Benintendi signs, gets $3.6M bonus

Arkansas center fielder Andrew Benintendi takes batting practice Thursday, June 4, 2015, during practice at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE -- Former Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi became an official member of the Boston Red Sox organization on Tuesday after signing with the team that made him the No. 7 pick in the first round of the major-league draft last month.

Benintendi agreed to a signing bonus of $3,590,400, the full slot value for his draft position, according to a report from MLB.com.

On the dotted line

• A list of players drafted in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft who have signed with their respective teams and the amount of the signing bonus each player received:

P. NAME, POS.;MLB TEAM;BONUS

2.Alex Bregman, SS;Astros;$5.9 million

3.Brendan Rodgers, SS;Rockies;$5.5 million

4.Dillon Tate, RHP;Rangers;$4.2 million

5.Kyle Tucker, OF;Astros;$4 million

6.Tyler Jay, LHP;Twins;$3.89 million

7.Andrew Benintendi, OF;Red Sox;$3.59 million

9.Ian Happ, OF;Cubs;$3 million

10.Cornelius Randolph, SS;Phillies;$3.23 million

11.Tyler Stephenson, C;Reds;$3.14 million

15.Trent Clark, OF;Brewers;$2.7 million

17.Brady Aiken, LHP;Indians;$2.51 million

19.Kevin Newman, SS;Pirates;$2.2 million

21.Ashe Russell, RHP;Royals;$2.19 million

22.Beau Burrows, RHP;Tigers;$2.15 million

23.Nick Plummer, OF;Cardinals;$2.12 million

26.Taylor Ward, C;Angels;$1.67 million

27.Mike Nikorak*, RHP;Rockies;$2.3 million

29.Jon Harris*, RHP;Blue Jays;$1.94 million

30.Kyle Holder*, SS;Yankees;$1.8 million

31.Chris Shaw*, 1B;Giants;$1.4 million

32.Ke’Bryan Hayes*, 3B;Giants;$1.85 million

33.Nolan Watson*, RHP;Royals;$1.83 million

34.Christin Stewart*, OF;Tigers;$1.79 million

36.Ryan Mountcastle*, SS;Orioles;$1.3 million

*compensatory selection

SOURCE Baseball America

Multiple reports indicate Benintendi will be assigned to the short-season Class A Lowell (Mass.) Spinners in the New York-Penn League.

Benintendi, a draft-eligible sophomore from Cincinnati who will turn 21 on July 6, became a top prospect and the most honored Arkansas baseball player ever after hitting .376, with 20 home runs, 57 RBI and 24 stolen bases.

He won the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, both national awards, and was named national player of the year by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball as well as SEC player of the year in a vote by league coaches.

All of this after Benintendi hit .276 as a freshman with one home run while overcoming an injury to his right wrist.

"If you sort of take a step back and look at his first year at Arkansas and put it in context of where he was playing as a freshman, to step into an everyday role in what most people would say is the toughest conference in college baseball, his performance is actually pretty solid for a freshman in that conference," Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington said during a June conference call after the draft. "It's a bit jump in competition, so I think in some ways that gave us even more comfort as we looked at the whole thing and obviously, he took a big jump this year so there is, despite only two years of college baseball, there's quite a bit of history we have with him going back to high school."

Benintendi, 5-10, 180, credited his rapid improvement as a sophomore to gaining strength while not playing baseball last summer.

"I put in a lot of work, working on my body and changing my diet," Benintendi said before the College World Series. "I put on 15 pounds this past summer. Coming back in the fall, playing fall ball, I started to notice, especially with the new baseballs in college. I think that, combined with me putting on some muscle, played a big factor in my season."

A month-long hot streak midway through the year raised his average to .415 at the end of the regular season, a stretch Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said he watched in awe. Benintendi;s surge helped the Razorbacks overcome an 11-12 start and advance to the program's eighth College World Series and its fourth in 13 seasons under Van Horn.

"There's so many things we like about him," said Mike Rikard, the Red Sox director of amateur scouting, on draft day. "We think Andrew is a very well-rounded player. He can run. He can play center field. We see him eventually as a top-of-the-order type of bat."

Information for this article was contributed by Todd J. Pearce of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Christopher Smith of The Republican in Springfield, Mass.

Sports on 07/01/2015