Cardinals sign first-round pick Michael McGreevy

The Cardinals announced Friday night that they had come to terms on a contract with first-round pick Michael McGreevy. Terms of the deal remain unclear. The slot value for the #18 overall pick, with which McGreevy was selected, is $3.4813 million.

McGreevy dominated hitters over his three-year career at UC Santa-Barbara. The righty worked to a 2.33 ERA over 189 1/3 innings as a Gaucho, striking out 25.1% of batters faced while walking only 4.0% of opponents. The Big West isn’t among Division I baseball’s few best conferences, but there’s still little doubt McGreevy was one of the top performers in the country.

There’s a bit more divisiveness among public evaluators about where exactly he fit among the draft’s top arms, however. Baseball America was extremely bullish on the 21-year-old, naming him the 16th most talented player in the class. BA lauded his elite control and plus curveball in calling him a potential mid-rotation starter.

Each of Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs and Keith Law of the Athletic slotted McGreevy between 35th and 50th on their respective draft boards. Those outlets expressed some concerns about McGreevy’s below-average velocity (90-93 mph range), although he draws unanimous praise for his athleticism and strike-throwing acumen.