SF Giants sign top pitcher in 2026 MLB draft to an underslot deal

The SF Giants struck their first draft signing over the weekend. According to Jim Callis of MLB.Com, Jackson Flora signed with the Giants, earning a signing bonus just below $8 million. The slot value for the pick was just under $9 million.

Some teams have already signed many of their players from this year's draft class. The Giants are often one of the last teams to announce their signings. I do not believe there is anything to read into that.

Aside from Flora, the Giants have also agreed to a $300,000 signing bonus for Colin Fisher, per Justice delos Santos of The Mercury News. Fisher was selected in the 13th round out of the University of Arkansas.

There are no slot values after the 10th round. However, if a player earns a signing bonus over $150,000, then it counts against the team's bonus pool. Exactly half of Fisher's bonus will count against the Giants' bonus pool.

SF Giants will likely reallocate bonus savings to the rest of the draft class

They can now turn their attention to the rest of the draft class. The Giants saved about $1 million with the Flora bonus. Signing a player to an underslot deal is not always a sign of an overdraft. Flora was viewed as the best pitcher in this year's class.

The slot value of the No. 4 pick in this year's draft represented a near-record signing bonus. Of course, Roch Cholowsky of the Chicago White Sox has set a new record with a $10.35 million signing bonus. That one was also below slot value.

Before the draft, Chase Burns of the Cincinnati Reds and Charlie Condon of the Colorado Rockies had the record for the largest draft bonus at $9.25 million. A lot of players in the first round tend to sign for underslot deals, especially players coming out of college. Many college players do not have a lot of leverage to push for deals beyond slot value.

That is partially why Flora agreed to a below-slot bonus. The Giants will almost certainly reallocate these savings to the rest of the draft class. There is a good chance they need to hand out overslot bonuses to Carson Bolemon and Kaden Waechter to sway them from their college commitments. Bolemon's pick carried a slot value of $3.3 million, whereas Waechter's pick carries a slot value of $1.7 million. The deadline for draft picks to sign is July 27.

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