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The Cincinnati Reds officially signed the second overall pick from the recently completed 2016 MLB Draft, as University of Tennessee infielder Nick Senzel agreed to a $6.2 million signing bonus, per MLB.com's Jim Callis.
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
As Callis points out, that $6.2 million bonus is over $1.5 million below slot value, which means the Reds - who had MLB's largest available bonus pool - will be able to apply that amount to the other players they took in the first ten rounds. Considering they selected a few high upside high school players who have signed to play for high profile college programs (35th overall pick Taylor Trammell and 3rd rounder Nick Hanson, for instance), that's much needed extra coin that they'll be able to use to entice them to choose professional ball over playing in college.
This signing likely paves the way for Senzel's 2016 season to begin as expected with the Billings Mustangs, which is something Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Dustin Dopirak mentioned just yesterday. Opening Day for the Mustangs is June 17th, and Senzel will likely be in the lineup at the hot corner when they tangle with Missoula.
Welcome to the Reds (officially, this time), Nick.