2026 Boston Red Sox MLB Draft Day 2 Thread

[Jack Lindsay]

The 2026 MLB Draft will again feature just 20 rounds. The final 16 rounds (from Rounds 5-20) will happen later today, beginning at 11:30am EST. You can catch it live on MLB Network and MLB.com.

After selecting three players during the first day of the draft, the Red Sox will make 16 picks on Sunday:

156th overall (Round 5)

185th overall (Round 6)

215th overall (Round 7)

Following Round 5, the Red Sox will pick 20th in every round for the remainder of the draft. Thus, their draft position is as follows: 185, 215, 245, 275, etc.

Baseball is incredibly unique in the ways that address draft picks. Each team has its bonus pool which is assigned by MLB in the spring based off of league-wide revenue the previous season. Along with that, each draft pick is assigned its own slot value, which is essentially the expected cost to sign a player at that spot. Teams don't have to follow that number exactly, which is why you see teams sign players or over or under slot values. 

For example, in last years draft, the Los Angeles Angles had the 2nd overall selection which was valued at $10,252,700 but ultimately ended up signing their selection Tyler Bremner for only $7,689,525, nearly $3 million below the projected value of the selection. Teams can then use the money they save at the top half of the draft to lure better players with more bonus money later on in the draft.

The Red Sox have $8,219,200 to play with in this year's draft, the eighth-lowest pool, with the slot value of their 20th overall pick coming in at $4,373,900. 

Another note regarding slot money from Baseball America: "In the MLB draft, each pick inside the first 10 rounds comes with assigned slot values. The sum of those slot values creates each team’s bonus pool. From rounds 11-20, players can sign for up to $150,000 without counting towards the bonus pool. Anything beyond that value does count towards the pool. Teams are free to sign players for more than an assigned slot value or less than an assigned slot value, though going over a bonus pool comes with penalties."

It's also worth noting that with the CBA expiring this offseason and the MLB's proposal to change the draft format, this likely the last time we see the draft in the format we see it in today. 

Here's a brief recap of yesterday's draft picks with hyperlinks to our articles breaking down the selections in greater depth:

20th overall: Jake Schaffner SS, UNC

The Red Sox's first selection in the 2026 draft in Schaffner was an under-slot, defense-and-contact-first shortstop out of the University of North Carolina. Schaffner was ranked 69 in our mock draft consensus board but provides some exciting bat-to-ball skills that play well above his age. 

The Red Sox's Amateur Scouting Director said of Schaffner to Alex Speier: "His offensive skillset aligns very well with our player development group. We’re confident he’ll be able to thrive in our system while playing strong defense at shortstop."

To that point, Schaffner was the lowest-ranked prospect selected, so we should assume the Red Sox plan on spending that saved money elsewhere, though that remains to be seen.

 

67th overall: Owen Hull OF, UNC

With the next selection, they went out and selected Schaffner's teammate and best friend Owen Hull. Standing at 6'4, 215, Hull provides some needed pop within the current iteration of the Red Sox farm system. Hull was ranked 71st in our mock draft consensus board and according to our Jamie Cameron, Hull "has a chance to stick in center with plus speed".

96th overall: Jace Mataczynski SS, Hudson High School (WI)

The Red Sox's final selection on Day One was 18-year-old Jace Mataczynski. By all accounts, Mataczynski is much more of a development project than the first two selections in Schaffner and Hull. He's ranked 108th in our mock draft consensus board. Mataczynski possesses some exciting tools as an athlete which elevate his ceiling but according to Jamie Cameron his swing leaves something to be desired saying, "At the plate, it’s a right-handed swing that could still stand to add a touch more refinement." Mataczynski is currently committed to Auburn so the Red Sox will need to get him enough of a signing bonus to justify choosing professional baseball.

We here at Talk Sox will continue to feature the Red Sox Draft Tracker, which will be kept up-to-date, not just as the draft happens, but also as we learn about the signing bonuses for each draft pick throughout the signing period. Thanks for joining us during one of the most exciting times of the season and keep coming back for updates!

View full article

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

I know mocks don't mean anything but I can't really get excited about the 69th rated player being selected at 20.  

[moonslav59]

Back to drafting pitchers...

156. Lucas Davenport Baylor RHP (6-6 230) Not Ranked by anybody

185. Brett Lanman Abilene Christian LHP (6-5 228) #307 BA

214. Kide Adetuyi Florida Atlantic LHP (6-1 190) #442 BA

244. Josh Volmerding Cal Poly  LHP (6-4 210) Not Ranked

274. Martin Shelar High School  OF (125th BA but #80 by ESPN)

304. Kaleb LaFavor HS RHP (6-7 195) 461 BA/171 ESPN

Rounds 11-20 all get slotted $150K signing bonuses, Maybe we draft an overslot guy in these rounds.

334. Willis Maginnis SS from GA St

364. Jacob Webster SS High School

394.

424.

454.

484.

514.

544.

574.

604.

BA still has 5 players ranked in the top 72 on the boards- all HS players, so maybe we overslot one of them. The top college players still undrafted are:

107 Gavin Gallaher 2B NC

109 Kollin Ritchie OF OK St

151 Erik Paulsen 1B NC

155 Jake McCoy LHP SC

169 Dalton Wentz 3B WF

4 players sin the 180s and 2 in the 190s.

[moonslav59]

Check this site out to look for possible overslot draft picks. The players at the top are mostly HS players but there are a few college kids maybe the Sox are hoping to poach.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-draft-2026-best-available-prospects/

Our 8th Rd pick is #244, so....

74. Garrett Wright C/OF

104 Camden Johnson 3B

107 Gavin Gallaher 2B

109 Kollin Ritchie OF

123 Tre Phelps 3B/OF

141 Calvin Proskey RHP

[Nick John]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Back to drafting pitchers...

156. Lucas Davenport Baylor RHP (6-6 230) Not Ranked by anybody

185. Brett Lanman Abilene Christian LHP (6-5 228) #307 BA

214. Kide Adetuyi Florida Atlantic LHP (6-1 190) #442 BA

244. Josh Volmerding Cal Poly  LHP (6-4 210) Not Ranked

274. Martin Shelar High School  OF

(None of thee guys look like an overslot type pick, but I'm expecting one or two based on the day one choices.)

Martin Shelar is an overslot. Kid's power is for real but he has a commitment to Mississippi State. 

[moonslav59]

58 minutes ago, Nick John said:

Martin Shelar is an overslot. Kid's power is for real but he has a commitment to Mississippi State. 

Yes, I just noticed he was ranked 80th by ESPN, 125th by BA and 175tht by MLB.com, and he was selected 274th. I'm not sure he will eat up the whole left over bonus money, so maybe we draft another one.

[Nick John]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, I just noticed he was ranked 80th by ESPN, 125th by BA and 175tht by MLB.com, and he was selected 274th. I'm not sure he will eat up the whole left over bonus money, so maybe we draft another one.

Not entirely sure but I think the 10th round pick might also be an overslot. 

[moonslav59]

Just now, Nick John said:

Not entirely sure but I think the 10th round pick might also be an overslot. 

BA had him in the 400's, but ESPN at #171, so a little bit overslot by them.

[moonslav59]

The draft is over, and I'm not sure we ever drafted that overslot player some expected after going light, early on.

What's up?

Someone explain this to me.

[moonslav59]

The 19 picks are in:

https://soxprospects.com/dh.htm

Top 3: SS, OF, SS

5-8: Pitchers (2 RHP/2 LHP)

9, 11, 12: SS, OF, OF

10, 13-15 Pitchers (3 RHP/1 LHP)

16 & 18: SS & OF

17, 19-20: Pitchers (2RHP/1LHP)

_________________________

Top 11: 6 Everyday & 5 Pitcher

Last 8: 6 Pitchers & 2 Everyday

________________________

Total: 11 Pitchers & 8 Everyday

 

[moonslav59]

I'm hearing Martin Shelar might be very special. He's just 18 and already had 115 exit velocity.

BA had him at #125 and at #49 among HS players. That's not bad for a 9th rounder. BP had him at #13! He led all high schoolers with 19 in 33 games! BA says he has a "chance for 70-grade raw power."

Apparently, LaFavor might get an overslot bonus, too.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

The draft is over, and I'm not sure we ever drafted that overslot player some expected after going light, early on.

What's up?

Someone explain this to me.

Probably impossible to explain without inside information.  They could genuinely like some of the low-cost guys, and the savings is just a bonus.  If Schaffer provides enough savings to sign the other overslot, it might be well worth it.  FWIW, I was not impressed with the draft, but there is a huge amount of variance past the top-10.

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Probably impossible to explain without inside information.  They could genuinely like some of the low-cost guys, and the savings is just a bonus.  If Schaffer provides enough savings to sign the other overslot, it might be well worth it.  FWIW, I was not impressed with the draft, but there is a huge amount of variance past the top-10.

I think Shelar is the overslot guy they wanted. LsFavor might get a little bit overslot.

[Hugh2]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

The draft is over, and I'm not sure we ever drafted that overslot player some expected after going light, early on.

What's up?

Someone explain this to me.

There's a lot of moving parts that even I don't understand yet.  We had the 8th lowest amount of pool money and I thought I read that there were more top 250 ranked guys left undrafted in this draft ever. 

A lot of top ranked guys pulled their names or told teams not to draft them.  There's a lot going on right now, college has new eligibility rules so college players have more leverage now, seniors don't have to sign if they've played 4 years and players can also go back and get NIL money so there's very little incentive for guys to sign way underslot like we've seen in years past to take that money and shift it elsewhere. 

Strategies shift, and in the end almost all these names we know nothing about and we judge the merits of them based off of MLB.coms list when every team has their own board. 

Pure conjecture here, and just a theory, but I wonder if the Sox identifed some transfer guys that weren't ranked but they identified as having the talent they like to work with and they thought they would sign.  Maybe even a few highshcool guys that fit that profile.  It might make sense for some of them to just play pro ball if they risk going to a program where they might not get any playing time.  Makes sense to just start your pro career. 

But this is what happens when you sign multiple free agents, you lose draft picks and you lose bonus pool money. 

 

[drewski6]

I like the size of these dudes.  Especially the OF'er another chance to hit a Judge/Wood/Walker along with Justin Fernandes.  You hit on a big boy who has other tools to go along with a big frame, and add a little durability to the mix, and you got urself a real stud.

Just pretend the OF'er was drafted first.  In baseball draft, its not like basketball and football where the real draft is the first round and maybe second. Sometimes in round 1 you are holding chips back.  Now we can pay Owen and we can tell him we drafted his bestie.  

[drewski6]

Owen is 6'4, 22 yrs old, 99th percentile in OBP, and has speed?  Getting his best friend in rd 1 to an underslot deal may have been a table set.  Owen looks like a prize. Sign him up.

[mvp 78]

11 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I think Shelar is the overslot guy they wanted. LsFavor might get a little bit overslot.

 

44 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

There's a lot of moving parts that even I don't understand yet.  We had the 8th lowest amount of pool money and I thought I read that there were more top 250 ranked guys left undrafted in this draft ever. 

A lot of top ranked guys pulled their names or told teams not to draft them.  There's a lot going on right now, college has new eligibility rules so college players have more leverage now, seniors don't have to sign if they've played 4 years and players can also go back and get NIL money so there's very little incentive for guys to sign way underslot like we've seen in years past to take that money and shift it elsewhere. 

Strategies shift, and in the end almost all these names we know nothing about and we judge the merits of them based off of MLB.coms list when every team has their own board. 

Pure conjecture here, and just a theory, but I wonder if the Sox identifed some transfer guys that weren't ranked but they identified as having the talent they like to work with and they thought they would sign.  Maybe even a few highshcool guys that fit that profile.  It might make sense for some of them to just play pro ball if they risk going to a program where they might not get any playing time.  Makes sense to just start your pro career. 

But this is what happens when you sign multiple free agents, you lose draft picks and you lose bonus pool money. 

It was supposedly a very deep draft with a lot talent, but the issues of signability will make it harder to evaluate it right away. The MLB draft is just a lot more complicated than the other drafts. Should it be? 

I'm just glad they didn't overstock on arms again. We'll see how the Sox do at developing these guys going forward. 

[Hugh2]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

 

It was supposedly a very deep draft with a lot talent, but the issues of signability will make it harder to evaluate it right away. The MLB draft is just a lot more complicated than the other drafts. Should it be? 

I'm just glad they didn't overstock on arms again. We'll see how the Sox do at developing these guys going forward. 

They drafted 11 pitchers and 9 position players.  But their top 3 picks were position players and it is clear that the bulk of talent they're banking on here is on that side of the ball. I didn't mind the overstocking of arms, but it was obviously time to shift. 

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

They drafted 11 pitchers and 9 position players.  But their top 3 picks were position players and it is clear that the bulk of talent they're banking on here is on that side of the ball. I didn't mind the overstocking of arms, but it was obviously time to shift. 

The 4 highest nationally ranked draftees were all hitters. Even though it went 11/9 towards pitchers, this was a hitter focused draft. Most of the money will be spent there. 

My complaint last offseason was a lack of offensive guys. They seem to be turning it around.

[mvp 78]

Jake Bruml, Sox Scouting Director, stated that they expect to sign all the guys from the first 10 rounds. Signing deadline is July 27. 

[mvp 78]

Seems like the guys to watch are:

Schaffner SS

Hull OF

Matczynski SS

Shelar OF

LaFavor RHP

[mvp 78]

 

[mvp 78]

 

[mvp 78]

 

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Pure conjecture here, and just a theory, but I wonder if the Sox identifed some transfer guys that weren't ranked but they identified as having the talent they like to work with

Kind of an amateur opinion on my part, but I think Breslow places more value on certain traits (extension for example) than other GMs.

[Hugh2]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

Kind of an amateur opinion on my part, but I think Breslow places more value on certain traits (extension for example) than other GMs.

That's been a Red Sox thing for a while though, I think even under Bloom they liked pitchers with elite extension

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

 

I think by now that everyone takes it for granted that teams move money around.  There is no reason to be loud or quiet.

[moonslav59]

The fact that colleges can pay players adds a wrinkle to this while bonus thing.