The Red Sox spent in excess of $10 million on their draft, which may be a first in draft history.

Records for yearly expenditures by clubs are incomplete. But while an exact total isn’t available yet, it’s certain that Boston’s draft spending exceeded eight figures this year.

The Red Sox spent $8.99 million on their 12 choices in the first 10 rounds, including $3 million on first-rounder Casey Kelly, $2 million on fifth-rounder Ryan Westmoreland and $1 million on fourth-rounder Pete Hissey. They paid out another $1 million on four late-rounders: 13th-rounder Tyler Wilson ($300,000), 27th-rounder Hunter Cervenka ($350,000), 35th-rounder Carson Blair ($200,000) and 50th-rounder Kyle Stroup ($150,000). [Stroup was the 1,504th and final player selected in the 2008 draft.]

That takes Boston to $9.99 million, and it signed 13 additional players at a minimum of $1,000 each (at least a couple of those got more substantial bonuses), taking them past $10 million. They also offered $2 million to 20th-rounder Alex Meyer, only to get turned down.

The Yankees topped all teams in 2007 by spending $8,035,500 on draft bonuses. In 2005, the Diamondbacks gave No. 1 overall pick Justin Upton $6.1 million and handed out a total of $9.483 million to 11 players in the first 10 rounds, but figures are unavailable on the bonuses the paid to 17 draftees in later rounds.

When Boston spent a then-club-record $5.5 million on the draft in 2003, it issued a press release touting its largesse. "This should be a dramatic illustration that we are serious about cementing the long-term success of this franchise through amateur scouting and player development," team president Larry Lucchino said in the statement.

The Red Sox are more serious than ever.