The Red Sox dished up $10,664,000 in signing bonuses in this year’s draft, putting them fourth amongst all teams this year, and topping their previous high of $10,515,000 in 2008—a year which yielded Casey Kelly, Ryan Westmoreland, and Ryan Lavarnway, among others.
The top two teams in the Nationals and the Pirates were boosted by big bonuses to the first two overall picks in Bryce Harper and Jameson Taillon. The Red Sox spread out their spending more, with four players receiving bonuses over $1 million, and several others approaching it. Anthony Ranaudo’s $2.55 million was the most the Sox spent on any player.
The Rays came in at number 12 with $7,150,800, while the Yankees spent only $6,652,500. The Orioles’ total was inflated by Manny Machado’s $5.25 million bonus, and the Blue Jays actually managed to top the Red Sox by nearly $1 million, as the team shifts its focus to amateur player development.