OAKLAND -- Tyler Soderstrom will not have to travel far from his hometown of Turlock, Calif., to begin his professional career.
The Turlock High School catcher selected by the A's with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft reached a deal with the club on Monday. Sources told MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis that the first-rounder’s agreement is for $3.3 million, which would be the largest bonus for a prep catcher in the bonus-pool era, and well above the $2,653,400 slot value for the No. 26 pick.
“It’s super awesome to stay local and play for the A’s,” said Soderstrom, whose father, Steve, was a first-round pick of the Giants in 1993. “I leaned toward the Giants because my dad played for them. But now that the A’s have selected me, it’s pretty easy for me to jump ship.”
Soderstrom was verbally committed to UCLA after a stellar high school career that led many Draft experts to rank him as not just the top high school catcher in this year's class, but one of the best overall hitters also. In his junior year, Soderstrom hit .450 with four home runs and a 1.340 OPS in 28 games before playing just five games in a shortened senior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to finish with a .373 career average in 82 games.
The 6-foot-2 left-handed hitter also played for the U.S. 18U National Team in the summer of 2019, starting all nine games in the World Baseball Softball Confederation 9-18 Baseball World Cup. Soderstrom hit .364 for Team USA, including a two-run double in a win over Chinese Taipei on Aug. 30 and an RBI double in a win over Spain on Sept. 2.
"We think he’s one of the premier high school bats in this Draft,” A’s scouting director Eric Kubota said. “He also has a chance to impact the game defensively behind the plate.”
In addition to the Soderstrom signing, the A’s have now come to agreements with all five picks from their 2020 MLB Draft class after also agreeing with fifth-round pick Stevie Emanuels, a right-handed pitcher out of the University of Washington. MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo reported that the deal is worth $400,000, which is above the $333,300 slot value for pick No. 157.
The A’s also announced the signing of three non-drafted free agents: catcher Garrett Acton, right-handed pitcher Cooper Uhl and outfielder D.J. Lee.
Oakland announced last week that it had reached agreements with its second-, third- and fourth-round picks.