Dodgers, 2nd-round pick reach agreement
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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers reached a bonus agreement on Monday with second-round Draft pick Landon Knack, a right-handed pitcher from Eastern Tennessee State. The club has not confirmed the deal, while Knack posted on Twitter that he had signed.
The bonus for the fifth-year senior, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, is $715,000, well below the $1,157,400 slot amount, leaving more funds to sign the two remaining unsigned picks, Texas Tech right-hander Clayton Beeter and high school outfielder Jake Vogel, who figured all along to be the club’s two toughest signs.
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With Louisville pitcher Bobby Miller (first round) agreeing for $2.2 million, Virginia Tech catcher Carson Taylor (fourth round) agreeing for $400,000 and Central Arkansas right-hander Gavin Stone (fifth round) agreeing for $100,000, the Dodgers have $2,513,400 remaining from their total bonus pool of $5,928,400. The deadline to sign is Aug. 1.
Knack, 22, is 6-2 and 220 pounds. He has a 98 mph fastball and has overcome injuries to both shoulders to bloom late, as he was ranked 112th by MLB Pipeline coming into the Draft.
He finished the shortened season with a 4-0 record, 51 strikeouts, one walk and a 1.08 ERA after allowing just three runs in 25 innings. He led the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and strikeouts and was fourth in the NCAA in WHIP (0.52) and eighth in walks per nine innings (0.36).
According to MLB Pipeline, Knack was the best fifth-year senior prospect in years. He injured his right labrum pitching in high school and needed surgery, then dislocated his left shoulder diving into a base in junior college.
Despite being passed over in four previous Drafts, Knack in a brief showing this spring combined added velocity with uncanny control, averaging only 1.3 walks per nine innings. He’s the brother-in-law of Pirates 2016 first-rounder Will Craig.