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The first of three drafted Arkansas signees has officially bypassed college.
St. Louis announced the signing of Texas two-way standout Masyn Winn, the 54th overall pick in this summer’s MLB Draft, on Wednesday.
According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, the hard-throwing right-hander and talented shortstop from Kingwood, Texas, received a signing bonus of $2.1 million. That is 56.9 percent over his slot value - which was about $1.34 million - and closer to the slot for the 35th overall pick near the end of the first round.
The Cardinals have now signed five of their seven draft picks, with fellow Arkansas signee Markevian “Tink” Hence being one of the two remaining unsigned draftees. However, Rob Rains of STLSportsPage.com has reported he is expected to sign Thursday.
Including the 5 percent buffer without penalty of future draft picks, St. Louis has about $1.92 million remaining in its bonus pool. Even if Missouri right-hander Ian Bedell signs for over his fourth-round slot, which he reportedly will, there will still be enough for Hence to receive more than his $1.08 million slot value.
The Los Angeles Angeles have signed only one of their four draft picks, but saved about a quarter of a million dollars in the process. It is likely that David Calabrese, the third Arkansas signee drafted, will get a bonus larger than his $744,200 slot value.
This is not a surprise for the Razorbacks, as head coach Dave Van Horn told reporters after the draft that he expected all three to begin their professional careers and skip college.
“They’ll sign,” Van Horn said, “Those teams wouldn’t have taken them if they hadn’t been in contact with them and pretty much gotten some dollar figures figured out.”
Neither of Arkansas’ two current players who were drafted have signed yet.
As the second overall pick, Heston Kjerstad’s slot value is about $7.79 million. However, it is widely believed that one reason Baltimore selected him is because he’ll sign for under that amount and give the Orioles more flexibility with their other picks.
Despite slipping to the third round, it appears that Casey Martin will receive an over-slot bonus that is closer to late second-round money than the 84th pick, where he was drafted in the middle of the third round.
Philadelphia has signed three of its four picks for a total of $4.4 million, leaving it with just over $1 million in its bonus pool. Including the 5 percent buffer, the Phillies could give Martin a signing bonus close to $1.3 million.
The deadline for all draft picks to sign is Aug. 1.
