Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits bonded during time with USA Baseball
Stillwater’s Ethan Holliday and Fort Cobb-Broxton’s Eli Willits talk about their friendship, unique matchup between top MLB Draft prospects Friday.
A few days after Fort Cobb-Broxton star Eli Willits landed the largest signing bonus of a high school baseball player in MLB Draft history, Stillwater’s Ethan Holliday topped it.
Holliday signed his contract with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, agreeing to a deal with a signing bonus of $9 million, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis. It’s about $229,000 over the slot value of the fourth overall pick.
Willits, the No. 1 overall pick by the Washington Nationals, signed his contract with a bonus of $8.2 million, surpassing the $8.19 million bonus former Stillwater star Jackson Holliday — Ethan’s older brother — agreed to with the Baltimore Orioles in 2022.
Willits’ deal was well below the slot value of $11,075,900.
Holliday now officially joins the organization that drafted and developed his father, Matt, who became a World Series champion and seven-time All-Star.
Jacob Unruh is the deputy sports editor for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jacob? He can be reached at junruh@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jacobunruh. Support Jacob’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.