All the hard work catcher Mat Nelson put in since arriving in Tallahassee paid off with an All-America season in 2021 for the Florida State Seminoles.
And on Sunday night, it paid off in a big way for him financially.
Nelson was drafted with the 35th overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the compensation round of the Major League Baseball Draft. The slot value for that pick is set right around $2.1 million.
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On the same day former FSU star Cal Raleigh made his major-league debut with the Seattle Mariners, Nelson became the highest-drafted Florida State catcher since Buster Posey went No. 5 overall in the 2008 draft.
He is the highest-drafted FSU player at any position since current big-leaguer D.J. Stewart went 25th overall to the Baltimore Orioles in 2015.
*ALSO SEE: More on Mat Nelson’s emergence as a top MLB Draft pick
Nelson led the nation in homers with 23 and was a unanimous All-American this past season. He won the Johnny Bench Award and the Buster Posey Award as the nation’s top college catcher, and he was the ACC Player of the Year as well.
The second compensation round and then rounds 2 through 10 will take place on Monday afternoon starting at 1 p.m.
There are a number of current FSU players and recruits who are in play now that the draft has gotten through the first round and the first batch of compensation picks.
Stay tuned to Warchant.com for updates throughout the day.
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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council