The Cincinnati Reds have officially signed Cam Collier. The word isn’t official via the organization yet, but Collier posted on his instagram photos of him signing a contract with “Officially a Red!!!”, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s official even if the team has not yet put out a press release stating it as such.
Jim Callis of MLB.com is reporting that the signing bonus is for $5,000,000. The slot value there was $3,659,800. Collier, as expected, got significantly more than the slot value of his selection.
From the start I stated that the Reds got the steal of the draft when they were able to get Cam Collier down at the 18th pick in the draft. He was rated as highly as the #2 prospect in the entire draft – by Keith Law of The Athletic – and was universally a top 10 prospect in the draft by all publications worth taking even sort of seriously.
The third baseman graduated high school early and headed off to Chipola Junior College in what would have normally been his junior year of high school. Chipola, one of the top baseball programs at the junior college level in the country, had Collier at third base all season and despite being just 17-years-old, he crushed the ball. In his 215 plate appearances for Chipola he hit .333/.419/.537 with 12 doubles, 8 home runs, 25 walks, and 33 strikeouts.
The scouting reports on Collier begin with the bat. He showed one of if not the best hit tool in the entire draft, and he also showed off raw plus power. The fact that he was also able to go to college and use those tools in games was perhaps the most impressive part of it all. Defensively he’s got plus arm strength and he’s currently at third base where he’s a solid defender. There are some questions about whether he will eventually have to move to another position if he outgrows third base, but that’s a situation that may need to be addressed in the future – or it may not. If it does, though, his bat projects to play anywhere on the field so it’s not much of a concern.
If you want to see all of the 2022 Cincinnati Reds draft pick signings head over to the Draft Tracker.
yay!!! is there a chance he could push through the system in a Harper or Soto sort of way?
Anything is possible, but if you are asking that of someone you are asking way too much.
good point Doug. It would be cool for the Reds to have another HOT prospect like a Jay Bruce who sky rocketed to #1 and had a lot of buzz…
One of the greatest needs in the organization is the lack of elite talent, top to bottom. This helps meet that need quite a bit. Combined with a woeful ML club and an enduring high draft pick in 2023. We may have another opportunity for a 1-2 punch via the draft.
I will say this signing ensures the Reds had a great draft if the total draft budget was less than $11.339 million. If doing this means the Reds went over budget by more than 5% and as a result lose their 2023 first round pick than it is not a good draft.
I can’t see them doing that, they must have known how much approximately the kid would sign for before they signed their other picks. They probably had to low ball some of them 1st to create the necessary room to sign Collier.
I think you are right. It is just amazing he fell so far.
Not a chance … Reds would be reluctant to do this. No way they agreed this early and mortgaged their lotto pick next year.
Seems like they would just punt on signing other picks rather than risk losing the 1st rounder next year.
All of the signing values are known and they are $286K below the +5% threshold, so all is fine. They could sign one of the high school kids for $400K and still be okay. Doubt they will get Neville for that, but maybe Brutti.
thanks for the update Krozley
Let the offense roll in AZL in August:
C: Diego Omana
1B: Sal Stewart
2B: Carlos Jorge
3B: Cam Collier
SS: Leonardo Balcazar
LF: Donovan Antonia
CF: Malvin Valdez
RF: Ariel Almonte
DH: Ascanio/Serrano/Others
I am glad I live about 90 minutes from Daytona. 2023 is going to be fun to watch. Curious what the SP will be.
According to MLB draft tracker He signed for an even 5M
Great news!
Another positive today is down in the DSL Sanchez reached base 3 more times today.
Great draft by the Reds! Now, let’s get a little greedy … can they get Mason Neville to sign, too?
Neville at, what, no. 18? That would cap off what Borat would say is a ‘very nice’ draft.
looks like he is going to Arkansas
https://swark.today/razorback-baseball-coach-van-horn-still-uncertain-about-future-roster/
Yes, but today is the first day the Reds actually know what they can offer him. Stranger things have happened than a college bound kid changing his mind. That said, whether he signs or not, awesome draft by the Reds!
Hey Doug –
Curious if you have a list of the slot money for each pick from 1-17 in this years draft? I’m wondering where Cam’s $5,000,000 signing bonus would put him as a higher draft pick… in terms of signing a player for exactly a teams designated slot value?
I’m probably butchering this question…but I hope you get the gist.
Thanks
It would come in between #9 and #10. The list of each slot value is here:
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-2022-bonus-pools-pick-values
Wow…thanks BK.
So the Reds paid him like a top 10 pick cool!
Not Doug, but this link may help some, if it’s not behind a pay wall (I don’t think it is).
https://www.baseballamerica.com/draft-history/mlb-draft-database/#/
Appreciate it DaveCT.
Mark Sheldon is reporting the Reds will NOT sign Neville.
https://www.mlb.com/news/top-draft-pick-cam-collier-signs-with-reds
Neville was a fallback if for some reason Collier didnt sign, ie failed physical, etc. They would have had about 1M to throw at him to use be able to use the money
I like the strategy of drafting a player like him. Even when you don’t sign him, the difference between who you might draft in the 18th round and who you can sign as an undrafted free agent is very small.
A steal for the spot but we had to underdraft multiple picks to free up the money…..we will see.
Even though he is a top-10 talent, and just got paid like one, I think we need to remember he fell to #18 for a reason.
It’s not like he was considered to be some sort of “generational” talent like Bryce Harper, Gerrit Cole, or Hunter Green who fell to #18.
So when he goes thru his growing pains in the minors, I’m hoping we don’t have too many folks dusting off their pitch forks ready to denounce the Reds for drafting him – the same folks who want to send Greene & Lodolo back to AAA after every rough outing :-)
What are you talking about? Keith Law literally had him rated number 2.
That’s great for Keith Law. He can literally rate a prospect wherever he wants to.
But, the thing is, other people can also literally rate prospects :-)
Baseball American had him at #7
MLB had him at #8
Fangraphs had him at #9
Those are all top-10 rankings. And none of those rankings indicate the kid is considered a generational talent.
AMDG, I would tend to agree with your take Cam is not a generational talent, i.e., Ken Griffey, ARod, Mike Trout. He’s not playing a premium position, for one. His bat, however, is considered elite, and among the top 3-5 in this draft. With his position being projected as 3B or 1B, it could easily allow him to hit his way to The Show a bit more quickly than the standard progression. And this is coming from someone (me) who has a solid appreciation of the Tampa Bay Rays’ development approach of one level at a time. So, we shall see. Being a Reds fan, I just mostly hope we don’t screw this up.
This is the 2nd year in a row that the Reds were major beneficiaries from teams doing “pool management”. The Reds were only in the -position to take advantage of this circumstance because of the extra money from the compensatory picks. I also love the took a late run at a high HS talent as a fallback for what if Collier doesn’t sign. Exception talent IMO is more important then adding average depth pieces. I will take an A with a couple of B- haul over 3 Bs any day of the week.
Look you’re entitled to your opinion, but this is what has been said about Collier:
1) Cam Collier To The Reds: Are He And Hunter Greene The Future In Cincy?
Originally a class of 2023 prospect, Cam Collier reclassified to the class of 2022. Collier stands 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds. He’s a freak of nature by athletic standards. Collier is just 17-years-old and should be a high school junior as of now, he’s the youngest hitter in the draft. “He should be a high school junior right now. He reclassified to go to junior college and really challenge himself. We haven’t seen someone of his age do that since Bryce Harper did. A really advanced hitter, who’s been around the game his whole life.”
2) You can read Law’s write up on the Athletic. Law makes it very clear that he doesn’t rate players based on MOCK DRAFT, he rates them based their present and FUTURE value and the belief of them hitting their ceiling. Drafting involves many complex issues that mostly are not grounded in the same analysis.
For example the Mets kicked Rocker at 10 last year and he went 3rd this year. Mike Trout had 24 players picked before him in 2009 including one by the team that ended up drafting him.
For the sake of debate, I’d say Cam is not a generational talent such as Griffey, ARod, or Trout, simply because he does not play a premium position. My position is that he IS an elite talent, given his bat. And, with 3B or 1B as his future ML home, I am still tickled pink we have acquired him. The comp of him that most got my attention was by Harold Reynolds (I know, I know) comparing Cam to Rafael Devers. So, ceiling-wise, I think we are anticipating a player with multiple All Star seasons. And THAT is amazing value at the 18th overall pick.