Blue Jays sign fifth-round pick Zach Britton
The Toronto Blue Jays have signed OF Zach Britton, whom they selected in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Photo: Toronto Blue Jays/Twitter
June 17, 2020
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
Jim Callis of MLB.com has tweeted that the Toronto Blue Jays have signed their fifth-round draft pick, outfielder Zach Britton from the University of Louisville, to a contract with a bonus of $97,500.
As Callis notes (see below), the Blue Jays' fifth-round pick carried a bonus slot value of $410,100, meaning that the Jays signed Britton to a deal that saves them $312,600 in their slot.
This gets the Blue Jays' only other drafted position player under contract, after their first-round pick Austin Martin. I would expect the Jays to sign the other three non-first-rounders fairly quickly, and somewhat under slot in order to be able to overpay for Martin.
Saving slot money is going to be key for the Blue Jays as Martin is likely going to command an over-slot bonus. Represented by super-agent Scott Boras, Martin was expected to be the second overall pick in the 2020 draft with the Detroit Tigers fully expected to take Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick. That second overall pick carried a bonus slot value of $7,789,900 and Martin is rumoured to be wanting at least $7,000,000 in a signing bonus. The slot value for the fifth overall pick, where the Blue Jays ultimately selected Martin, is $6,180,700, leaving a difference of $1,609,200 between the two slot values.
Never one to leave money on the table, Boras is likely going to push the Blue Jays for as much as he can and the fact that the Blue Jays saved so much money on signing Britton out of the fifth round indicates that the Jays will likely save as much as they can to put towards the signing of Martin.
What do you think? Will the Jays save enough money on the other four draftees to sign Martin? How much will he ultimately sign for?
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