August 15, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Westmoreland gets record $2M
The Red Sox have signed their fifth-round pick OF Ryan Westmoreland out of Portsmouth, RI. Baseball America's Jim Callis is reporting that Westmoreland received a $2 million signing bonus, a record for a player drafted after the third round. MLB will allow Boston to spread the bonus out over five years because of Westmoreland's status as a two sport athlete. Westmoreland was considered a potential supplemental draft pick, but fell because of a commitment to Vanderbuilt ... SoxProspects.com has also learned that Mr. Irrelevant, 50th round pick RHP Kyle Stroup. A big righty who throws in the low-to-mid-90s, Stroup was projected to be selected in the first 10 rounds of the draft, but fell because of signability issues.