Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Several Top 10 Picks Sign

The draft is over a week removed.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed quite a few of their top picks in the top 10 rounds.

So far the Pittsburgh Pirates have not announced any signings of their top picks from this year’s draft.  While it can be frustrating to see other teams signing their top picks, teams have until July 15th to officially sign their draft picks to deals.  So there is still plenty of time for the Pittsburgh Pirates to sign their top picks, which include Travis Swaggerty, Gunnar Hoglund, and Braxton Ashcraft.  Although, both Hoglund and Ashcraft have already stated that they plan on signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. So who has signed so far out of the top 10 rounds?

A Couple College Arms

The top pick that has signed for the Pittsburgh Pirates thus far is fourth round pick Aaron Shortridge.  Shortridge is coming to the Bucs from the University of California (Berkley).  He is a right-handed pitcher that just finished up his junior year of NCAA ball.  The 6’3” righty was used as a reliever in his sophomore year and he pitched to a 1.99 ERA.  This past season he was used as a starter and reliever, and he posted a strong 2.77 ERA.  He was picked at number 114 overall which was given a bonus amount of $488K.  Shortridge signed for under slot at $455K, saving the Bucs a little over $30K on their overall draft pool.

The next pick that has signed is sixth round pick Michael Flynn.  Flynn is a right-handed starting pitcher who just finished up his junior year with the Arizona Wild Cats.  The scouting report behind Flynn is that he has better stuff than his numbers suggest.  This past season Flynn’s ERA was 4.89.  Still, his fastball sits at 92-94 and he has a good mix of pitches with a curveball and changeup.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are giving him a bonus of $250K.  This comes in under the slotted bonus of $275K.  So through the first two signings, the Bucs have saved about $55K dollars in bonus money.

College Hitter Signs

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed their seventh round pick as well.  In the seventh round, the team used their selection on NC State outfielder Brett Kinneman.  Kinneman projects as a left fielder who will be an offense first player.  The lefty hitter and thrower is 6’1” and 195 pounds.  He already shows good pop, hitting 17 home runs in his junior season with the Wolfpack.  MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the148th best prospect.  The Pittsburgh Pirates took him with pick number 204.  The Bucs are paying him exact slot value of $215.5K.

Next: What Could Swaggerty's MLB ETA Be?

A Big Lefty Signs

The last top ten pick that the Pittsburgh Pirates have officially signed is their eighth round pick Zach Spears. Spears will be coming from the University of Miami (Ohio).  The now-former Redhawk is the biggest player the Bucs drafted, standing at 6’7” and weighing about 235 pounds.  He is coming off his best season when he pitched to a 3.73 ERA in 15 games, 14 which were starts.  Spears sounds like a prototypical lefty; good command, low 90s fastball, solid changeup and curve.  The Bucs also gave him the appropriate slot value of $171.8K.

*All signing and bonus figures are courtesy of Spotrac.com