Report: No. 1 Pick Jackson Holliday, Orioles Agree to 'Record' Contract for HS Player

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Baltimore Orioles have reached a contract agreement with Jackson Holliday.

Jon Heyman @JonHeyman

No. 1 overall pick Jackson Holliday is in agreement with the Orioles on a record deal for a HS player, just a touch over No. 2 pick Druw Jones $8.185M deal. Holliday is a SS from Oklahoma and the son of Matt Holliday.

The son of a baseball player played ball for a high school in Oklahoma. He hit.685 with 89 hits and 17 homers.

The context on the money was given by Darragh McDonald.

The slot value of the No. 1 pick was $8.84 MM. It seems like the Orioles will save around $600K by taking some of their other picks.

The Orioles have the largest bonus pool of any team in the draft. There is a 75% tax on the overage and teams can outspend their pool by as much as 5%. That means the Orioles can spend around $17.78 MM in bonuses, though it appears that Holliday will take close to half of that.

The money seems to have been well-spent by the Orioles, who are bullish about his prospects.

He is a five-tool left-handed bat, according to the Orioles GM. He's projected to remain as a defense-minded baseman. He does it all He tosses the ball. He runs well. He is going to hit and hit. One of the best swings in the draft is his. Everything is in front of him.

There aren't many lefty-hitting shortstops with this kind of juice. He thinks he's an All-Star at the position.

The Orioles farm system already has five players in MLB.com's top 100 prospect list, including pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and infielder. Things are looking good in Baltimore after a long time.

Chelsea Janes @chelsea_janes

Orioles finish the first half at .500, still have Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez and others arriving imminently, and now get Jackson Holliday with the first overall pick. Not a bad few months in Baltimore after a bad few years in Baltimore.

Ken Griffey Jr. was the first son of a former major leaguer to be drafted first overall.