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Unsigned MLB Draft Picks in the First Twenty Rounds

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Who are the 42 unsigned players in the first twenty rounds of the 2015 MLB Draft?

Kyle Funkhouser, the highest unsigned pick in the 2015 MLB Draft
Kyle Funkhouser, the highest unsigned pick in the 2015 MLB Draft
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

First, my sincere condolences to John, Jeri, and the Jackson family at this time of loss.

The 2015 MLB draft signing deadline passed at 5 PM today. Only six out of the 315 picks in the first ten rounds failed to sign - 98.1% of all top ten round draft picks signed. That is the same percentage that signed in the first ten rounds of the 2014 MLB draft, and up slightly from 2013's 97.5%. This shows that the changes made to the draft in the last CBA have not reduced the number of guys signing in the top ten rounds, although it doesn't hurt to have rounds 7-10 dominated by college seniors.

The highest undrafted player this year is Louisville RHP Kyle Funkhouser. A late season funk, pardon the pun, saw his draft stock fall from a projected top ten pick to the 35th overall pick. The Dodgers spent big and early on their draft picks, and were left unable to offer much more than slot for Funkhouser. The $2.1 million or so they could offer him wasn't enough to get him to forgo his senior season, where he hopes to solidify his value and jump back up the draft boards. However, with next year's stacked draft class, that may be a gamble he won't come out ahead on.

In total, there were four picks that were protected and did not sign. Along with Funkhouser was Florida RHP commit and Blue Jay draftee Brady Singer in the second round, Georgia Tech RHP commit and Orioles draftee Jonathan Hughes in the second round, and Kyle Cody, the Kentucky RHP who chose to go back for his senior season instead of signing with the Twins in Competitive Balance Round B. Each of those picks will be compensated in next year's draft, one spot lower than the pick's number this year.

Only two other picks didn't sign in the first ten rounds - San Jacinto CC commit and Tigers seventh round pick Nicholas Shumpert, and Miami commit Kep Brown, taken by the Cardinals in the tenth round. Both were top 100 guys for most of the spring, and weren't offered enough to break their commitments to college. With the junior college commit, Shumpert will look to be drafted again next year, while Brown is an early first round favorite for the 2018 draft.

In rounds 11-20, 37 players didn't sign - that's 12.3%, seven picks every two rounds, or one out of every 8 draftees. The majority of them were high schoolers - 73.0% of unsigned draft picks in rounds 11-20 were high school players. Overall, 71.4% of unsigned draft picks in the top twenty rounds were high school players. Right-handed pitchers were by far the hardest group to sign, as 50.0% of all unsigned top twenty round draft picks were righties. Far, far behind in second place were shortstops (19.0%), followed by catchers and left-handed pitchers in third place (9.5%). No other group had more than 7.1% of the total top twenty round unsigned picks.

Here's a list of all 41 unsigned picks from the first twenty rounds, including my pre-draft ranking of them:

Round Pick Team Name Pos College/HS Commitment Pre-draft ranking
1 35 LAD Kyle Funkhouser RHP Louisville
14
2 56 TOR Brady Singer RHP Eustis HS (Fla.) Florida 82
2 68 BAL Jonathan Hughes RHP Flowery Branch (Ga.) Georgia Tech 271
CB-B 73 MIN Kyle Cody RHP Kentucky
66
7 220 DET Nicholas Shumpert SS Highlands Ranch HS (Colo.) San Jacinto CC (TX) 79
10 311 STL Kep Brown OF Wando HS (S.C.) Miami 52
11 332 TOR Marrick Crouse RHP Dana Hills HS (Calif.) San Francisco 236
11 334 CLE Chandler Newman RHP Richmond Hill HS (Ga.) Georgia Southern
13 392 TOR Daniel Perry SS Lassen HS (Calif.) Iowa
14 413 CHC Jake Kelzer RHP Indiana
267
14 434 WAS Mack Lemieux LHP Jupiter Community (Fla.) Palm Beach (Fla.) CC
15 449 NYM Thomas Hackimer RHP St. John's
550
15 454 CLE Daniel Sprinkle RHP White Hall HS (Ark.) Auburn 510
15 459 KC Marquise Doherty OF Winnetonka HS (Mo.) Missouri 125
15 461 STL Ryan Merrill SS Iowa Western CC TCU
15 462 LAD Garrett Zech OF Naples HS (Fla.) South Florida 211
16 476 MIA Justin Langley LHP Milwaukee

16 478 TB Joe Davis C Bowie HS (Texas) Houston 274
16 484 CLE Cobie Vance 2B Pine Forest HS (N.C.) Alabama 629
17 506 MIA Max Whitt SS Lewis-Clark (ID) State

17 512 TOR Chandler Eden RHP Yavapai (Ariz.) CC Texas Tech 234
17 514 CLE Nick Madrigal SS Elk Grove HS (Calif.) Oregon State 131
17 517 PIT Austin Sodders LHP Riverside (Calif.) CC

17 518 OAK Brent Wheatley RHP Southern California

17 520 DET Grant Wolfram RHP Hamilton HS (Mich.) Central Michigan 353
17 522 LAD Jason Goldstein C Illinois
252
18 531 BOS James Nelson SS Stone Mountain (Ga.) Georgia State
18 533 CHC John Cresto 3B Cathedral Catholic HS (Calif.) Santa Clara 154
18 537 SD Justin Harrer SS Sisters (Ore.) Washington State
18 551 STL Josh Rolette C Shawnee (Okla.) Kansas State
19 560 MIN Kyle Wilson RHP Peculiar (Mo.) Crowder (Mo.) CC 237
19 565 CIN Mike Salvatore RHP Ewing Township (N.J.) St. John's
19 569 NYM Nic Enright RHP Steward School (Va.) Virginia Tech 269
19 580 DET Cam Vieaux LHP Michigan State

19 582 LAD Joe Genord C Park Vista HS (Fla.) South Florida
20 588 TEX Luke Shilling RHP Notre Dame Prep (Mich.) Illinois 133
20 590 MIN Colton Eastman RHP Central Union (Calif.) Cal State Fullerton 147
20 605 SEA Parker McFadden RHP Yelm HS (Wash.) Washington State 92
20 606 SF Travis Eckert RHP Oregon State

20 609 KC Junior Harding RHP Chipola (Fla.) JC Illinois 160
20 612 LAD John Boushelle RHP Fayetteville (Ark.) Tulsa
20 613 BAL Adam Walton SS Illinois

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Feel free to discuss below:

  • Was it a smart move for Funkhouser and Cody not to sign, given how strong next year's class will be?
  • Who in rounds 11-20 do you think has the best chance at being a top ten pick in the 2018 draft?