-ball, it is considered a fringe-average pitch.  He also has a fourth pitch in a change-up, but it is his worst pitch and it needs the most work.”

Related Story: 8th, 9th, and 10th Round Picks

The Pirates have signed nine of their top 11 picks so far.  They have saved money on eight of the nine top ten round players they have signed so far (picks after the tenth round bonuses not available yet).  With that they have saved about 412,500 dollars so far to use toward other picks.  The other picks could be second, first round pick Nick Lodolo, who is said to have a strong commitment to TCU, and 4th round pick Braeden Ogle, who has a strong commitment to Florida.  Check back over the next few days for more information on them.