2017 MLB Draft: Red Sox sign Alex Scherff, among other draftees

It’s been a busy few days for the Red Sox in terms of signing draft picks, and almost the entirety of their top ten is now signed. The headliner of the recent signings is easily Alex Scherff, the team’s fifth round pick. Although he was selected that late, it wasn’t due to talent. He was a top-100 draft prospect and has a big arm with big potential. The high school righty only fell due to signability concerns. As it turns out, the team signed him for $700,000 which was a bit over $400,000 more than the slot value associated with his pick.

He wasn’t the only draftee signed this weekend, though. I won’t bore you by going through the deals one-by-one. Instead, you can check out our draft pick signing index here.

As it currently stands, the only player that remains unsigned among Boston’s top ten picks Jake Thompson. It makes sense that the fourth-round pick is the last to sign considering he just got finished with his run with Oregon State in the College World Series. It’s expected that he’ll sign now that his college season is over, though he is a junior so it’s not a guarantee. If he does sign, it will be for right around slot value. The Red Sox have just under $421,000 before going over the threshold that would cause them to lose picks in upcoming drafts, and the slot value of Thompson’s pick is just under $400,000. Keep in mind that the penalties associated with going more than five percent over the allotted bonus pool is large enough that no one ever crosses the that threshold.