The Red Sox have signed right-handed reliever Steve Nogosek, their sixth-round pick in the 2016 draft, for a $250,000 bonus, some $30,000 under the slot value for the 178th pick. Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish had it first.
Nogosek is not the most exciting prospect in the world--a fact you might have discerned from the use of the word "reliever" above. There's some possibility that the Red Sox view Nogosek as a potential starter, but at least as a reliever what he does bring is proximity. Nogosek likely won't take too long to make his way up to Boston, and start contributing as a middle reliever, or perhaps even set-up man.
When it comes to any draft signing this year, though, there's always two parts to the story. The first being the prospect in question, the second being the impact of the signing on the Jason Groome situation. Boston's first signing, CJ Chatham, netted them $200,000. Nogosek adds, with the 5% overage taken into account, some $45,000 more.
It may not seem like much, but it's something, and it's arguably a better boost than they received from said Chatham deal. Not just based on percentages, but because Nogosek is pretty much the definition of a slot guy. All the major draft publications had Nogosek pegged to go almost exactly where he ended up going. The Red Sox picked him where he deserved to be picked, so paying him less than that pick would dictate can be seen as a victory even if it doesn't move the needle on Groome all that much.
There's still a lot of work to do, but if they manage to take small steps on all nine of their other picks as they have with Chatham and Nogosek, that could well be enough.