The Red Sox aren't messing around with this draft class. After grabbing UNC shortstop Jake Schaffner in the first round, Boston went back to the shortstop well in round 3, popping Wisconsin prep star Jace Mataczynski at No. 96 overall. Now he's officially signed, and the number is a lot bigger than his draft slot suggested.
Jim Callis broke the signing news and the bonus figure.
Slot value for pick 96 was $815,700. The Red Sox handed Mataczynski $2 million instead, a premium of well over $1 million to pry him away from his Auburn commitment. That's the kind of overpay teams reserve for guys they think are first-round talents who slid because of signability concerns, not for a throwaway third-rounder.
Mataczynski, out of Hudson High School in Wisconsin, was one of the more coveted prep bats in this draft before he fell to Day 1's back half. Scouts have leaned on the lazy-but-earned comparison to Marcelo Mayer's high school defensive profile — smooth actions, real arm strength, the kind of glove that keeps him at shortstop long-term even as his 6-foot-3 frame fills out. The bat is rawer, with a swing that needs polishing, but the 20-20 upside teams talk about with him comes from a rare blend of present strength and plus speed for the position.
This is Boston buying up ceiling with bonus-pool money it clearly had to spend, and it fits a pattern. The Red Sox came out of this draft loading up on projectable, toolsy position players — Schaffner at the top, now Mataczynski a round-plus early sign, both middle-infield bats with defensive value baked in before the offense catches up.
For a farm system that's already stocked at the top with names like Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer graduating out, restocking the shortstop pipeline with an athlete this raw and this talented is exactly the kind of bet player-development staffs like to make. Whether Mataczynski turns into the next Mayer or just a solid utility glove is years away from being answered, but Boston just paid like it believes in the former.