Phillies sign 1st-rounder Dante Nori and 15 other draft picks.
The Phillies have signed first-rounder Dante Nori and 15 other picks from last week’s draft, they announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Phils signed the 19-year-old Nori for $2.5 million, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America, below the $3.23 million slot value of his selection at 27th overall.
It allowed them to go over-slot with their second-round pick, outfielder Griffin Burkholder from Freedom HS in Virginia. Burkholder has a $2.5 million agreement with the Phillies, reports Jim Salisbury, compared to the slot value of $1.35 million for his selection at 63rd overall.
The Burkholder deal is not official, though the Phillies have put pen to paper with their picks in all 20 rounds except the second, third, fifth and 14th.
Nori is a 5-foot-11, 188-pound outfielder who was regarded as one of the best athletes and baserunners in the draft class. Burkholder is bigger at 6-2/195 with more raw power and speed is also viewed as his top tool at this point.
Every pick the Phillies made after Nori and Burkholder was a college player, including Wilmington native Luke Gabrysh out of St. Joe’s in the 15th round and Penn’s Eli Trop in the 16th.
“They lined up on the board as the right guy to take,” Phillies assistant GM of amateur scouting Brian Barber said last week of all the college picks. “Obviously, once you get to a certain point, signability becomes a big factor for you. But it was a combination of that and some of the college bats that we just really liked.”
