MLB teams have “pool” money, the Giants are #14 of 30 teams with 8.714 million pool bonus money. Of the Giants first 10 picks, they took only 2 college seniors in the 9th and 10th rounds. The first round slot value pick for them is 4.74 million, pretty much half of their pool money.
So just by those numbers alone, Reese Sharp should go to school and boost his stock. I don’t think the Giants are willing to sign him at 500k to 1 million, which is what every HS kid should command at minimum to go out of HS. The smart choice is college.
It gets more complicated.......as I understand it:
The bonus pool applies only to rounds 1-10.
If a player in round 1-10 does not sign, his slotted value goes back into the pool to be used for someone who does sign.
Also, you can pay a player in rounds 11-40 up to $125000 as a signing bonus w/o penalty. Anything more than that is subtracted from the pool for picks 1-10.
One would think $125000 would be chump change for the SF Giants........probably sounds like a lot to Reese Sharp.
The interesting point of the article I read was that HS players are more frequently started out in Class A ball and discarded when they don't produce........while if he plays 2 years of college ball, he might start out at a higher minor league level and be physically and mentally more prepared for the challenge. So......if he pays college ball for 2 years, even if he signs for the same $125000 he might be better off in the long run.......
On the other hand, it appears that LOTS of guys drafted in rounds 9 & 10 sign for $1000-$10000......what would be interesting to know, but is not interesting enough for me to look up, is how many of those guys are college srs .v. college jrs v. HS draftees.