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Contract Negotiation MLB Players MLB Teams

Top Pick Earns $6.15 Mil

Tim BeckhamLast week, Tim Beckham received a $6.15 million signing bonus after being selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft.  The $6.15 million bonus is the largest sum that any drafted player has received in the history of the MLB; it is $50,000 more than Justin Upton received as the #1 pick in 2005. Beckham will now report to the Rookie ball affiliate, Princeton Devil Rays.  The team is located in Princeton, West Virginia, not to be confused with the popular northeast school in New Jersey.

Any thoughts on the size of the bonus?

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.