The Toronto Blue Jays and 12th round pick Blaine Bullard set a Major League Baseball record with his contract, signed on Friday. <\/p>\n
Bullard, who played at Klein (Texas) Cain High School, was taken No. 352 overall in the MLB draft. He was taken so late that his selection doesn\u2019t have a slot bonus. MLB only allots slot bonuses for the picks in the first 10 rounds. <\/p>\n
More News: Blue Jays Reliever Ryan Burr Will Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery<\/a><\/p>\n Teams like the Blue Jays are free to pay picks after the 10th round whatever they want. But Toronto could have signed Bullard to a $150,000 deal and it would not have counted toward their draft bonus poll.<\/p>\n Instead, the Blue Jays were so high on him that, per MLB.com<\/a>, they signed him to a $1.697 million bonus. Per the site, it is the largest bonus ever given to a 12th round selection. <\/p>\n Bullard was committed to Texas A&M and that commitment was considered a strong one until the Blue Jays stepped up with an offer. <\/p>\n More News: Insider Says Blue Jays Will Focus on Pitching Upgrades at Trade Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n He signed the same day that the Blue Jays came to terms with their first-round pick, prep shortstop JoJo Parker, out of Purvis, Miss.<\/p>\n Parker signed a deal worth $6.2 million, less than the expected slot value for the No. 8 overall selection, which was $6.813 million.<\/p>\n More News: Former Blue Jays Pitcher Spencer Turnbull Signs With NL Contender<\/a><\/p>\n Toronto also doesn\u2019t have a second-round pick after signing outfielder Anthony Santander in the offseason. In addition, the Blue Jays, per MLB.com<\/a>, signed two draft picks to $5,000 bonus deals to save slot money \u2014 eighth-round pick Danny Thompson Jr. and 10th round pick Austin Smith. Thompson is a pitcher and Smith is an outfielder. Both were collegiate players that were out of eligibility.<\/p>\n The only other Blue Jays pick that has signed is Fourth-round pick Micah Bucknam, who signed a $678,300 deal, just under the $680,000 slot value for the No. 143 overall pick.<\/p>\n