Jim Callis dropped the news that the Cubs got their guy signed, and the details are the kind that make pitching-needy fan bases sit up straight. Carson Jasa, the 98th overall pick out of Nebraska, put pen to paper for $750,000 -- a shade under the $800,000 slot value for that pick, which is about as clean and uncomplicated as a signing gets this time of year.
Jim Callis broke down the signing bonus and Jasa's arsenal, calling him an interesting arm for the pitching-needy Cubs.
The scouting report is the fun part. Jasa is listed at 6-foot-7, and Callis flagged a downer curveball sitting 78-82 mph paired with an upper-80s slider as some of the nastiest breaking stuff in this entire draft class. The fastball will touch 98 mph, though it reportedly still needs more command -- the classic big-bodied-righty profile where the Cubs are betting player development can iron out the walks while the raw stuff does the rest.
This wasn't some late-blooming reach, either. Jasa had one of the best seasons any Husker pitcher has put together in years, going 10-2 with a 3.59 ERA across 87.2 innings and racking up 117 strikeouts, according to Nebraska's athletics department. He was the first Husker to hit double-digit wins since 2007 and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors along with third-team All-America recognition. His curveball alone reportedly held opposing hitters to a .054 average this season -- 6-for-111 with 81 strikeouts -- which lines up exactly with the pitch Callis singled out as one of the best in the class.
For a Cubs org that's been trying to restock its pitching pipeline for a couple years now, landing a redshirt sophomore with that kind of frame and swing-and-miss breaking ball at pick 98 is the kind of value teams dream about. Command questions with the fastball are real, but a 6-foot-7 arm that already sits mid-90s and touches 98 gives player development a lot to work with -- and a curveball hitters can't find is a heck of a foundation to build the rest of the arsenal around.
Now it's about developmental timeline. Expect Jasa to open in the lower levels of the Cubs system as they work on tightening up his command, but the tools here are loud enough that he's already a name to watch on the org's prospect radar. Given how thin pitching depth can get by the time September rolls around, a swing-and-miss arm like this signed on the cheap side of slot is exactly the kind of quiet value pick that pays off two or three years down the line.