Mariners Draft Rumors: Could Seattle Punt First Round Pick in Draft?

The MLB Draft continues to sneak up on us and the Seattle Mariners continue to be linked to a player that makes little sense for them, at least at the present moment.

The player that continues to be linked to the Mariners is prep shortstop Anthony Volpe. By all accounts, Volpe is quite intent on following his commitment to play at Vanderbilt and will only sign if he is offered a $3 million signing bonus.

The slot value for pick 20 is just over $3 million, so they could, in theory, afford that. But Volpe has also made it known he would prefer to play on the East Coast if he was selected this year. There is nothing the Mariners can do about that.

So you have a young, prep infielder who is considered by most to be a mid-2nd round pick who is demanding a large sum of money, doesn’t want to play on the West Coast and has a strong commitment to fall back on if all his ridiculous demands aren’t met. Are the Mariners trying not to add a player at pick 20?

Wait, are the Mariners actually interested in Volpe at 20? Or are they more interested in taking a player they won’t sign? Before we take off the tin foil hat, let’s break down the case of why it is possible for Jerry Dipoto to self sacrifice his highest draft pick this season.

First and foremost, a team that fails to sign a top pick gets a compensatory pick in that same round the following year. We saw this happen last year as the Braves failed to sign their first-round pick, eighth overall, Carter Stewart.

As a result, the Braves now own a compensatory pick at ninth overall and their own first-round pick, 21st overall. So if the Mariners don’t sign their first-round pick this year, they’ll get the 21st pick next year, in addition to their likely Top 15 pick.

With that extra pick also comes extra bonus pool money to spend on picks next year, $3 million to be exact. If the team likes next years draft more than this one, they can basically swap this year’s first for next years.

In addition to the extra pick and money added to the bonus pool next year, you get an additional $3 million this year to try and sway another prep player, like Volpe’s teammate Jack Leiter, to sign at pick 59.

If this is all a little confusing, I get it. So let’s summarize:

• Draft Volpe and don’t sign him
• You get pick 21 in 2020 draft, as well your own pick (probably in the Top 15)
• Add $3 million to 2020 draft bonus pool
• Add money to your 2019 pool

So is it likely the Mariners are intentionally going to use this strategy? No. But it is an option and as crazy as it sounds, could make some sense. It might make more sense than selecting Volpe and signing him to a massive draft bonus.

Ultimately, the Mariners will likely play it safe. But if there was ever a year to try something crazy, this could be it. The draft is 2 weeks away and all options are on the table.