Reds sign No. 2 overall pick to record-breaking contract
The Cincinnati Reds officially signed No. 2 overall pick Chase Burns to a record deal on Thursday night.
The Reds gave Burns a $9.25 million bonus according to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline, which is the largest bonus in Major League Baseball History.
“Burns sets a @MLBDraft record with a $9.25 million bonus. Best stuff in the draft, slider may be the best pitch in the draft. Surpasses the $9.2 million Paul Skenes got from @Pirates last year.”
While the Reds’ pitcher now owns the largest bonus in MLB Draft history, the largest up-front guarantee belongs to Stephen Strasburg, who signed a $15,107,104 contract ($7.5 million bonus) with the Nationals in 2009. Strasburg collected $19 million on that deal.
Burns possesses perhaps two of the best pitches in the entire draft class, with a 65-grade fastball and 70-grade slider, according to MLB Pipeline. He regularly hits 100 miles per hour on his fastball and sat upper-90s as a junior in 2024.
Burns finished his lone season with the Demon Deacons with a 2.70 earned-run average, striking out a ridiculous 191 batters in 100 innings pitched. The newest Reds prospect finished with double-digit strikeouts in 12 of his 16 starts on the year.
“Chase has the ability to be a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher at the Major League level, and do it quickly,” Reds scouting director Joe Katuska said in a team press release. “It’s a profile that we always start with in the draft, and Chase checks all the boxes.
“We love the quality and depth of his pitch mix, and his competitiveness. He’s made great strides since we first saw him pitch 4 years ago and see him continuing on that same trajectory.”
Reds’ picking Chase Burns surprised many
The Reds made a bit of a surprising selection in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft by selecting Burns out of Wake Forest with the No. 2 pick, hoping that the latest in the pipeline from the Deamon Deacons can become a big part of their talented young core in the future.
Ahead of the draft, the Reds were often mocked to take Charlie Condon, a third baseman/outfielder out of the Georgia baseball program. Condon went at the next pick to the Colorado Rockies.
Mock drafts often had the Rockies taking Chase Burns at the next pick. Instead, the Reds opted to go with Burns over Condon or another popular slugger in Jac Caglianone out of Florida, who fell to No. 6 where the Kansas City Royals took him.
As far as what the Reds are getting with Burns, they are hoping that the fastball velocity and strikeout rate from college translate to professional baseball, similar to Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who they drafted out of LSU last year with the No. 1 overall pick. Burns can’t be expected to make his way through the minor leagues as quickly as Paul Skenes, but he could eventually be a staff ace if he puts it all together with his tools.
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