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Shortstop Maui Ahuna inks MLB deal with Giants

On3 imageby: Eric Cain07/25/23_Cainer
Maui Ahuna
Credit: UT Athletics

Tennessee shortstop Maui Ahuna has officially signed his professional contract with the San Francisco Giants, who selected him with the No. 117 overall pick in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft earlier this month.

The deal is for $500,000 which is just under the slot-value for the pick that’s worth $569,100, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis. Ahuna was one of the final players to sign who were drafted in the top-10 rounds. The deadline for drafted players to sign with clubs is Tuesday at 5 pm eastern time.

According to the Rule 4 Draft Glossary at MLB.com, if a player selected in the first 10 rounds doesn’t sign, his pick’s value is subtracted from his club’s pool. If a team exceeds its allotment, it faces a penalty. In other words, there’s a major incentive to sign players who clubs draft in the top-10 rounds.

At the time of his reported signing, only four other players drafted in the top-10 rounds had yet to sign. Those players included Walker Jenkins (MIN, 1st round), Jackson Baumeister (BAL, supp 2nd round), Jaxon Wiggins (Cubs, supp 2nd round) and Caden Kendle (STL, 10th round).

Ahuna was considered one of the top-transfer portal additions of last offseason, coming to Knoxville by way of Kansas after his sophomore campaign. He was slow out of the gate offensively, but ended the season with the second-highest batting average on the team (.312) and easily led the Vols with 20 doubles. Ahuna will strikeout a lot at the plate, but still has a ton of upside on the offensive end. His glove, however, is the key component as he mans the shortstop position with ease.

The shortstop missed the first eight games of the season awaiting eligibility clearance from the NCAA and was later slowed for a couple of games with a minor back injury. Prior to transferring to Tennessee, Ahuna spent time with USA Baseball in the summer of 2022.

With eight Vols drafted earlier this month, Tony Vitello’s count now sits at 35 for players who have heard their names called on the grand stage. Tennessee has sported 25 draft picks in the last three drafts alone with at least seven selections in each.

The showing of eight draft picks this year was second-highest in the Southeastern Conference, trailing only LSU who had 13. The eight selections ties the second-highest number of Volunteers taken in a single draft and the six pitchers drafted is a program-record, surpassing both the 1992 and 1996 draft classes who sported five pitchers taken.

Vols in the 2023 MLB Draft

RHP Chase Dollander – Rockies – Round 1, 9th overall – Signed
3B Carson Rucker (commit) – Tigers – Round 4, 107th overall – Signed
SS Maui Ahuna – Giants – Round 4, 117th overall – Signed
RHP Andrew Lindsey – Marlins- Round 5, 146th overall pick – Signed
RHP Seth Halvorsen – Rockies – Round 7, 202nd overall pick – Signed
OF/C Jared Dickey – Royals – Round 11, 319th overall pick – Signed
INF Ryan Galanie (transfer portal commit) – White Sox – Round 13, 389th overall pick – Signed
RHP Zach Joyce – Angels – Round 14, 414th overall pick – Signed
LHP Jake Fitzgibbons – Diamondbacks – Round 14, 415th overall pick (transfer portal) – Signed
RHP Bryce Jenkins – Mets – Round 17, 516th overall pick – Signed

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