Braves sign three draft picks

MLB Pipeline reporter Jim Callis tweeted Thursday the Braves have signed three of their four draft picks from last week’s draft.

First-round pick Jared Shuster signed for $2,197,500. The slot was $2,740,300 for pick 25. That’s a savings of $542,800. Shuster turned the corner this year after having a 7.41 ERA as a freshman and a 6.49 ERA as a sophomore.

Shuster went to the Cape Cod League last summer and really made strides with his control. In his four games for Wake Forest this spring, Shuster was 2-1 with a 3.76 ERA, four walks and 43 strikeouts in 26.1 innings.

Third-round pick Jesse Franklin signed for $497,500. The slot was $599,100 for pick 97, so that’s a savings of $101,600. Franklin missed the 2020 season after suffering a broken collarbone in a skiing accident during the offseason. He hit .287 with 23 home runs and 102 RBI in two seasons with Michigan.

And fourth-round selection Spencer Strider agreed to a deal for $451,800, which was the exact slot figure for pick 126. Strider was coming back off Tommy John surgery for the Clemson Tigers and made four starts in 2020. He allowed 13 hits in 12.0 innings, with three walks and 19 strikeouts.

That leaves $644,400. Will the Braves spend that extra money on fifth-round pick Bryce Elder? Most believed that’s what the Braves were doing when they drafted Shuster, who was more mocked even later in the first round of the second round.

Elder is a right-handed pitcher from the University of Texas. Many, including Callis, believed Elder would be drafted in the second or third round.

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