Red Sox: Nick Decker signs for slightly above slot value
The 2018 Boston Red Sox draft class is nearly complete. The team announced the signing of Nick Decker securing the last of their day one and two picks.
Seneca High School outfielder Nick Decker was selected 64th overall in the 2018 draft by the Boston Red Sox. He was ranked 74th by MLB Pipeline and 110th by Baseball America. And he recently signed for a bonus of $1,250,000.00. That’s $239,500.00 above slot allotment. Decker is the only pick in the first 10 rounds to sign for more than slot and puts their total bonus pool spending at $5,404,900.00.
The team can spend up to $6,009,465.00 before accruing any significant penalties. They also went $440,000 past the $125,000.00 cap on picks in rounds 11-40 to sign Nicholas Northcut. They paid $60,000 over to land Brandon Howlett. That leaves them with a little over $100K to sign any additional picks from day three. If there are any more signings, it is unlikely they will go far past the $125K cap. That means tough signs Jared Poland and Zach Watson will likely not be inking deals.
Who is Nick Decker?
The second round pick profiles as a corner outfielder as a pro due to a lack of speed and a fringe average arm. What he does have, however, is raw power. He also carries a solid approach at the plate and good discipline. While the raw power is impressive, there is some disagreement on how it presents. MLB cites his power as presenting in games already, and him being more pwer than hit at the plate. Baseball America describes him as more of an advanced hitter with average power. What they are describing there is likely his in game pop, rather than raw power.
Either way, he’s a bat first corner outfielder who likely won’t offer much value on the base paths. The Red Sox obviously believe in his bat because they drafted him ahead of several more highly ranked players and paid him more than the allotted amount. He will likely join first round pick Triston Casas, Brandon Howlett and Nicholas Northcut in the GCL. As a prep bat, Decker is 3-5 years away from a potential big league debut. But he adds another exciting power hitter to a very thin system in desperate need of them.
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Expect to see Nick Decker debut somewhere in the 10-20 range in the Red Sox top 30 prospects lists around the web. And if you are looking for a chance to see him play, he could be in Greenville to start the 2019 season if his GCL stint goes well. Let us know what you think of this signing in the comments!