BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball signee Billy Simon of Wellington (Fla.) High School has signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox.
Simon, a right-handed pitcher, was Boston’s ninth-round selection in the 2001 major league baseball draft.
Simon becomes the fourth of 11 drafted LSU signees to join a major league organization. The others who have signed with pro clubs include catcher Jonathan de Vries of Irvine, Calif. (Boston Red Sox, third round), outfielder Chamar McDonald of Madison, Miss. (Kansas City Royals, fifth round) and outfielder Austin Nagle of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, La. (Oakland Athletics, sixth round).
The remaining LSU signees selected in the 2001 draft are catcher Jonathan Zeringue of E.D. White High School in Thibodaux, La. (Chicago White Sox, third round); outfielder Jay Mattox of Conway, Ark. (Chicago White Sox, fourth round); catcher Jeff Timmons of Hollywood, Fla. (San Francisco Giants, 14th round); outfielder Dustin Hahn of Reno, Nev. (Baltimore Orioles, 21st round); pitcher Chad Gaudin of Crescent City High School in Harahan, La. (Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 34th round); pitcher Jason Vargas of Apple Valley, Calif. (Minnesota Twins, 43rd round); and first baseman Jason Columbus of Alamogordo, N.M. (Cleveland Indians, 49th round).