Tag: Blake Mitchell

LSU signee Blake Mitchell officially inks under-slot deal with Royals

As expected, Blake Mitchell won’t make it to campus and is trying his hand at professional ball.

In a decision that should come as no surprise to LSU, catcher [autotag]Blake Mitchell[/autotag] will not enroll in Baton Rouge and will join the Kansas City Royals after the team drafted him with the eighth pick in the 2023 MLB draft last weekend.

According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, Mitchell agreed to a signing bonus of $4.9 million. That’s nearly $1 million below the slot value for the eighth pick, which sits at $5,980,100.

Mitchell ranks as the top high school catcher prospect and is the No. 8 overall prospect in his class. Perfect Game also ranks him as the top player in the talent-rich state of Texas.

Mitchell is the only LSU signee who is expected to sign with a pro club following the draft. The Tigers expect left-handed pitcher [autotag]Cameron Johnson[/autotag] — the No. 11 high school prospect in the country and a 20th-round pick — to make it to campus.

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LSU pitcher commit Jake Brown reportedly won’t sign with Rangers, plans to enroll in Baton Rouge

The top player in the state of Louisiana is coming to LSU.

The Tigers have already set a program record for players taken in the 2023 MLB draft, but arguably their biggest win has to do with the current signing class.

Of that group, only No. 8 pick [autotag]Blake Mitchell[/autotag] was taken in the first two rounds. Left-handed pitcher [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] became the second on Tuesday afternoon when the Texas Rangers selected him in the 16th round with 471st pick.

However, Brown does not plan to sign with Texas and will instead honor his commitment to LSU, according to multiple reports. The left-handed pitcher tweeted a Tiger emoji on Monday night when he wasn’t selected, though he deleted that Tweet after he was drafted.

Brown, a product of Sulphur, Louisiana, ranks as the No. 116 overall prospect in the 2023 class and the No. 1 player in the state, according to Perfect Game.

Update: The Advocate’s Leah Vann updated her report on Tuesday to say that Brown’s number was not met by the Rangers and he plans to head to Baton Rouge, though that is not 100% confirmed. He has 14 days to make a decision

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Tracking every LSU player and signee picked in the 2023 MLB draft

Lots of Tigers have already heard their names called in the draft.

It’s been a good weekend for LSU baseball at the 2023 MLB draft.

After winning a national championship this spring — the seventh in program history and first under coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] — lots of Tigers have heard their names called in Seattle.

The highlight was [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] becoming the first players from the same school to be selected with the first two picks in the draft, but they were just the first of many to be chosen.

Not all of these players will ultimately sign, and it will be crucial to watch which veterans return. It will also be interesting to see which signees in the 2023 recruiting class make it to campus. One of them, catcher [autotag]Blake Mitchell[/autotag], was selected with the eighth pick.

Here’s a complete tracker of every LSU player selected in the draft.

2023 MLB draft: The 10 highest-picked prospects directly out of high school

Here are the 10 highest-picked baseball prospects right out of high school from the first round of the draft.

The 2023 MLB draft began last night in Seattle at Lumen Field, the home stadium of the NFL’s Seahawks. Unlike the NFL draft or the NBA draft, MLB teams are allowed to pick players right out of high school and then bring them up slowly—or, sometimes, rapidly—through their respective farm systems.

Here are the 10 highest-picked baseball prospects right out of high school from the first round of the draft.

LSU signee Blake Mitchell drafted by Kansas City Royals with 8th pick

Blake Mitchell is one of the top players in LSU’s 2023 recruiting class.

LSU signee [autotag]Blake Mitchell[/autotag] likely isn’t making it to campus.

On Sunday night, the Kansas City Royals made Mitchell the eighth overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, joining [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag], who went first and second overall.

Mitchell is a class of 2023 commit for [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag]. He is ranked as the No. 1 catcher in the country and the No. 8 prospect in the country by Perfect Game.

This is one of those deals where you recruit the best players in the country and let them decide whether to go to school or to go pro. The ball is now in Mitchell’s court.

Mitchell was taken as the No. 8 overall pick by the Kansas City Royals. Mitchell was presumed to be the Royals’ No. 1 target on their draft board and they believe they can sign him even if they give him over his slot value of $5,980,100.

If Mitchell signs with the Royals, LSU should be okay at catcher. The Tigers still have [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] behind the plate. Plus, we don’t know if [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] or [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] will come back for another year.

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