Paul Skenes’ MLB Draft bonus record has already been broken

Jul 18, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes speaks a press conference before the Pirates play the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park. Skenes was the Pirates first round pick and the overall number one pick in the 2023 MLB first year player draft. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates set a record last season by paying No. 1 pick Paul Skenes a $9.2 million bonus to sign with them. That record wound up lasting only one year.

Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns set a new record Thursday by agreeing to a $9.25 million signing bonus with the Cincinnati Reds, according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN . The No. 2 overall pick in Sunday’s draft became the first member of the class to sign.

On Friday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that No. 3 pick Charlie Condon was signing with the Colorado Rockies for the same bonus.

This new record could still be broken by the first of August. Top overall pick Travis Bazzana was seen as one of the two best players in the draft alongside Condon, and could still surpass the $9.25 million bonus.

This is not necessarily an indication that the Reds — or anyone else — sees Burns as a superior prospect to Skenes. MLB teams are assigned bonus pools based on a variety of factors, and as long as revenue continues to increase, the bonuses will as well. For instance, the slot value for the Reds’ pick was $9,785,000, so the team is actually signing Burns at something of a discount.

Skenes absolutely obliterated the old record last year when he signed with the Pirates. Previously, 2020 No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson held the record with an $8.4 million bonus, a figure that is looking increasingly small relative to today’s signees.

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