Minor Notes: Red Sox sign first rounder Houck

Here are Thursday's minor league notes:

• The Red Sox have officially signed five of their 2017 draft picks so far, including first-rounder Tanner Houck (pictured). The Red Sox were able to sign Houck at slot value, which was $2,614,500. Below is a list of official 2017 draft signings so far, listed by round:
  
  1 - Tanner Houck, RHP - $2,614,500 (slot: $2,614,500)
  8 - Zach Sterry, 1B - $5,000 (slot: $150,900)
  9 - Tanner Nishioka, 2B - $5,000 (slot: $138,600)
  10 - Jordan Wren, OF - $5,000 (slot: $131,400)
  21 - Lukas Young, RHP
  
  Total cap (cap + 5%): $5,667,100 ($5,950,455)
  Cap spent so far (amount +/- cap for picks signed): $2,629,500 (-$405,900)
  
  Keep an eye on the SoxProspects.com Draft History page to track the rest of Boston's 2017 draft signings.
• SoxProspects.com Executive Editor Chris Hatfield was the first to confirm that third baseman Michael Chavis and middle infielder Chad De La Guerra are being promoted to Double-A Portland. Chavis, the seventh-ranked player in the SoxProspects.com rankings, has had a monster season at the plate, hitting .318/.388/.641 with 17 home runs and already breaking the single-season record for homers in Salem's ballpark with 12. Both players started in Tuesday's Carolina League All-Star Game, which Salem hosted and at which Chavis won MVP honors.
• Jim Callis of MLB.com joined Chris on the 123rd episode of the SoxProspects.com podcast to review the Red Sox draft. Discussions centered around some of Boston's top picks, including Houck. They also talked about some more general topics surrounding the draft, such as how teams go about the bonus cap.
• SoxProspects.com's Director of Scouting Ian Cundall was able to catch some PawSox baseball over the past few weeks and wrote another edition of Scouting Scratch. Ian goes in depth on what he saw from three right-handed pitchers, including Ty Buttrey, Jamie Callahan, and Hector Velazquez, who recently threw a solid game for Boston against the Kansas City Royals.
• Chris Mason of the Eagle-Tribune wrote about Red Sox top pitching prospect Jay Groome and his character. Both Groome and the Red Sox have moved passed the questions about Groome's character that contributed to him falling to 12th overall in the 2016 draft.
• Kevin Dillon of MassLive.com caught up with Groome after his rain-shortened return to the mound on Monday night. Groome was feeling great about the start and Lowell manager Iggy Suarez was impressed with the command Groome had.
• Michael Chavis is having a huge season for the Salem Red Sox, and that continued in the Carolina League All-Star game where he was named the game's MVP. Aaron McFarling of the Roanoke Times wrote about Chavis's big night.
• McFarling also wrote a terrific story about another Salem all-star, Trevor Kelley. Kelley was struggling to find it on the mound in 2012 when he decided to make a career-changing adjustment to his delivery. The side-arming right-hander is pitching to the tune of a 1.69 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with Salem this season.
• In his game recap on Monday, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal wrote about Blake Swihart and how he is still trying to find his swing. He has gone through some injuries this year, but Swihart has just a .589 OPS in 32 games for Pawtucket this year.
• Daniel Flores is a name Red Sox fans will want to keep an eye on. Ben Badler of Baseball America tabs the 16-year old switch hitter form Venezuela as one of the best 2017 international prospects. Badler notes that it is very likely that he signs with Boston.
• The Spinners have also announced that they have signed a 10-year lease extension with the city of Lowell to keep the team at LeLacheur Park for another 10 years.

Photo Credit: Tanner Houck by Missouri Athletics via NCAA.com

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