Red Sox sign first-round pick, three other high-upside draftees to seven-figure bonuses

BOSTON — Less than a week after the MLB Draft, the Red Sox have signed all of their key draftees — and the club spread the wealth across four standout picks.

Boston announced Friday that the club has signed 16 of its 19 picks, including first-rounder Jake Schaffner and the top 13 players selected last weekend. Four players — Schaffner, competitive balance pick Owen Hull, third-rounder Jace Mataczynski and ninth-rounder Martin Shelar — received nine-figure bonuses. The Red Sox paid Schaffner significantly less than first-round picks are supposed to get in order to pay up for Mataczynski and Shelar, two high-upside high schoolers who will forego college commitments to turn pro.

Schaffner, an outfielder from UNC, received a $2 million signing bonus, a source confirmed, falling significantly short of the slot value at his pick (No. 20 overall), which was $4,373,900. Much of that savings went to Mataczynski, a Wisconsin high school shortstop, who will get a $2 million bonus instead of attending Auburn, and Shelar, who will forego his commitment to Mississippi State to sign for $1.5 million, a number much higher than the slot value at pick No. 274 ($205,400).

Hull, Schaffner’s teammate in Chapel Hill, received $1.2 million to sign. Reportedly, the Red Sox also gave an above-slot deal to 10th rounder Kaleb LaFavor, a high school right-hander from Iowa. His slot value was less than $200,000 but his bonus is worth $847,500, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis.

Fifth-rounder Lucas Davenport, sixth-rounder Brett Lanman, seventh-rounder Kide Adetuyi, eighth-rounder Josh Volmerding and 10th-rounder Kaleb LaFavor as well as seven players in the second half of the draft. The top unsigned player is 15th-round pick Chase Frey, a left-hander from Grand Canyon University.

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