The Red Sox have made their first major July 2 signing, locking in international free agent Chris Acosta according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com:
Source: #RedSox have agreed to $1.5M deal RHP w/Chris Acosta, ranked #6 on @mlb Top Intl Prospects list http://t.co/bw8Mkjwr2F @MLBPipeline
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) July 2, 2014
Ranked sixth in the signing class by MLB.com and 11th by Baseball America, the 16-year-old Dominican right-hander is viewed as one of the best pitchers in the class. Already coming in at 6'3", 180 pounds, and with a fastball that sits around 90, Acosta doesn't quite look the part of someone born into a world where Nomar Garciappara was the reigning rookie of the year.
Already well-molded as a pitcher, with strong secondary offerings and clean mechanics, Acosta seems like a safer bet than most July 2 signings while still carrying plenty of upside. At $1.5 million, his signing bonus eats up most of Boston's bonus pool for the year, but coming into the signing period it was understood that the team would be looking to blow well past that mark and simply take the penalties on the chin.
I'll leave you with MLB.com's video of our newest prospect: