I think the fact that the Reds scouting department had been close to him for a while combined with the fact his ranking was in the 30s meant the Reds were relatively certain he would be there when they picked and I am sure they discussed numbers ahead of time.
Along those lines by my calculations with the guys signed so far, even with the above slot money to Felt the Reds are still under budget by about 320K. Not sure if any of the guys they drafted later are tough signs, but they might be able to do some things.