Atlanta Braves 2019 Draft Pick Signing Tracker

The Braves surprised many with their early selections in the draft, including the drafting of top catching prospect Shea Langeliers at ninth overall. Atlanta and new scouting director Dana Brown focused on college bats early in the draft, a strong departure from their previous strategy with Brian Bridges which centered on high-ceiling arm talent. It remains to be seen how this will play out for them, but for now the focus turns to signing the 41 players they drafted over the past three days. With players like Langeliers, Braden Shewmake, and Beau Philip leading off the high value slots the Braves should have some money to play with late, opening up the door for some of the talented high school and under class players they drafted in the late rounds.

Leading that pool of players is 11th rounder Vaughn Grissom. Grissom is a talented shortstop prospect that should blow past the $125k allotment in the later rounds. As a refresher for the rules of signing, for every pick from the 11th round on the teams are given a $125k budget with which to sign players. Any total above that, will count against the slot, with the hit being the difference of the final signing bonus and the $125k dollars. If a player were to sign for $200k, the slot damage would be $75k (200k - 125k). The Braves have a total slot pool of $11,532,200 and any value above that will be taxed at a rate 75% of the signing bonus. If the Braves blow past 105% of their budget, which sets at $12,108,810 and is noted in the draft tracker below, they would lose their first round draft pick in 2020. This essentially sets a hard cap they will not pass, and that $12,108,810 should be seen as their true pool as that is what they will likely be most focused on. The Braves have just over a month to sign players, with the signing deadline coming on July 15th. Any major updates will be added below here with a date and a note, so check in every day to check in on who the Braves have signed and what other major developments occur.

If you are having trouble with viewing the tracker you can find the original document at this link here

Update 6/8/2019: 26th rounder Riley King has announced that he will be returning to school and will not sign with the Braves.

Update 6/9/19: Jon Heyman announces the Braves have officially signed 9th overall pick Shea Langeliers for $4 million.

Update 6/11/19: The Braves official twitter announced the signing of first rounder Braden Shewmake. His signing bonus has yet to be announced.

Update 6/11/19: David O’Brien announces that the Braves have agreed to terms with all top 10 round picks. Signing bonuses will be updated as they are released

Update 7/7/2019: The Braves have officially signed a Talking Chop favorite in Mahki Backstrom. The talented first baseman inked his contract just 8 days before the signing deadline.