Bay signing closes book on Red Sox draft picks

Given their preference, the Red Sox wouldn't have had Jason Bay sign with the Mets. Bay, had he signed with a team in the bottom half of next June's draft order, would have netted the Red Sox a first-round draft pick. Instead, since the Mets are scheduled to draft seventh in the first round, their pick is protected -- and thus the Red Sox receive a second-round pick and a supplemental pick in exchange for Bay.

Unless the Red Sox sign outfielder Matt Holliday (a long shot) or relief Jose Valverde (an even longer shot), the Bay signing closes the book on the adjustments to the Red Sox draft next June. Here's a quick look:

First round: No. 20 overall
* The Red Sox receive the Braves' pick for Billy Wagner;
* The Angels receive pick No. 29 from the Red Sox for John Lackey.

Supplemental first round: Two picks between No. 33-40
* The Red Sox receive a to-be-determined pick for Bay;
* The Red Sox receive a to-be-determined pick for Wagner.
(Baseball America a week ago assigned the Red Sox pick No. 35 for Wagner, but that's pre-Bay and pre-Holliday, so the supplemental picks still might move around a little bit.)

Second round: No. 7 in the round (around No. 50 overall)
* The Red Sox receive the Mets' pick for Bay. With the Type A free agents (Holliday, Valverde) and Type B free agents (among them Adrian Beltre, Fernando Rodney and Marlon Byrd) still out there, it's impossible to know exactly where that pick will land.
* The Blue Jays receive pick No. 70 -- or thereabouts, depending on how the supplemental round shakes out -- from the Red Sox for Marco Scutaro.

After all the wheeling and dealing, the Red Sox will have four picks in the top 50, including No. 20 overall. For the sake of comparison, a year ago, the Red Sox drafted Reymond Fuentes at No. 28 in the first round and did not select again until their scheduled pick -- No. 77 overall -- in the second round.

The last time the Red Sox had four picks in the top 50 was 2006, and they emerged with Jason Place, Daniel Bard, Kris Johnson and Caleb Clay. Only Bard to this point has panned out, but there's still time for Clay and Place.

The year before that, the Red Sox had five picks in the top 50 and came out of it with Jacoby Ellsbury, Craig Hansen, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie and Michael Bowden. Not bad.