Baseball: Eight TCU players sign contracts with MLB teams

The 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft concluded last week, with seven TCU baseball players being selected while another Horned Frog inked a contract as an undrafted free agent. First-rounder Brayden Taylor went 19th overall to the Tampa Bay Rays and will take home a lucrative signing bonus reportedly worth about $3.88 million. Seventh-rounder and breakout performer Cole Fontenelle also signed his contract with the Los Angeles Angels, earning a signing bonus reportedly worth $256,400. Taylor was the lone Horned Frog taken on the first day of the draft, while Fontenelle was the first of three TCU baseball players who were selected on the second day of the draft, which began on July 9 and concluded July 11.

10th-round right-handed pitchers Cam Brown and Ryan Vanderhei each signed with their respective teams as well, with Brown receiving a reported $154,500 signing bonus from the Philadelphia Phillies and Vanderhei taking home a reported $47,500 signing bonus from the San Francisco Giants. Three TCU baseball players were drafted during the third day of selections including 14th-rounder Elijah Nunez, who agreed to a contract with the Washington Nationals, as well as 15th-rounder Tre Richardson, who agreed to a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Both players will reportedly receive $150,000 signing bonuses.

Rounding out the TCU draftees was 20th-rounder Garrett Wright, who according to Baseball America has inked his contract with the Chicago White Sox and will get a $150,000 signing bonus like Nunez and Richardson. After the conclusion of the 2023 MLB Draft, multiple reports indicated that right-handed pitcher Luke Savage agreed to a contract with the Texas Rangers to continue his career professionally, marking the eighth Horned Frog from the 2023 roster to make the leap from college to the professional level. TCU went 44-24 during the 2023 season, winning the NCAA Fayetteville Regional and the NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional as well as the Big 12 Conference Championship tournament at Globe Life.