Top shortstop talent agrees to over-slot deal with Reds

The old adage is that you can never have too much pitching. Well, the Cincinnati Reds seem to believe that you can never have too many shortstops.

While the club didn't spend their first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft on a middle infielder, the team's second-round selection was New York high school shortstop Sammy Stafura.

Stafura, who was committed to play at Clemson next spring, has signed an over-slot deal with the Reds and will instead likely spend next spring in Daytona with Cincinnati's Low-A affiliate.

Shortstop Sammy Stafura agrees to over-slot deal with Reds.

According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, the Cincinnati Reds have inked Sammy Stafura to a contract with a signing bonus of nearly $2.5-million. The slot value for the 43rd pick in the 2023 MLB Draft was a little less than $2-million, so the Reds went over slot in order to sign Stafura away from this college commitment.

This is common practice throughout Major League Baseball. During the draft, teams will either take a big-time talent lower than they expect to be selected and pay them more money (over-slot), or organizations will take a lesser talent higher than expected and sign them for less money (under-slot).

Both first-round pick Rhett Lowder and Competitive Balance pick Ty Floyd, signed under-slot deals which allowed the Reds to save money and offer Stafura an over-slot deal. The only player that Cincinnati selected in the first 10 rounds of the 2023 MLB Draft who has yet to sign is fourth-rounder Cole Shoenwetter.

Much like Sammy Stafura, the Cincinnati Reds will likely have to go over slot value in order to secure Shoenwetter services as he's committed to play college baseball at UC Santa Barbara next spring. The pick value for the 105th selection in the 2023 MLB is $640,300, but the Reds may have to double that amount in order to prevent Shoenwetter from honoring his college commitment.