Braves fail to sign No. 8 overall pick Carter Stewart due to apparent injury

The Atlanta Braves failed to reach an agreement with highly touted prep right-hander Carter Stewart, whom they selected eighth overall in last month's MLB draft, ahead of Friday afternoon's deadline due to an issue with his physical, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.

"We are disappointed we were not able to reach an agreement," Braves scouting director Brian Bridges said. "We wish Carter nothing but the best."

While the Braves did not disclose what they saw in the physical, Bowman reports that the organization apparently had concerns about a wrist injury.

Due to the apparent injury, Atlanta was reportedly trying to sign the 18-year-old for well below the No. 8 pick's slot value of $4,980,700. The team's offer was apparently in the $2-million range, while Stewart's camp was asking for $4.5 million, according to Bowman.

Depending on the size of their final offer to Stewart, the Braves could receive the No. 9 selection in the 2019 draft as compensation for failing to sign him.

Stewart, who put up a 0.91 ERA in 61 2/3 innings as a senior at Florida's Eau Gallie High School, was ranked as the fifth-best prospect ahead of this year's draft by MLB Pipeline. The curveball specialist committed to play college baseball at Mississippi State before the Braves selected him, though he remained coy about his future plans in a statement on Twitter.

Stewart is the first top-10 pick to go unsigned since Brady Aiken, 2014's first overall pick, failed to reach an agreement with Houston.

Two other teams have failed to sign their first-round selections this year. The Arizona Diamondbacks and 25th overall selection Matt McLain were unable to reach an agreement, while the Los Angeles Dodgers didn't sign the No. 30 pick, right-hander J.T. Ginn. McLain will attend UCLA, while Ginn is set to join Mississippi State, where he could pitch alongside Stewart.

Until Friday, only four first-round picks had gone unsigned since the current MLB draft bonus rules were instituted in 2012, according to ESPN.