Heading into the final weekend before the Draft signing deadline -- which is Monday, July 27 at 5 p.m. ET -- only two players in the first two rounds had yet to sign pro contracts.
Louisiana State outfielder Derek Curiel (No. 5 overall, Pirates) is believed to have reached an agreement but his deal had yet to become official as of Friday evening. It remains unclear whether Ganesha HS (Pomona, Calif.) left-hander Logan Schmidt will come to terms with the Guardians as a second-rounder. The assigned pick value for his No. 59 slot is $1,598,900 and Cleveland does not have room in its bonus pool to offer him much more than that.
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In the last four Drafts, just one player selected in the top 60 picks has failed to turn pro. Last year, the Pirates drafted Warren HS (Downey, Calif.) right-hander Angel Cervantes at No. 50 but were unwilling to meet his stated asking price by exceeding their pool, something they did in seven of the first 10 Drafts after these rules came into play in 2012, but haven't done since 2021.
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Teams can outspend their bonus pools by up to 5 percent by paying a 75 percent penalty tax on their overage. Eclipsing it by more than that amount would result in the forfeiture of at least one future first-round pick. All bonuses in the first 10 rounds count toward the pool, as does any amount over $150,000 for individual bonuses in Rounds 11-20.
As of late Friday, the only other players in the top 10 rounds who had yet to officially finalize contracts were Dana Hills HS (Dana Point, Calif.) right-hander Gavin Giese (third round, Rays); Clemson right-hander Aidan Knaak (fifth, Brewers); and Oregon left-hander Miles Gosztola (eighth, Dodgers). Knaak appears to be the most uncertain to sign from among that group.