Pittsburgh Pirates Sign Draft Picks Sammy Siani and Grant Ford

The Pittsburgh Pirates have already signed a bunch of their 2019 Draft picks.  However, last night the team signed another one of their top selections and another pick.

The big piece for the Pittsburgh Pirates 2019 Draft class was number 18 overall pick Quinn Priester.  Priester, a right-handed pitcher, quickly signed with the team.  They actually struck a deal on Monday night, just a week after he was taken by the team.  Since then, the team has signed many of their picks from the top 10 rounds, including both their second-round pick (number 57) and their Competitive Balance B pick (number 72 overall).

The second pick the team had was the number 37 overall pick, granted to them for their failure to sign 2018 draft pick Gunnar Hoglund.  This pick came during the Competitive Balance A round.  This year, the Pirates used the pick once again on a prep player, although this time an outfielder.  The Bucs made Philadelphia native Sammy Siani their second pick of the Draft.

Siani is an athletic outfielder who is better known for his bat than his fielding.  He stands at 5’11’ and weighs 175 pounds, and is a left-handed hitting batter and thrower.  Siani is the first prep outfielder the team has taken inside the 50 picks since Austin Meadows in 2013.  Here is a scouting report from MLB Pipeline on the Philadelphia native:

“Siani’s standout tool is his left-handed bat. The outfielder has an outstanding and smooth swing and showed the ability to make consistent contact against some of the better prep arms in the country. He’s hit over power with a good approach at the plate, but some might be light on his power because of his smallish frame.”

Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they agreed to terms with Siani.  With that being said, the outfielder will forego his commitment to Duke University.  According to Jim Callis, the Bucs and Siani agreed to an above-slot deal.  The pick at number 37 had a slot value of $1,999,300 and Siani is getting a bonus of $2,150,000.  This is about $150,000 above-slot, which takes up a large chunk of the $400,000 in savings they had saved up.  Still, it is obviously worth it with the Bucs getting a high upside outfielder.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also agreed to terms with their fifth-round pick Grant Ford.  Ford is an upside right-handed relief pitcher, coming from the University of Nevada.  Ford features a mid 90s fastball and a plus slider.  Ford signed a few days ago, but his bonus amount took some times to come out.  On the MLB Draft Tracker, it appears that Ford got a bonus of $422,500.  This was an over-slot deal with the 154th pick carrying a value of $343,400, which is a good $90,000 over.

The Bucs must really like what they have in both Siani and Ford for them both to get over-slot deals.  It was somewhat to be expected with Siani being a prep player with a commitment to a prestigious university in Duke, but the Bucs were able to offer enough to convince him to sign. Hopefully, these two are able to get off to good starts this summer.