Red Sox Reportedly Won Bidding War To Secure High-Upside Draft Prospect

Bloom continues to snag top high school prospects

Scott Neville | Jul 10, 2023

Red Sox Reportedly Won Bidding War To Secure High-Upside Draft Prospect /

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Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has kept the farm system stocked with middle infielders drafted out of high school, and he went out of his way to continue that trend on the first night of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft in Seattle.

The Red Sox selected Christian Brothers College High School shortstop Nazzan Zanetello with their second-round selection, No. 50 overall.

It turns out, the Red Sox had to win a bidding war to secure the highly-touted middle infielder.

"The last few minutes, it was between the (Washington) Nationals and the Red Sox," Zanetello told The Boston Globe's Alex Speier on Sunday night while speaking with the media. "After 40 that's when I knew I was going to be a Boston Red Sox."

High school prospects have a lot of leverage in negotiations, as they can always go to college should a deal fall through. For that reason, teams have to be sure they can sign said players ahead of their picks.

It sounds as if Zanetello's representation waged a bidding war between the Nationals and Red Sox, one that left Washington unsure that they could sign him. That, or the Nats were higher on Miami third baseman Yohandy Morales -- who they selected at No. 40.

The slot value for No. 40 is $2.14 million while the slot value for No. 50 is $1.70 million. Still, the Red Sox can pay Zanetello big bucks by drafting players with low leverage later in the draft, signing them under slot value -- college seniors being the easiest to do so with.

Boston has used this strategy often in chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom's tenure to ensure that they are able to get high-end talent at the top of the draft.

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Published Jul 10, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu