Blue Jays to sign third-round pick Adam Kloffenstein well over slot value
By Cam Lewis
5 years agoThe Blue Jays have taken a very different approach to this year’s draft than we’ve seen from the Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins regime over their first two rounds at the helm. Rather than going with safe, projectable college seniors, the Cleveland Boys have gone heavy on high school players.
They used their first-round pick on Jordan Groshans then, in the third round, they selected his teammate from Magnolia HS righty pitcher Adam Kloffenstein.
Here’s what MLB.com has to say about him:
Magnolia (Texas) features the best hitting prospect/pitching prospect duo in high school baseball. Shortstop Jordan Groshans may have hit his way into the first round, while Kloffenstein could go as high as the second. He kicked off the summer showcase circuit last June with a strong two-inning outing as the first pitcher to take the mound at the Perfect Game National, and he hasn’t let up since. Kloffenstein can work in the low 90s with heavy sink on his two-seam fastball and hit 96 mph with his four-seamer. He has advanced feel for a breaking ball, showing the ability to morph his sharp slider into a bigger-breaking curveball or a harder cutter. He also has a deceptive changeup with tumble that lacks consistency but also can be his best pitch at times. At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Kloffenstein has a frame built for durability and also the room to add some more strength. He’s athletic and repeats his delivery well, allowing him to throw strikes. He’s a tough competitor who can get overly animated on the mound, but the only real knock against him is that he may difficult to sign away from Texas Christian.
Baseball America had Kloffenstein as their No. 35 prospect while FanGraphs had him at No. 42. After the first day of the draft, he was right at the top of the “best available” picks heading into day two. There’s been a lot of writing about Kloffenstein and Groshans possibly getting drafted together in the first round as teammates. You have to wonder if the Jays drafted the two of them as a package deal.
Anyways, Kloffenstein appears ready to sign.
Top TCU recruit Adam Kloffenstein, a right-handed pitcher from Magnolia High School, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the No. 88 overall pick in the third round of the major league draft Tuesday afternoon.Two sources confirmed the Blue Jays are offering Kloffenstein a first-round level signing bonus of about $2.5 million, and he will forgo his commitment to TCU.The slotted amount for the No. 88 spot is just over $650,000. The Blue Jays are offering almost $2 million more than that.
Like I said, it seems likely the Jays had some kind of package deal worked out between these two teammates. Groshans was selected higher than projected and he’ll likely sign for under slot, while Kloffenstein was selected lower than projected and he’ll sign for over slot.
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