Atlanta Braves Signing and Bonuses Paid So Far
As I write this, the Atlanta Braves have nine of their 11 selections from the first ten rounds, including their supplementary pick from round two, only Lucas Braun and Pier-Olivier Boucher. You'll notice that some of the bonus amounts seem odd, a bonus of $1,887,500 for instance instead of $1,887,000 or $1,885,000. Those odd amounts include the team's $2,500 signing contingency bonus.
MLB allows each team to pay $2,500 for each selection when the contract is executed. Some teams give it on top of the signing bonus, some make it part of the bonus to save money in their first-round pool (Your sign for 100K, and they only use 97.5 K of the pool), and some don't use it all, which just seems silly.
RND Name Slot Value Actual - C.Bonus Over/Under
1 Hurston Waldrep 3,270,500 2,997,500 $2,500 $270,500
2 Drue Hackenberg 1,369,300 2,000,000 $630,700
2s Cade Kuehler 1,047,500 1,045,000 $2,500 $0
3 Sabin Ceballos 714,100 597,500 $2,500 $114,100
4 Garrett Baumann 521,800 747,500 $2,500 $228,200
5 Isaiah Drake 367,500 747,500 $2,500 $382,500
6 Lucas Braun 292,700 unsigned $292,700
7 Justin Long 229,400 172,500 $2,500 $54,400
8 Cory Wall 190,300 47,500 $2,500 $140,300
9 Riley Gowens 173,800 47,500 $2,500 $123,800
10 Pier-Olivier Boucher 164,800 unsigned $164,800
11 Jace Grady unsigned
12 Brady Day unsigned
13 Will Verdung 150,000 150,000
14 Mitch Farris 125,000 125,000
Totals for Rounds 1-10 $8,341,700 8,677,500 20,000 -$80,800
Rounds 11-20 $275,000
Total spent $8,952,500
The Braves also inked three undrafted free agents.
- Ryan Bourassa, RHP, South Dakota State
- Zack Austin, RHP, Central Florida
- Drew Compton, 3B, Georgia Tech
No word on the bonuses for these players, but I suspect they weren’t large.
Ryan Bourassa
Bourassa was a starter for Bismarck State College in 2019 and 2020 before moving to South Dakota State in 2021. He started five games in 2021 but appeared 14 times in relief and picking up a pair of saves.
He became a full-time reliever in 2021 and pitched to a 2.13 ERA In 42.1 IP over 17 games, striking out 64 and walking 26 26. He had a rougher season in 2023, pitching to a 4.46 ERA over 40.1 IP striking out 62 and walking 15. ERA is a poor metric for relievers, but his K/W ratio was impressive and probably encouraged the Braves to sign him.
Zack Austin
Austin was a starter for Thomas Jefferson University from 2021 through 2022 but gave 43 earned runs in 45 IP over those two seasons. He transferred to the University of Central Florida in 2023 but threw only 7.1 innings in 10 appearances and gave up 12 runs.
Push come to shove, and Austin may try hitting. In 2021 he batted .367/.443/.541/.984 in 98 AB, including four doubles, five triples, and a homer. He followed that by batting .287/.370/.618/.988, including 10 doubles, four triples, and nine homers in 2022.