Two members of the 2023 UVA College World Series team were picked in the first two rounds of the 2023 MLB Draft on Sunday night.
A third player who was to have been headed to Charlottesville was taken in between Kyle Teel (first round, 14th pick, Boston) and Jake Gelof (second round, 60th pick, Los Angeles Dodgers), and the kid – Jonny Farmelo, late of Westfield High School – is almost certainly going to be foregoing college for a big signing bonus and bus trips in Rookie ball.
Farmelo was taken with the 29th pick by the Seattle Mariners. According to MLB.com, the bonus slot for the 29th pick is just over $2.8 million, which would be hard for UVA to try to counter with a partial scholarship and whatever amount of NIL money Cav Futures could cobble together for Farmelo, who had been rated the 39th-best prospect in the 2023 draft class by MLB.com.
Farmelo, a left-handed-hitting centerfielder who committed to Virginia in 2020, “is a powerful athlete who possesses the rare combination of speed and power,” Mariners director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said.
“We see Jonny developing into a middle-of-the-order bat that will hit for both average and power, as well as make things happen with his elite speed,” Hunter said.
The decision facing Farmelo is between taking $2 million-plus to sign now and start in Rookie ball or turn that down, go to Virginia, commit to three years in the ACC and gamble on being taken higher than 29th in the 2026 draft.
Just based on the 2023 draft bonus slot values, even being the 10th pick would net him a payout roughly double what Farmelo would get at 29, so, there’s hope for UVA fans.
Not much, but …
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Chris Graham
