First-round pick Daniel Susac signs with Athletics

The Daniel Susac era is officially over at Arizona after the two-time All-American catcher signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.

Susac, whom Oakland took with the 19^th pick in last week’s MLB Draft, will receive a $3,531,200 signing bonus, the full “slot value” for that pick. That’s the largest bonus for a UA player in program history, topping the $2.5 million that catcher Austin Wells got from the New York Yankees as a first-round pick in 2020.

In two seasons with Arizona, Susac hit .351 with 24 home runs and 126 RBI in 125 games, with 70 of his 181 hits going for extra bases. In 2022 he became the 10^th player in school history with 100 hits in a season, batting a team-high .366 along the way.

The Athletics’ farm system is stacked at catcher, with MLB.com listing backstops Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom as Oakland’s top two prospects. Langeliers, who came over in a trade from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason, is hitting .267 with 17 homers at Triple-A Sacramento while Soderstrom, a first-round pick in 2020, is batting .252 with 17 homers at Single-A Lansing.

Susac, who grew up 100 miles northeast of Oakland in Roseville, Calif., is the first UA player to be drafted by the A’s since Alfonso Rivas in 2018. Rivas is currently in the majors with the Chicago Cubs, hitting .228 with three homers and 23 RBI in 69 games this season.

Arizona has now seen three of its five current or incoming players that were drafted sign pro contracts. Junior college pitchers Kris Bow (14^th round, Yankees) and Drew Sommers (11^th round, Tampa Bay Rays) have inked deals, while still unsigned are UA outfielder Tanner O’Tremba (15^th round, San Francisco Giants) and prep shortstop Demetrio Crisantes (7^th round, Arizona Diamondbacks).

The signing deadline for draft picks is Monday.