Reds' draft pick Chase Burns surpasses Paul Skenes, inks record-breaking $9.25 million signing bonus

For some time, young pitcher Chase Burns has been the apple of many an eye across scouting departments. Last Sunday, the 21-year-old flamethrower was selected by the Cincinnati Reds with their first overall selection.

Less than a week later, on Thursday, MLB.com reported that Burns had made history. Jim Callis was the first to break that the Reds inked Burns to a record-shattering $9.25 million signing bonus in a bid to secure him for the long term.

"The Reds have agreed to a deal with No. 2 overall Draft pick Chase Burns for an MLB-record $9.25 million (slot value = $9,785,000), per @JimCallisMLB" - MLB Pipeline

Although the size of signing bonuses dished out to new draft picks has been shooting up in recent years, Chase Burns' $9.25 million takes the cake. The previous record was held by Paul Skenes, who received $9.2 million shortly after being selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates at last year's draft.

Born in Italy, Burns was reared in Tennessee. Owing to his tremendous poise as a high school pitcher, the 6-foot-3 right-hander was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 2021 amateur draft. However, after declining an offer from the Friars, Chase Burns opted to enroll at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

It did not take long for Burns to begin turning heads in his freshman season at Tennessee. In 80 innings spread across 17 games, Burns went 8-2, pitching to a 2.91 ERA and logging 103 strikeouts.

"You want a competitor? Here is Chase Burns after striking out 16 dudes against top 8 seed, Clemson. Dawg" - Bryce Spalding

In 2024, Burns transferred to Wake Forest University, where he put up his best figures yet. In 16 appearances, Burns went 10-1 with a 2.88 ERA and 191 strikeouts across 100 innings of work.

Cincinnati Reds see a bright future for Chase Burns

Although Burns is not expected to pitch in MLB for some time, the meteoric rise of Paul Skenes shows that some pitching prospects are beyond ready. After Burns inked his deal, Cincinnati Reds amateur scouting director Joe Katuska told MLB.com:

"Obviously, Stage 1 is scouting the guy, Stage 2 is drafting him, but Stage 3 is probably the most important part — actually getting him signed, going through the physical process and getting the pen to paper."

Certainly, for an arm that has excelled at every level so far, there is no reason to believe that Burns will not be all that the Reds expect him to be and possibly more.