Red Sox sign six more draftees, one undrafted free agent

In the past two days, the Red Sox have announced the signings of six more players selected in the first-year player draft, as well as the signing of one undrafted free agent. Boston has now signed 16 of their 39 2015 draft picks and six of their nine picks from the first ten rounds.

On Sunday, the club announced the signings of  outfielder Tate Matheny (fourth round) (pictured), outfielder Jagger Rusconi (fifth), left-handed pitcher Logan Allen (eighth), and right-handed pitcher Nick Duron (31st). On Monday, opening day for the organization's Gulf Coast League affiliate, the club officially signed outfielders Nick Hamilton (11th) and Jerry Downs (15th), as well as undrafted free agent outfielder Chris Madera.

The Red Sox had looked to save money with their previous signings for a reason. According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, the agreement between the Red Sox and Allen is for $725,000, which is just under $550,000 over slot value. Allen is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and pitched at the IMG Academy. In his two years he posted a 0.88 ERA and punched out 136 hitters in 95 innings.

Matheny, son of Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, signed for $512,700 according to Callis. That is full slot value. Matheny is 6-foot, 190 pounds, and played his college ball at Missouri State. He posted a .319/.411/.477 line with 19 home runs in 169 career games at Missouri State. Matheny, although not officially added to the roster yet, is in Lowell (he was present at Media Day last week) and will join the Spinners.

Rusconi, like Matheny, signed for full slot value according to Callis, which is $384,000. Matheny is a 6-foot, 180 pound left-handed hitter with some power and speed. The Red Sox see him as a center fielder moving forward.

Hamilton is 5-foot-11, 170 pounds and from Lockport High School in New York. Hamilton has legitimate speed with good contact skills. Hamilton was a potential candidate to receive more than the $100,000 allotment for draftees after the tenth round, but his bonus has not been reported.

Downs is a 6-foot-1, 205 pound outfielder who hit .349 with a .493 on-base percentage and nine home runs during his junior year at St. Thomas. Duron is a tall right-hander, standing at 6-foot-4, from Clark Community College.

Madera, a native of the Dominican Republic, just completed his first season at Faulkner University in Alabama, an NAIA school, after transferring from Northwest Florida State (Junior) College. He was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2013 draft by the Cubs, but did not sign. He hit .398/.461/.622 with nine home runs and 56 stolen bases in 66 games for Faulkner this season. He was named a First Team NAIA All-American after leading NAIA in steals and finishing in the top 10 nationally in hits, runs scored, and total bases and leading the Eagles to a third-place finish nationally. He was also named the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

Allen, Rusconi, Hamilton, Duron, Downs, and Madera are all on the season-opening roster for the GCL squad.

Without including any potential bonus money over $100,000 for Hamilton, the Red Sox have now spent $1,646,700 and have $6,534,990 left in their bonus cap pool, accounting for the 5% overage.

Photo Credit: Tate Matheny by news-leader.com

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