WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2015 MVP Nick Pratto signs with MLB’s Royals for $3.4 million

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (U.S.) — Nick Pratto, the Most Valuable Player of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2015, has signed a professional contract with Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals for a reported US$ 3.45 million signing bonus.

The Royals selected Pratto in the first round, 14th overall, of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Drafted as a first baseman, Pratto was a two-way star at the U-18 Baseball World Cup, where he was the starting/winning pitcher in the final versus Japan, helping the United States to a third-straight U-18 world championship.

Pratto was also a member of USA Baseball’s U-18 National Team that won the U-18 Pan-American Baseball Championship in 2016, advancing the U.S. to September’s WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017 in Thunder Bay, Canada.

Pratto was one of four first round selections to have participated in previous WBSC World Cups, including No. 1 and 2 overall picks Royce Lewis (Minnesota Twins) and Hunter Greene (Cincinnati Reds), and No. 8 overall pick Adam Haseley (Philadelphia Phillies).