Guardians Baseball Insider

According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, the Cleveland Indians inked Auburn right-hander Tanner Burns for $1.6 million. Burns, 21, was a Competitive Balance Round A selection 36th overall. With Burns’ signing the Tribe has now agreed to terms with all six of their 2020 MLB Amateur Draft selections.

According to Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga, the club will not add Burns to the 60-man roster. The Indians roster currently sits at 58 with the flexibility to make a few additions. 

Earlier this week the former Auburn Tigers righty tweeted he was on the way to Cleveland before eventually deleting it. This signaled to baseball fans/followers he could be signing with the club this week. Burns made the announcement himself on Twitter. 

The talented right-hander was ranked 42nd overall in the pre-draft rankings here at IBI. Burns is a three-pitch pitcher working with a fastball that sits low-to-mid 90’s and touches 97. The righty displays an above-average slider paired with an average changeup. He displays above-average control with an impressive sub-3 walk rate in his junior and sophomore seasons. The 6′, 210 lb righty is known for his competitiveness on the mound.

Burns was the last of the Tribe’s six draft picks to sign. The right-hander’s deal comes in at $445,400 under slot putting the club at roughly $300k under their overall pool of $7.6 million. Additionally, the club signed four non-drafted free agents for $20k each. This marks the first draft class since 2011 -the year of the initial inception of the bonus pool system- that the team did not exceed their bonus pool.