The 2012 MLB Draft is in the books with three Boston College Eagles -- two BC players and one incoming recruit -- selected. Here's the full list of BC draftees:
Anthony Melchionda (SS) -- Rd. 14, Pick No. 450, St. Louis Cardinals
Matt Brazis (RHP) -- Rd. 28, Pick No. 851, Seattle Mariners
Chris Shaw (RHP/1B) -- Rd. Rd. 26, Pick No. 800, New York Mets
Melchionda and Brazis' careers at the Heights are over as they prepapre to enter the St. Louis and Seattle farm systems. However Shaw, an incoming freshman, is an interesting case.
At the beginning of spring, one scout projected Shaw to go as high as Round 15. But based on changes to baseball's draft rules under the new CBA and a strong commitment to BC, sounds like Shaw will honor his commitment.
Asked about his future, Shaw said, "I'm planning on honoring my commitment," saying the maximum of $100,000 allowed to offer players taken after the 10th round is "not enough to pass up" going to BC.
Here's the key change to baseball's draft rules:
a. "Each Club will be assigned an aggregate Signing Bonus Pool prior to each draft. For the purpose of calculating the Signing Bonus Pools, each pick in the first 10 rounds of the draft has been assigned a value. (These values will grow each year with the rate of growth of industry revenue.) A Club's Signing Bonus Pool equals the sum of the values of that Club's selections in the first 10 rounds of the draft. Players selected after the 10th round do not count against a Club's Signing Bonus Pool if they receive bonuses up to $100,000. Any amounts paid in excess of $100,000 will count against the Pool."
More importantly, if a team fails to sign a player taken in the first 10 rounds, it cannot apply the budgeted signing bonus to another player and loses that amount from the overall budget. The end result this season was that more college seniors were taken in the first 10 rounds -- guys MLB teams had a reasonable expectation to sign -- while a kid like Shaw gets bumped to the final day of the draft over questions on whether or not he'll sign or confirm his commitment to playing college ball.
Certainly good news for BC, which will hold onto the Lexington native for next season. Shaw is part of an 11-member incoming class for the 2013 season. Looking forward to watching him on the Heights.
Congratulations to Melchionda, Brazis and Shaw.