Less than an hour to go before the MLB draft signing deadline. Here are some quick hits.
**I just heard back from a source with Georgia Tech saying that the Brandon Thomas negotiations are “up in the air”. He hasn’t ruled out signing yet. His slot price in the fourth round is $336,700.
**The Pirates could still offer 14th round pick Walker Buehler $650,740 without losing a draft pick. That figure assumes that Mark Appel and Brandon Thomas don’t sign. If Thomas signs, the amount goes up by about $17,000.
**If the Pirates spent their remaining over-slot money (currently $384,400) and spent their current 5% extra (not counting Appel), they would still have $2.9 M to offer Appel at the deadline, plus the extra 5% on his bonus, which would be a total of $3.045 M.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Adios, Appel. May your career be forever ruined because of your selfishness, you Bible-thumping moron.
Appel made HIS career decission not your’s. The Pirates made him their pick knowing he may be a hard sign. They passed up other choices who have signed.
So you MORON choose to attack his religion. You are a a dispicable low life.