The Pittsburgh Pirates signed their fifth top-100 prospect from the MLB Draft, when Texarkana, Ark., prep outfielder Braylon Bishop agreed to a $268,700 bonus Tuesday.
Bishop was ranked the No. 87 prospect by Baseball America and No. 94 by MLB Pipeline — making him a third-round talent — but slipped to the 14th round (No. 403 overall) because of concerns he would honor his college scholarship to Arkansas, where he committed as a 15-year-old.
After enticing Competitive Balance B round pick Lonnie White Jr. (Penn State) and third-round pick Bubba Chandler (Clemson) to back out of their football commitments, the Pirates changed Bishop’s mind by boosting his signing bonus. His amount is akin to a sixth-round pick, as the No. 181 pick carries a slot value of $270,300 and the No. 182 pick a value of $268,200.
Braylon in the Burgh pic.twitter.com/KcVBzTRmXU
— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) July 28, 2021
The Pirates have spent nearly all of their $14,394,000 draft pool on the five top-100 prospects. After getting No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis to sign for $6.5 million — more than $1.9 million under slot value — the Pirates paid above-slot for second-rounder Anthony Solometo ($2.8 million), Chandler ($3 million), White ($1.5 million) and Bishop.
Bishop, who turned 18 in April, was a three-sport athlete at Arkansas High School who also starred at quarterback and safety in football and placed fourth in the state track and field meet in the triple jump. The 6-foot-2, 193-pounder, who bats and throws left, received a 60 grade on the scouts’ 20-80 scale for both his power and running by Baseball America but has to show he can hit for average and make consistent contact. He plays center field but can play any of the three spots.
