Blaine Knight took it down to the wire, but he and the Baltimore Orioles finally reached an agreement Friday afternoon.
Less than two hours before the 4 p.m. CT deadline, Knight signed a deal that reportedly gives him a $1.1 million signing bonus and officially brings his collegiate career to a close.
A third-round pick by Baltimore, his slot was valued at $663,200. However, Knight managed to get a bonus 65.9 percent higher than that because the Orioles didn’t use their entire bonus pool on their other selections in last month’s MLB Draft.
Knight was one of the last three players taken in the top 10 rounds to make his intentions known. It was never a doubt that he would sign a professional contract, though, as he had already passed up the money once as a draft-eligible sophomore last year and he wouldn’t have any leverage if he returned for his senior season.
Of the 55 college players with no remaining collegiate eligibility picked in the first 10 rounds, just one – Florida’s JJ Schwarz – received a six-figure signing bonus. Most of them received bonuses of $10,000 or less and the average was only $18,291, according to MLB.com. That is just 10.4 percent of their total slot values.
Knight was also the ninth Arkansas player drafted last month to sign a professional contract.
A fourth-round selection by the Kansas City Royals, outfielder Eric Cole will receive a signing bonus of $497,500. That is 10.3 percent above the slot value for the 122nd overall pick.
Catcher Grant Koch was taken in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates and shortstop Jax Biggers was taken in the eighth round by the Texas Rangers. They both received signing bonuses equal to their slot value: $364,600 and $166,400, respectively.
The only other Arkansas player picked in the top 10 rounds was second baseman Carson Shaddy, as he went to the Washington Nationals in the 10th round. He was one of the aforementioned seniors who didn’t have leverage, so he got a $10,000 bonus – much lower than the slot value of $136,900.
Picks outside of the top 10 rounds can get bonuses up to $125,000 without it counting against their team’s bonus pool. That is the amount pitchers Evan Lee (15th round, Washington Nationals) and Barrett Loseke (17th round, New York Yankees) received.
Kacey Murphy, the first pick of the 11th round by the Detroit Tigers, went over that limit with a $145,000 bonus, while Jake Reindl (17th round, Chicago Cubs) signed for $100,000.
The Razorbacks also lost a pair of their signees to professional baseball. Yankees second-round pick Josh Breaux, a JUCO catcher, got a $1,497,500 bonus (37.8 percent above slot) and Brewers 24th-round pick Wade Beasley, a pitcher from Horatio, Ark., signed for $255,000 ($130,000 counts against Milwaukee’s pool).
Arkansas did get some good news, though, as two of its draftees opted to return to school.
Despite his up-and-down season, MLB.com rated right-hander Isaiah Campbell as the No. 109 overall prospect, but he slipped to the Los Angeles Angels in the 24th round. With two years of eligibility remaining because of his medical redshirt in 2017, he would still have leverage to receive a large signing bonus next year as a fourth-year junior.
"I'm excited about being able to come back, get stronger, and fine tune my craft," Campbell said in a statement. "There's nothing better than putting on that Razorback uniform and playing in front of the best fan base in all of college baseball."
Although he doesn’t have the luxury of that leverage, backup catcher Zack Plunkett will return to the Razorbacks as a fifth-year senior next season. The TCU transfer turned down the Arizona Diamondbacks, who took him in the 37th round.
