First-round picks Trey Yesavage and Vance Honeycutt agreed to contracts as all but four of the top 315 players selected in Major League Baseball's amateur draft last month struck deals before Thursday’s deadline.
East Carolina right-hander Yesavage, taken 20th by Toronto, agreed to a $4,175,000 bonus. North Carolina outfielder Honeycutt, selected 22nd by Baltimore, agreed to $4 million.
Konnor Griffin a shortstop from Jackson Prep School in Mississippi taken ninth overall by Pittsburgh, agreed Wednesday for $6,532,025.
The four picks from the first 10 rounds who failed to reach deals were Lincoln East High School shortstop Tyler Bell (No. 66 with Tampa Bay), Christian Brothers Academy right-hander Chris Levonas (No. 67 with Milwaukee), Texas A&M left-hander Ryan Prager (No. 81 with Los Angeles Angels) and University of Houston right-hander Jaxon Jelkin (No. 263 with New York Mets).
Bell agreed to attend Kentucky and Levonas committed to Wake Forest.
Tampa, Milwaukee and the Angels will receive an additional selection in next year's draft as compensation. The Rays get No. 67, the Brewers No. 68 and the Angels a pick after the third round.
MLB's deadline applied to all players in the draft except those who exhausted college eligibility, a group that can sign until until a week before next year's draft.
Only one pick from the first 10 rounds failed to sign last year, UC Irvine outfielder Caden Kendle, a 10th-round selection by St. Louis. He went to Minnesota in the fifth round this year and signed for $147,500.
Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns and Georgia outfielder Charlie Condon tied for the highest bonus this year at $9.25 million, a record since players were limited to initial minor league contracts as part of the draft pools system started in 2012. Under the prior rules, Washington signed pitcher Stephen Strasburg to a $15.1 million, four-year contract in 2009 and Bryce Harper to a $9.9 million, five-year deal the following summer.
Burns was taken second overall by Cincinnati and Condon third by Colorardo. Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana was taken first by Cleveland and signed for $8.95 million.
Cleveland spent the most on the draft at $19,236,100, followed by Colorado ($19,236,100), Cincinnati ($17,156,100), Oakland ($16,103,900), the Chicago White Sox ($15,267,500), Pittsburgh ($14,700,525) and Washington ($14,575,200).
Houston spent the least at $6,210,412, just under the Los Angeles Dodgers ($6,411,300), Texas ($7,327,600), Philadelphia ($7,744,900) and San Francisco ($7,942,350).
Teams committed $342 million to this year’s group of draft-eligible players, up 8.3% from $315.8 million last year at the deadline.
No team exceeded its signing bonus pool by more than 5%, which would have caused the loss of a first-round pick in next year’s draft. Twenty-three teams went over their pool by 5% or less, Arizona spent exactly its pool and six were under, led by Tampa Bay ($250,300 short) and Colorado ($87,300 short).
Atlanta ($7,765,000), Baltimore ($10,920,900), the Chicago Cubs ($9,802,300), Detroit ($11,921,800), Houston ($5,914,700), the Los Angeles Angels ($12,041,800), the New York Yankees ($8,134,500), Pittsburgh ($14,000,500) and San Francisco ($7,566,200) all finished exactly at 5% above their bonus pool.
No team has ever exceeded its signing bonus pool by more than 5%.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Yesavage, Honeycutt reach deals ahead of MLB draft deadline as 311 of top 315 picks sign
Cleveland Guardians first-round draft pick Travis Bazzana, of Australia, speaks at a news conference before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Cleveland, Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Yesavage, Honeycutt reach deals ahead of MLB draft deadline as 311 of top 315 picks sign
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union announced Tuesday that it has chosen its leader, Friedrich Merz, to be its candidate for chancellor in next year's national election.
The decision sets the stage for a possible challenge of left-wing Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the federal election scheduled for September 2025.
Germans are looking ahead to next year's vote at a critical time, as the country's struggles to integrate large numbers of refugees and migrants and as the major European economy weakens. Recent extremist attacks have fueled a backlash against migration that is leading to a surge in support for the far right.
The choice was announced at a news conference in Berlin with Merz and Markus Soeder, the leader of the CDU's smaller Bavarian counterpart, the Christian Social Union, who had also been a contender for the role.
Soeder, who is the governor of Bavaria, announced the decision, saying that the chancellor question “is decided. Friedrich Merz is doing it.” He stressed that he fully supported Merz, and that they were united by a common goal to unseat the current government “and get Germany back on track.”
Merz thanked Soeder for his support and said his party, led for many years by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, has the “firm intention of taking over leadership responsibility in this country again.”
An unpopular three-party coalition led by Scholz has governed since 2021.
The coalition, which is made up of Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, suffered losses in elections to the European Parliament earlier this year and in recent German state elections in Thuringia and Saxony.
The 68-year-old Merz was considered the favorite after Soeder failed to get the backing for his candidacy, according to German media reports, and after another contender, North Rhine Westphalia’s state Premier Hendrik Wuest, announced he wouldn’t run.
Currently polls show the Christian Democrats as the strongest party in the country. But Merz himself is not personally very popular. Scholz said during a visit to Kazakhstan that he would welcome a Merz candidacy, the German news agency dpa reported.
Scholz has said he would like to run for chancellor again but his candidacy hasn’t been confirmed by his party.
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, left, and Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, shake hands at a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz talks to the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, left, talks to the media beside Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, right, at a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria is pictured at a joint news conference with German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz talks to the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz, left, and Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, leave a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz talks to the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz watches the media at a joint news conference with Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and state governor of Bavaria, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
