PHOENIX -- Bubba Chandler had never been to PNC Park before this week.
The next time he returns, he should be donning black and gold.
"I know in a few years, hopefully when I get up here, it’s going to be rocking," Chandler said. "We’re going to have a great time and win some ballgames."
On Thursday, the Pirates officially announced that they had signed the right-hander/shortstop. The third-round draft pick will receive a bonus of $3 million, per sources.
It's tied for the second-largest bonus ever given to a player selected in the third round or later. Only the Padres have given a larger bonus to a player picked that late: RHP Cole Wilcox received a $3.3 million bonus in 2020, and outfielder Hudson Head received $3 million the year prior to that.
Chandler was one of this year's top draft prospects, being ranked as the No. 20 draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 21 by MLB Pipeline. Signability concerns made him fall to the third round because teams were not sure if he would forgo a football scholarship to player quarterback at Clemson.
The Pirates ended up taking a chance on selecting him with the 72nd pick, and the two sides quickly reached a deal. Chandler called Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney the day he was drafted to tell him he was going to play baseball.
Anything other than baseball he does now will be strictly recreational.
“Sports is kind of like an outlet in life that I can use to find peace," Chandler said. "... I’m going to continue to throw the football around, play basketball and golf – I love golf. I love sports.”
Now that he is focusing solely in baseball, the expectation is that he will continue to develop as a player.
Chandler's fastball sits in the low-90s but has touched 97 mph. With two potential breaking pitches that spin and a developing changeup, it's a pitch repertoire that gives him a front of the rotation ceiling.
"I think I’ve only scratched the surface," Chandler said. "Getting into this organization is going to be great for me and my career. I’ll be getting helped a lot and can really excel at the next level on both sides of the ball.”
Yes, both sides of the ball. He and the Pirates have a handshake agreement that he will also get a chance as a hitter. Chandler hit .441 with eight homers and 12 doubles, and reports to DK Pittsburgh Sports indicate that he has some serious raw power.
“I think it’s exciting. We don’t want to put any limits on what Bubba can be," assistant general manger Steve Sanders said. "I think that’s part of what you heard Ben say last week. We’re just excited to see what Bubba can tap into, now that he’s focused on baseball, now that he has the resources at his disposal with professional baseball. We’re just excited for him to be a Pirate."
With Chandler signed, the Pirates' focus now shifts to signing their last two draft picks from the second day of the draft: Competitive Balance Round B outfielder Lonnie White Jr. and fourth-round right-hander Owen Kellington.
White also has a football offer on the table to play wide receiver for Penn State. He and Chandler are friends, but while the draft class has started a Snapchat group chat to get to know one another better, Chandler is letting White make his own decision.
"He’s kind of in the same position I was," Chandler said. "There’s not a bad choice."
The Pirates are currently $100,000 over the slot pick values for those nine signees, but they are afforded a 5% overage without losing any future picks, which comes out to about $700,000. So that $600,000, in addition to the combined $1,621,700 those two picks carry, is going to have to be enough to get both players.
Is that enough?
"We’re optimistic," Sanders said. "We're excited about the group of players we drafted, we're really excited about the group players have gotten under contract thus far and got some work to do in the next week or so, but certainly optimistic."
