As originally reported Friday by John Gambadoro of 98.7FM Phoenix, the Diamondbacks reached an agreement with sixth overall pick Jordan Lawlar. The high school shortstop signed for a hefty $6,713,300 bonus, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. This is both well over the $5,742,900 assigned slot price for the sixth pick, and the largest bonus for any position player in the 2021 draft, as Callis notes.
The highly touted Lawlar was seen by some as a potential first overall pick, and as a consensus top-five selection, it was perhaps a bit of a surprise that he fell to the D-backs. Arizona used the remaining money in its $11,271,900 draft pool to sign Lawlar, so the Diamondbacks didn’t exceed the threshold by more than 5 percent and thus won’t have to surrender any future draft picks.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo each ranked Lawlar as the best prospect of the 2021 draft class, with McDaniel calling Lawlar “the best combination of skills, hit tool and track record” of all the top high school shortstops available this year. The 19-year-old has strong all-around ability, and Collazo feels that Lawlar has a “regular All-Star” ceiling if he develops a bit more power.
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