Atlanta Braves quick to sign power hitting outfielder Greyson Jenista
By Fred Owens
The money
As I write this we don’t know the size of his signing bonus. The $1.45M slot value allocated by MLB has nothing to do with the amount he’ll get.
Slot allocations are a way of determining a team’s draft pool and breaking it down so anyone can understand it. Here’s the cliff notes version from Baseball America.
1. Each top 10-round draft pick comes with an individual bonus slot value. The sum of the slot values is the team’s spending pool
2. The pool may be distributed among any players that team acquires in the draft—including non-drafted free agents.
3. Teams that exceed the pool by 0-5 percent will pay a 75 percent tax on the overage. For every thousand dollars above the pool limit teams pay a tax of $750.
4. Teams that exceed the pool by 5-10 percent pat the 75 percent tax and lose a first-round pick next year.
5. Teams that exceed the pool by 10-15 percent pay a 100 percent tax and lose a first and second round pick next year.
6. Teams that exceed the pool by more than 15 percent will pay a 100 percent tax and lose first-round and second picks in the next two drafts.
The punishments are clearly aimed at the deep pocket teams who could afford a 100% penalty but wouldn’t want to lose future draft picks.
Remember the Braves already have debt issues that could trigger MLB oversight if not corrected. They are unlikely to do anything so ill-advised as bust the bonus pool by more than 5%.
Why the Atlanta Braves drafted the way they did
According to Braves scouting director Brian Bridges in an interview with Tori McElhany, the draft strategy aimed to fill the void left by the 13 players lost in last year’s scandal.
“When . . .you lose 13 players, . . .It sets your organization back, so… you try to jump-start it and infiltrate (sic) it with players who have the ability and upside.”
That’s why this draft resulted in 34 college selections out of 39 total draft picks.
That’s A Wrap
Jenista’s the only the second genuine power bat drafted in the early rounds by the Atlanta Braves since Evan Gattis. While fans clamored for more bats, the Braves stuck to their plan
I hope the restocking works as some of the players we had that looked good last year are struggling this year
Next: Pick a peck of pitchers. . .
When we hear the size of the signing bonus and/or more players sign we’ll let you know the details here at the Take.