Signing the over slot draft picks
After drafting Henry Davis with the number one overall pick in the MLB Draft this past Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves with a large bonus pool of money left to spend. Due to this the Pirates selected prep pitcher Anthony Solometo, outfielder Lonnie White Jr. and pitcher Bubba Chandler with their next three picks.
Drafting Solometo, White Jr. and Chandler gives the Pirates an opportunity to have the best draft class of any team in baseball. That said, in order to pull this off they need to sign all three of these players.
All signs point toward the Pittsburgh Pirates being able to sign all three of these players. That said, until the deed is done it will be one of the top needs of the entire organization following the All-Star Break.
Prep outfielder Braylon Bishop factors into play here, too. The Pirates drafted the Arkansas commit in the 14th round of the draft. Shortly after this Bishop took to Twitter to say he would honor his Arkansas commitment but he has since deleted the Tweet.
The Pirates have the money available to sign Bishop, but he may want to bet on himself to go to college and develop into a first-round pick. Even if the Pirates are unable to sign Bishop, as long as the other three sign, this draft class was borderline A+ for the Bucs.