The Yankees signed their first-round draft pick Wednesday, locking up UCLA righthander James Kaprielian.
With two days remaining before Friday’s signing deadline, the Yankees gave Kaprielian — the 16th pick of this year’s draft — a $2.65 million signing bonus, about $100,000 above the slot figure of $2,543,300.
Kaprielian went 10-4 with a 2.03 ERA in 17 games during his junior season at UCLA, leading the Pac-12 with 114 strikeouts. He was named All-Pac-12 first-team in both his sophomore and junior seasons, leading the conference in strikeouts in both years.
The Yankees have now signed their top pick every year since 2009, adding players such as Aaron Judge, Ian Clarkin, Eric Jagielo and Slade Heathcott to the organization.