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    Chase Burns gets MLB Draft record signing bonus with Reds

    Doug Gray 33

    The Cincinnati Reds and Chase Burns made things official this afternoon. The 1st rounder and 2nd overall pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft signed his contract today. Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline/MLB.com reports that Burns signed for $9,250,000. That bonus sets a new record, beating out Paul Skenes from last year by $50,000. The slot value for his pick is $9,785,000, so it leaves Cincinnati with a lot of additional bonus pool money to spend elsewhere in the draft.

    The 2024 season turned out to be a true breakout one for Chase Burns. His freshman season at Tennessee was very good as he went 8-2 with a 2.91 ERA and had 103 strikeouts in 80.1 innings. In 2023 he was solid, but had some inconsistency as he went 5-3 and only made eight starts while pitching in 10 games out of the bullpen. He threw 72.0 innings with 114 strikeouts during the season. But before the season began he transferred to Wake Forest and in a year where offense exploded across college baseball, Burns dominated, going 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA. In his 16 starts he threw 100.0 innings, walked just 30 batters, and he had 191 strikeouts.

    With a fastball that’s in the high 90’s and touched 102 MPH coupled with a slider that’s probably an even better pitch, Burns sticks out for the stuff. But he’s not just a 2-pitch guy. The righty also has a strong curveball and a good change up, though he will need to utilize both a bit more as a professional than he did while he was in college.

    “He’s a really competitive kid, he’s athletic, big, strong – he fits everything we’re looking for in a starting pitcher,” said Reds scouting director Joe Katuska.

    “He is a competitor. He’s fiery, he’s intense. I don’t know if you heard Tony Vitello (the manager at Tennessee) on the (draft) broadcast but he talked about him wanting the ball. And I’m sure that was hard for Tony to say after he transferred out of Tennessee and transferred to Wake. But he knows him as well as anyone having recruited him and gotten him out of high school those first two years. He goes into full attack mode at all times. But he is a smart kid, he knows what he’s doing. He made a business decision, really, transferring to Wake Forst because he thought it was right for him. No slight to anyone at Tennessee or anything like that but he thought it was right for him moving forward. He’s a guy who understands who he is and is really able to flip the switch and kind of go into blackout mode as he told us when he gets on the field.”

    As of now, there are no other signings from the Reds draft to report. Expect them to be rolling in soon, though.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    33 Responses

    3. That’s great! Signing your best pick is a relief. Now, given there is money, they could make a push to a couple of guys who are perhaps overslot…I wonder if they will try to bring Mason Russell…

    4. By the sounds of it Lewis agreed to a number before we drafted him, and we supposedly have our 10th rd pick Yanuel Casiano done as well, but no numbers that I have found.

      2. I think Dayton as well if he pitches this year. I remember on draft day he said he had started a throwing program about a week or so before the draft after taking some time off after the college season, so i’d guess 2-3 weeks out in Arizona to ramp things back up and then 20-30 IP in Dayton (probably in 2-3 inning increments to spread out his appearances) to get his total on the year up to 120-130 IP. Lowder had 120+ IP in the college season last year which was why he didn’t do anything until fall instructs last year. Holman only had 91.2 IP for LSU, so I imagine we’ll see him in Dayton or Daytona as well.

    6. When he was drafted, I assumed they opted for him because they could get him cheaper than the better prospects they passed over.

      But, apparently, that was not the case. It seems the Reds actually thought he was one of the top 2 prospects in the entire draft.

      Hopefully that got right, what the rest of the baseball world got wrong.

      1. They got him for half a million under slot value. So they did get him cheaper. But that said, there is a good chance he IS one of the best 2 prospects in the entire draft. Wait until you see what the other top guys sign for. This “record” won’t last long.

      2. And I don’t know what you mean “the rest of the baseball world.” There were several scouts who ranked Burns at the top of the draft, claiming he has better raw stuff than Skenes, and has a chance to be a generational arm. You are way underestimating Burns’ draft projections. Yes, this was a top heavy draft with several guys grouped tightly at the top. So Burns could have been #5 as well as #2. But don’t undersell Burns at #2. He was far and away the top pitching prospect in the draft, and him going #2 was not even remotely a reach.

        1. A number of scouts & publications had Hagen Smith equal to, or above Burns. So, I’m not sure I’d label Burns as far and away the top pitching prospect. Although, one could argue that duo was far and away, above the rest of the field.

          If he can figure out how to keep his fastball from being deposited over outfield fences, and if he can get a 3rd pitch on par with his slider, he could be a great pitcher. Hopefully, he can do that.

        2. Hagen Smith has his own drawbacks as well. He’s already had one Tommy John surgery. Didn’t throw as many innings as Burns despite the same number of starts (16 less IP I believe).

          Burns already has a viable 3rd pitch in his curveball. He also has a promising changeup, he just didn’t need to use it much in college. You can argue had Burns developed and used his changeup more as a weapon against left handed hitters he could have prevented a lot of the HR damage he took. It’s flashed above average though, and the Reds are pretty good about working with pitchers to integrate a changeup.

          It’s clear that the Reds viewed Burns not only as the best pitcher in the draft, but as a front of the rotation type of starter as well. In a year where offense exploded in college baseball, Burns was one of the few to dominate stacked lineups.

    8. On the slot money it seems a little wrong that there is an $8 million difference between 1st and 2nd rounders and $.5 million bereeen 2nd and 3rd.

      1. Why? In theory the guy taken 2nd is so much more valuable than the guy taken 51st, while the guy taken 51st is not all that much more valuable than the guy taken 101st.

    10. Here’s something I am going to continue bringing up in hopes of an organizational change regarding pitching philosophy and program.

      In the event of coaching change at the big league level, might it be possible to go ahead and continue the overhaul down through the lower levels of our esteemed and storied organization?

      It’s apparent, and documented by multiple sources, that the Wake Forest pitching “lab” hones and accentuates talent. Read a quote from our recent top pick, “That pitching lab they have is no joke. Just being able to get in there and work with all the new technology that baseball is becoming and get on the move better and work on mental game and it helped me elevate my game.” Burns said.”-Kramsky w/ WCPO Cincinnati.

      Hire them. The entire Wake pitching “lab” department. I understand we’ve attempted this before with Vandy. Perhaps something to consider is that the information and development of pitchers and the associated technologies and techniques might be similar to those of other tech where, according to recent studies, it doubles every 12-18 months.

      Bottom line, they’re doing something right over at the Wake Forest baseball factory and perhaps the opportunity for an organizational shift in pitching development is something to consider.

      P.S. – I hate walks (BBs) and it goes without saying that we could use a hitting philosophy update as well. Go Reds!

      1. My concern with the factory is this. Because very few schools at the college level have this are they just that much ahead of the hitters? At some point in time one they get to the minors the experience and teaching tend to level out.

    11. Charlie Condon just signed. He got the same record setting bonus that Burns did.

      2. So, slightly over slot of 9,070,800 (plus 179,200). Good for CO as well as Condon.

        Does this mean we can lay to rest the thoughts signing bonus demands prevented us from drafting Condon? And that we drafted the guy we wanted?

        1. It’s both. Reds wanted Burns, and Condon likely wanted more from the Reds if he went 2nd. Slot for #2 was $9.75. Condon wasn’t signing at 2 for under slot. He signed over slot at 3.

          1. Condon wasn’t asking more from the Reds than he was the Rockies. He had his number and he was going to tell every team that’s what he wanted.

        2. Honestly, this makes me feel better about the pick. If it wasn’t about the money between Burns and Condon, and the scouts just like Burns more, who am I to argue.

    12. Hey Doug. Just for clarity is that sourced or your highly respected opinion?

      I’m surprised wasn’t $9.26 million just for agent optics. I for one is surprised Condon didn’t get at least $9.3 million or more. Burns if healthy will be a great pick though

    13. Does any other organization have the quantity and quality of young starting pitching that Cincinnati now has?

      Greene, Lodolo, Abbott, Ashcraft, Lowder, Burns, Floyd, Holman, Petty, Phillips, Acuna, Aguiar, Spiers, and I’m sure I’m leaving some out.

      1. Floyd is going to go almost 2 years in between competitive pitches by his first pro start, if we get anything out of him I’ll consider it a bonus.

    14. Reds have signed Mike Sirota to slot and Myles Smith to just below slot.
      Have about 1 mil to go over with other players.

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