Nick Senzel, the Cincinnati Reds 1st round pick and second overall pick in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft has officially signed. Jim Callis reports that he’s signed for $6,200,000.
No. 2 overall pick Nick Senzel signs w/@Reds today for $6.2 mil (pick value = $7,762,900). Tennessee 3B, best college hitter in @MLBDraft.
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 13, 2016
The signing, which was expected to be well below slot value, saves the Reds $1,562,900 to spend on other players throughout the draft. That could really come into play with some of the high school picks taken after the 10th round. Players selected after the 10th round can be signed for up to $100,000 before anything they sign for is counted against your bonus pool. Between the money saved with Senzel and the money saved from the drafting of four college seniors in rounds 7-10, Cincinnati will likely have over $2,100,000 to spend over the recommended slot values for their remaining draftees. That’s an enormous amount of money to work with.
Others expected to sign
While we only have confirmation that Nick Senzel has signed his contract, we know that both Taylor Trammell and Chris Okey are also in the fold assuming they passed their physicals today in Arizona. That takes care of the first three picks in the draft.
6th Round pick Tyler Mondile, a right handed pitcher from Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey has it listed on his twitter profile that he’s in the Cincinnati Reds organization. While it’s not official, that would indicate if he hasn’t signed yet, he’s certainly agreed to sign if he passes a physical.
7th Round pick Andy Cox, a left hander from Tennessee also has it listed on his twitter account that he’s a pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization. As a senior it’s not surprising that he’s in the fold. John Sansone, a second baseman from Florida State, Alex Webb and Lucas Benenati – both right handed pitchers are also likely to sign as college seniors.
The Reds also drafted several college seniors after the 10th round who are also likely to sign.
To keep up with signings, I will be keeping the 2016 Cincinnati Reds Draft Tracker updated with each signing. It will also keep track of how much money the team has spent, has left to spend and how much cap space there is free to sign the remaining players.