Padres MLB Draft: What’s Left to Sign Cole Wilcox?

What will it take to sign Wilcox

Let’s start with the fact that the pick value for the 80th overall pick in the MLB Draft is $767,800.

So you add that in with the total above that the Padres saved on other picks and they have a $2,793,996 available to offer Wilcox.

Now, you might think that’s plenty to sign a third-round pick. But keep in mind, Wilcox is a first-round talent that was ranked as the 23rd best prospect in this draft by MLB.com.

The only reason he fell to the Padres in the third round is that other teams felt they’d have trouble giving him enough money to sign him.

Wilcox was highly overlooked at Georgia because of Emerson Hancock who went sixth overall in this draft and will likely sign for around $5 million.

The value for the 23rd pick in the draft, which is where Wilcox was ranked, is $2.93 million.

So I do think the Padres have enough to convince Wilcox to sign.

And the Padres can go over their total pool money a bit without being penalized. Once you go over 5 percent of your total pool money you pay a tax of 75 percent, and if you go over by 10 percent you lose a draft pick and pay they tax.

A safe assumption is the Padres could spend an extra $400,000 without being taxed, which means they could possibly throw a little over $3 million at Wilcox if they have to.

And after I wrote this article I realized Jim Callis had already done the math for me.

I’m not sure that it will take that much to sign him.

But keep in mind, Wilcox could very well go back to Georgia next year as just a junior and be a top 10 pick next year where he could get close to $5 million.

That’s a risk he would have to consider, but I think the Padres are well-positioned to sign Wilcox and put together one of the best draft hauls from the 2020 MLB Draft.