2026 Draftee Signing Thread

[ClosetBrewerFan]

It would be hard to believe he wont sign at all.  He's a College Jr, so if he goes back to college, he will have less leverage as a College Sr.  So this is his chance to maximize his bonus.  That being said, the Brewers could be really low balling him.  This is their best chance to save money for the 14-17 guys.  My guess is that is what is happening.  The Brewers would be dumb to not sign him because they would lose the cap money and then nothing could go to other player bonuses.  I think they will get this done, but it may take until the deadline.

[Spencer Michaelis]

FWIW, I had a very good source tell me that the Brewers were only going to need to negotiate with 4 players after the draft. That the rest had all agreed to deals before being picked or immediately after. Considering the 13-16 round picks are still unsigned and Knaak is as well, that math isn’t mathing unless someone backed out of (or is considering backing out of) an agreed upon deal. Would seem to be a pretty risky move for a lot of reasons for Knaak, if that’s the case.

[diddly33]

For the record, I would bet that Knaak will sign, just not for some huge discount beyond that of a typical college junior.  He was picked #163, and ranking services Ive seen have him between 129 (ESPN) and 210 (MLB).  My original point is that the Brewers only have 315K to spend and can't count on much if any via Knaak.  I could be very wrong about this, and I suppose it's possible that Bell could be signed for Makale Holden money instead of Chase Bentley money, but I'm not holding my breath. 

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I didn’t realize that if we don’t sign a top10 player, their entire slot comes out of the pool.  That is unfortunate.  I’d rather have Bell than Knaak, but if we can’t use some of Knaak’s slot for Bell, that probably is ball game…

[wallus]

Rock went to Clemson (I'm sure you didn't know). Get on the phone and make it happen Bill

[wallus]

Are we really waiting til the last day on some of these signings? Can all the unsigned player's moms follow Spencer already.

[Spencer Michaelis]

 

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Spencer!  Any hope on signing Bell?

[Spencer Michaelis]

5 minutes ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

Spencer!  Any hope on signing Bell?

I’d be pretty surprised. I’d assume Hart is over the $150k, and if Knaak doesn’t sign they’re really not going to have much to work with, and even if he does sign they’re probably not getting the discount they originally agreed on. 

[Tedaldtada]

I’ll predict we snag the Colorado kid but not Knaak or Bell. 

[James Zumstein]

I loved the Carson Hart pick when we made it, so if we're able to get him signed, I'll be over the moon. I know a lot of people had their hearts set on some of the HS pitchers that are still unsigned, but Hart is very much in line with the type of player we've been drafting for the past half-dozen years. He'll fit in with our organizational philosophy (speed, up-the-middle-defense, good bat-to-ball skills) extremely well.

[Cowbell]

With the new ruling of “5 for 5” where college athletes now have the ability to compete in 5 years vs 4,  I wonder if college juniors like Knaak (with NIL) may have more leverage to return for their senior year and take a gamble they can make more money the following year.  It will be interesting how this new wrinkle impacts college signings going forward.  

[Spencer Michaelis]

Sounds like Knaak is definitely not signing, according to his dad.

Leaves $315,875, which likely will be at least partially used by Hart. At this point, I'm hoping for Havard and he feels like the only realistic one left in my eyes, but would be happy to be proven wrong!

[biedergb]

4 minutes ago, Spencer Michaelis said:

Sounds like Knaak is definitely not signing, according to his dad.

Well, Good luck to Aidan. Historically, turning down top round money for college players has not worked out. HS players it is different, but college players/pitchers, odds are that he is most likely going to wind up in a similar or lower slot next year.  

[CheeseheadInQC]

6 minutes ago, biedergb said:

Well, Good luck to Aidan. Historically, turning down top round money for college players has not worked out. HS players it is different, but college players/pitchers, odds are that he is most likely going to wind up in a similar or lower slot next year.  

Interesting. I wonder what the story is. My mind immediately went to a higher NIL offer, but raising the offer post-draft would I imagine negatively affect future potential picks from the school, so that would be a dangerous game to play.

[wiguy94]

If the rumors are true that he agreed on a deal before he was picked and reneged on said deal, I definitely don't wish him the best.