Ethan Holliday agreed to a minor league contract with a $9 million bonus with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, a record for a player drafted out of high school under the current system, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Colorado had not announced the agreement.
Holliday, a son of Rockies great Matt Holliday and the younger brother of Baltimore second baseman Jackson Holliday, was in the amateur draft. The 18-year-old, 6-foot-4 shortstop from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 1 available prospect.
The previous record for a drafted high school player under the current system was set this month by No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits, who agreed to an $8.2 million bonus with Washington. That topped the $8.19 million given to Jackson Holliday by the Orioles in 2022.
The bonus also matches the fourth highest for a drafted player since picks were restricted to minor league contracts in 2012, trailing Cincinnati right-hander Chase Burns and Colorado outfielder Charlie Condon (both $9.25 million), Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes ($9.2 million) and matching Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews.
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