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The Red Sox have almost completed draft bingo, as they have already selected college hitters, college pitchers, a high school project, and a low-leverage senior through the first seven rounds. Now they've gone for a lefty college starter out of IMG Academy -- the same place where Brady Aiken pitched this year, except on the high school level -- named Logan Allen, filling another square on the box.
He's committed to the University of Southern Carolina, which is likely part of why the 128th-ranked player on Baseball America's rankings lasted until the eighth round. If the Sox fail to sign him, they lose $175,100 from their draft budget: it's not an insubstantial figure, but it's also not as high as it could have been had they gone with Allen earlier.
Allen's fastball climbed to the low 90s this year, and he has both a tight slider and curve to go with his change-up, so he's a teenager with four pitches at his disposal. One wonders if the money saved on seventh-round senior Ben Taylor is headed to the 18-year-old Allen to keep him from honoring his commitment to South Carolina. To this point in the draft, there hasn't been anyone else who screams out for getting above-slot value, so maybe Allen is the guy.
You would think, with the four pitches and what Baseball America refers to as "an understanding of his craft" that Allen profiles as a starter. He's very young, though, so at this point, it's hard to know just what he'll be.