Baltimore Orioles Ink Top Pick Enrique Bradfield Jr. to Slot Value Contract
The Baltimore Orioles have signed Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., the team announced Monday night.
Bradfield was Baltimore's first round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, going No. 17 overall in Seattle. According to The Baltimore Banner's Andy Kotska, Bradfield earned a signing bonus of $4.17 million, which was equal to his slot value.
Earlier Monday, the Orioles signed second round pick Mac Horvath for $1.40 million – roughly $180K shy of his slot value.
Baltimore has now locked up its top two selections from this year's draft, sitting on $4.96 million in remaining bonus pool funds. Florida State right-handed pitcher Jackson Baumeister, who went No. 63 overall, has the next most expensive slot value among Orioles draft picks at $1.24 million.
Bradfield is a left-handed centerfielder who measures in at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds.
Across his three seasons at Vanderbilt, Bradfield hit .311 with 15 home runs, 108 RBI, 130 stolen bases, an .873 OPS and more walks than strikeouts. Bradfield won SEC Freshman of the Year in 2021, also earning consensus All-American honors as a true freshman.
In 2022, Bradfield made the All-SEC First Team and the SEC All-Defensive Team. Bradfield made the conference's All-Defensive Team again in 2023, but dropped down to the All-SEC Second Team for his overall play.
Bradfield was the No. 21 ranked prospect heading into the draft, according to MLB.com.
Out of the Orioles' first 17 picks in this year's draft, sixth were outfielders and 11 were pitchers. It took Baltimore's front office until the 16th round before they went for a player that wasn't either a pitcher or outfielder.
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