Florida baseball got some big news on Saturday, as center fielder Jud Fabian announced on Twitter that he will not be signing with the Boston Red Sox, who drafted him in the second round of the 2021 MLB draft last month. Instead, Fabian is returning to Gainesville with two more years of eligibility in tow.
Fabian was considered a potential first-round pick, but with his slide to the second round, he was expected to look for a deal a good bit above the slotted amount. According to reports, he wanted a $3 million signing bonus from the Red Sox, more than $1 million more than his roughly $1.8 million slotted bonus.
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Jim Callis of MLB.com reported that the two weren’t close to a deal, and it seems that Fabian is choosing to take advantage of the leverage he had in the situation. Interestingly, Boston signed his former teammate, Nathan Hickey, to an overslot deal the day before Fabian announced his return.
Fabian was a top recruit coming out of high school and entered his “COVID” sophomore season in 2021 with legitimate first-overall pick hype. He was much too inconsistent for that to come to fruition, batting .249 on the season and leading the team in strikeouts with 79, 25 more than anyone else on the team.
However, when he could connect, good things happened. He had 20 home runs on the season, more than double any of his teammates, and his 46 RBI was second only to Hickey’s 50. On top of that, he’s an elite center fielder, and he finished with a very solid .971 fielding percentage in 2021.
With Fabian coming back for 2022, the Gators will hope for more boom and less bust from their inconsistent star. Fabian, who is clearly looking for a big-time signing bonus next season, has a lot to prove.
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