Orioles sign 1st-round Draft pick Honeycutt
Jason Foster
The Orioles have signed outfielder Vance Honeycutt, their first-round pick from last month’s Draft, the club announced Thursday.
The North Carolina standout’s signing bonus — worth $4 million, a source told MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis — is $197,800 above the assigned slot value for this year’s 22nd overall pick.
“It’s super exciting,” Honeycutt said. “Obviously, I’ve heard nothing but great things about the player development and those guys that have came through the system. So it’s super exciting to just have an opportunity to be able to do that. Looking forward to getting going.”
Honeycutt, ranked No. 22 on MLB Pipeline’s list of the Top 200 Draft prospects, may be the most talented player to emerge from North Carolina, a school that has produced multiple MLB All-Stars. The outfielder hit a school-record 25 homers as a freshman and also stole 29 bases, slugged .672 and scored 66 runs, all of which led the team. Some observers believe he had the best college tool in the 2024 Draft class.
As a junior in 2024, Honeycutt had his best overall season. He paced the ACC with 28 homers and 88 runs scored while producing a career-best 1.124 OPS to lead the Tar Heels to the College World Series. Those numbers prove the quality of Honeycutt’s skill set, though there are questions about his ability to make consistent contact as he ascends to the pros. He had a strikeout rate of nearly 33 percent last season, a career high, and led the ACC with 83 strikeouts while recording a career-low 36 walks.
Still, Honeycutt carries a lot of upside. His 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame allows for excellent raw power and bat speed, and his sprint speed and plus throwing arm make him a candidate to be a standout defender in the outfield. For evidence of that potential, look to his back-to-back ACC Defensive Player of the Year Awards in 2023 and ’24.
