Giants ink DLS High star pitcher Harrison
SF reportedly gives draftee a $2.5M bonus
SAN FRANCISCO » De La Salle High left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison was the fifth player the Giants chose in the 2020 MLB amateur draft, but he will be paid like a top pick.
The Giants announced Thursday they officially signed Harrison, more than a month after the two sides reportedly agreed to a $2.5 million signing bonus.
The team has now come to terms with all seven of its selections and while Harrison was taken after four other players, his bonus only trails the Giants’ first round pick in Patrick Bailey, who
was the 13th overall choice in the 2020 draft.
Bailey reportedly agreed to an under-slot deal that gave him a $3.8 million signing bonus, but an early agreement between the two sides allowed the Giants to include the former North Carolina State catcher in their 60-player pool for summer workouts.
Bailey’s NC State teammate, left-handed pitcher Nick Swiney, is the only player in the Giants’ draft class other than Harrison who agreed to an overslot bonus with the club. Swiney signed for a reported $1.2 million, which exceeds the $976,700 slot value assigned to the 67th overall pick in the draft.
De La Salle head coach David Jeans told the Bay Area News Group back in June that after Harrison slipped out of the first round, he found it unlikely the left-hander would forego his commitment to UCLA to pursue a professional opportunity.
The Giants ultimately helped Harrison reconsider by giving him a $2.5 million bonus that goes well above and beyond the $710,700 slot value assigned to the 85th overall pick, which is the selection the club used to draft Harrison.
“He was ready to go to UCLA and once you got past like the top 10 picks in the second round I didn’t think he was gonna (be drafted),” Jeans said in June. “He turned down a lot of offers that day until he found the right one — and it’s a perfect fit with the Giants.”
The Giants gave under-slot bonuses to second round pick Casey Schmitt, compensatory selection Jimmy Glowenke, fourth round pick R.J. Dabovich and fifth round pick Ryan Murphy, which allowed the team to save enough money to ensure it could sign Harrison.
Each MLB franchise enters the draft with an allotted bonus pool (the Giants’ was $9,231,800) and can exceed the pool by up to 5% without losing future draft choices.
Harrison’s $2.5 million bonus is in line with the slot value for the 27th and 28th overall picks in this year’s MLB Draft, so despite being taken in the third round, he’ll end up with a bonus in line with a handful of other first round selections.
The Giants felt the local product was the top prep left-hander and one of the top prep players in this year’s draft class as Harrison was the only high school player the team chose.