We want the thunder!
Getting back to the bats, Nicholas Northcut’s commitment to Vanderbilt scared off a lot of teams. Despite being an early round talent, he wasn’t drafted until the start of day three, when signing bonuses stop being tied to a team’s bonus pool. Each pick from round 11 through round 40 can be signed for up to $125K. Any overage comes out of the draft pool. But the team does not lose any of that pool for not signing them. This is in contrast with the first ten rounds, where failure to sign a pick means losing the money allotted for that slot entirely.
Northcut falling to the 11th round removed the risk in drafting him. If the team doesn’t secure his signature, they lose nothing but the pick itself. There is a rumor that Northcut flew to Boston this past weekend:
Have heard Nick Northcut is heading to Boston this weekend to sign with the Sox. Huge get.
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) June 9, 2018
Sox also surprisingly signed 25th rounder Caleb Ramsey away from his scholarship to Butler. He got 125K and a future college scholarship from the Sox.
If true, we may find out how much of the money the team saved was needed to get him signed very soon. That bonus promises to be much larger than the $125K soft cap. But if the team didn’t know what he was asking for, or weren’t comfortable with it, they wouldn’t have picked him in the 11th round. Chances are they would have waited until much later and used that pick on someone else they thought they could sign.
Is that the only place they might spend their savings?
Beyond Northcut from day three, there are some interesting names to look for. The Red Sox drafted Chase Shugart in the 12th round. He is a right-handed pitcher from Texas whose stuff plays way up out of the pen. In the 13th they selected Dylan Hardy, a more typical Red Sox pick. He’s a center fielder from South Alabama who has plenty of speed. Both of these picks were made early enough in day three that the team likely feels good about their chances.
Also keep an eye out for Chris Machamer, another college closer who throws in the mid 90’s. Then there is Brandon Howlett. Yet another high school corner infielder with power. He has some significant swing and miss issues, however. Mason Ronan is one of the few pitchers drafted by the Red Sox last week who is likely to be kept as a starter. He throws in the low 90’s from the left side. Jared Poland is a high school second baseman with excellent barreling ability, but a line drive swing. He could grow into some power.