Boston Red Sox Preliminary Prospect List
by John Sickels on Dec 11, 2011 12:05 PM EST
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PrintI started with 50 and I have this narrowed down to 41. Would like to cut two or three more.
Raul Alcantara RHP
Lars Anderson 1B
Chris Balcom-Miller RHP marginal but I thought he was a sleeper last year and want to follow up
Matt Barnes RHP
Xander Bogaerts SS
Jackie Bradley Jr OF
Bryce Brentz OF
Drake Britton LHP
Garin Cecchini 3B
Miguel Celestino RHP unimpressive K/IP and H/IP but has a good arm
Keith Couch RHP
Sean Coyle 2B
Felix Doubront LHP
Alex Hassan OF
Jeremy Hazelbaker OF
Miles Head 1B huhuhuhuhuh
Jose Iglesias SS
Brandon Jacobs OF
Williams Jerez OF
Cody Kukuk LHP
Ryan Lavarnway C
Che-Hsuan Lin OF
Will Middlebrooks 3B
Frank Montas RHP
Henry Owens LHP
Miguel Pena LHP
Noe Ramirez RHP
Henry Ramos OF poor performance but toolsy and young
Anthony Ranaudo RHP
Manuel Rivera LHP
Travis Shaw 3B
Kyle Stroup RHP
Blake Swihart C
Junichi Tazawa RHP
Oscar Tejeda INF
Christian Vasquez C
Jose Vinicio SS
Kolbrin Vitek 3B
Kyle Weiland RHP
Alex Wilson RHP
Brandon Workman RHP
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He actually had a very strong 2nd half after loosening up his swing.
No one should be getting excited about Lars, but he has a solid chance to be a late bloomer.
i agree
i also think a change of scenery is necessary. how can you expect a 1B prospect to get excited when no matter the level of production they will always be blocked by Gonzo? I hope the A’s get him.
Ride the tiger...You can see his stripes but you know he's clean.
by James Westfall on Dec 12, 2011 3:29 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed
He may not be a stud prospect but he is a pretty sure bet to spend some years in the bigs.
Big Sexy
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by King Billy Royal on Dec 12, 2011 4:59 PM EST up reply actions
Who has a better ML career,
Lars Anderson or Clint Robinson?
They are both blocked, one is older with better minor league #s, the other is better defensively, has the better overall pedigree and maybe more upside.
Missing; Stolmy
I know he had a bad year, but Stolmy Pimentel still has great stuff. Had a rough year controlling it, but he’s definitely a top 40 in the system. Did you leave him off intentionally?
Pena, Shaw, Rivera stick out as guys I’d cut. I think Kendrick Perkins could merit consideration to be added here as well though.
BTW, just curious
Who were the nine cuts so far?
System has little at the top, but has broad depth in that 20-60 range.
cuts
cuts stolmy, perkins, younginer, renfroe, erasmus, ott, r. rodriguez, gibson
by John Sickels on Dec 11, 2011 1:24 PM EST up reply actions
Slightly off topic but would you be willing to do a trade retrospective on the Adrian Gonzalez deal John?
I just think it would be really interesting
by benderbrodriguez on Dec 11, 2011 1:54 PM EST reply actions
CBM
Glad you are keeping him on the list…he did pretty well in AA (FIP was 3.50) and maintained a decent BB%, but the drop in K% is a bit troubling.
Adalberto Ibarra
Not suggesting to put him on the list, but curious if anyone has heard much about him since midsummer.
3 cuts
jerez, stroup, and pena
not saying i don’t respect each of them as prospects but they would be the 3 cuts i would make if i had to cut 3
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list
Raul Alcantara RHP
Lars Anderson 1B
Chris Balcom-Miller RHP
Matt Barnes RHP
Xander Bogaerts SS
Jackie Bradley Jr OF
Bryce Brentz OF
Drake Britton LHP
Garin Cecchini 3B
Keith Couch RHP
Sean Coyle 2B
Felix Doubront LHP
Alex Hassan OF
Jeremy Hazelbaker OF
Miles Head 1B
Jose Iglesias SS
Brandon Jacobs OF
Williams Jerez OF
Cody Kukuk LHP
Ryan Lavarnway C
Che-Hsuan Lin OF
Will Middlebrooks 3B
Frank Montas RHP
Henry Owens LHP
Stolmy Pimentel RHP
Kendrick Perkins OF
Noe Ramirez RHP
Henry Ramos OF
Anthony Ranaudo RHP
Manuel Rivera LHP
Travis Shaw 3B
Kyle Stroup RHP
Blake Swihart C
Junichi Tazawa RHP
Oscar Tejeda INF
Christian Vasquez C
Jose Vinicio SS
Kolbrin Vitek 3B
Kyle Weiland RHP
Alex Wilson RHP
Brandon Workman RHP
Tejeda, Head and Lars
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by Marisa Ingemi on Dec 11, 2011 11:04 PM EST up reply actions
No 1B
I don’t like Head or Lars but I don’t see how you couldn’t have them in the top 38. And just on tools Tejeda would be tough to leave off although if you just look at the numbers it was a terrible year.
by GoldenSpikes24 on Dec 12, 2011 3:44 PM EST up reply actions
two cents
got a little tricky at the end making final cuts down to 20, but this is my list:
1 Will Middlebrooks 3B
2 Xander Bogaerts SS — beast
3 Matt Barnes RHP
4 Anthony Ranaudo RHP — still a believer after a so-so first full year
5 Ryan Lavarnway C — proverbial ‘professional hitter’
6 Bryce Brentz OF - little high here, but i expect a major breakout next season, pretty swing and super athletic. showed surprising speed last year before injury that probably wont last as he fills out, but still encouraging
7 Brandon Jacobs OF
8 Garin Cecchini 3B -
9 Jose Iglesias SS — starting to seriously worry the bat/approach will never come around. glove is enough to keep him on track
10 Sean Coyle 2B
11 Blake Swihart C
12 Kyle Weiland RHP — born to be a Twins starter
13 Miles Head 1B — long swing but great patience and legit power
14 Alex Hassan OF — i’ll bite on last season’s performance. not a ton of power but great approach (76:79 BB:K in Portland) and REGULARLY fights off tough pitches/squares up the pitches he should drive
15 Henry Owens LHP — looking forward to his debut
16 Felix Doubront LHP — bleh. destined for bullpen but doesn’t have power stuff to make an impact.
17 Alex Wilson RHP
18 Jackie Bradley Jr OF — didn’t get to see him last year but could see him moving his way up the list in a hurry
19 Kolbrin Vitek 3B
20 Lars Anderson 1B — i’ll throw him a bone at #20 but he just doesn’t look like a major leaguer at this point
Just missed: Oscar Tejeda INF (tools out the wazoo, awful approach), Raul Alcantara RHP (good arm, erratic though), Brandon Workman RHP (think he can be a decent innings eater), Drake Britton (what happened here…???)
Xander Bogaerts SS — beast
super beast.
by JoelGuzman'sScout on Dec 12, 2011 5:29 AM EST up reply actions
Miles Head 1B
middle name is “of”?
by JoelGuzman'sScout on Dec 12, 2011 11:14 AM EST up reply actions
I usually go with "A."
But I like how you’re thinking
"It is so on that things have now become very much like Donkey Kong."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Dec 13, 2011 11:59 AM EST up reply actions
how about this? restores Pimentel
Boston Red Sox 40 players
Raul Alcantara RHP
Lars Anderson 1B
Chris Balcom-Miller RHP
Matt Barnes RHP
Xander Bogaerts SS
Jackie Bradley Jr OF
Bryce Brentz OF
Drake Britton LHP
Garin Cecchini 3B
Keith Couch RHP
Sean Coyle 2B
Felix Doubront LHP
Alex Hassan OF
Jeremy Hazelbaker OF
Miles Head 1B
Jose Iglesias SS
Brandon Jacobs OF
Williams Jerez OF
Cody Kukuk LHP
Ryan Lavarnway C
Che-Hsuan Lin OF
Will Middlebrooks 3B
Frank Montas RHP
Henry Owens LHP
Kendrick Perkins OF
Stolmy Pimentel RHP
Noe Ramirez RHP
Henry Ramos OF
Anthony Ranaudo RHP
Travis Shaw 3B
Kyle Stroup RHP
Blake Swihart C
Junichi Tazawa RHP
Oscar Tejeda INF
Christian Vazquez C C+
Jose Vinicio SS C+
Kolbrin Vitek 3B C+
Kyle Weiland RHP C+
Alex Wilson RHP B-
Brandon Workman RHP B-
Stroup, Montas, Couch and perhaps Balcolm-Miller are the four most cuttable IMHO.
I understand not wanting to cut Balcom-Miller. He’d rank higher than a number of these guys for me and is interesting enough to keep.
Not to make your life harder, but Younginer has better stuff than a lot of these guys, too. This is going to be tough.
But what are the odds of him
hitting that ceiling?
He’s a 18 year old kid, who throws 100 mph. That’s awesome, but what are the odds he doesn’t flame out? Furthermore, he doesn’t have anything as far as secondary offerings, so right now, that ceiling is basically of a high lev reliever…
I like him, but he’s not in the top 40.
He does...
and you have to love velo, but he’s very raw with reliever mechanics.
I’d give strong consideration to including Younginer and Hernandez over him.
which really speaks to the depth of this system
I mean, we’re talking about not including guys like Montas, Younginer,Perkins and Hernandez… they’re all interesting pieces.
I mean hell, I actually think one could argue that despite Renfroe’s struggles, his pedigree suggests he should slot in to the back end somewhere.
Very much so.
Jordan Weems, Mookie Betts, Luis Exposito, Keury de la Cruz and Dan Butler could all guys who could have made a list like this, too.
Seriously, Vazquez should be a B-
A.J. Jimenez was a B-, Vazquez was a little older, and played at a lower level, but he hit a lot better, has better Caught stealing% and WP+PB/G. Has a better FRAA, has better reviews on defense from scouts.
grades
Let me get the thing written up before we start looking at the grades. :)
When I start ordering players in the top 20, the grades often change. You’re watching the sausage get made and it aint’ always pretty.
by John Sickels on Dec 11, 2011 7:40 PM EST up reply actions
Great List
I would have put Heiker Menses and Chris Hernandez in. But its nit picking. Otherwise I love your list.
Chris Hernandez is a lefty who can reach back to 92 on occasion and has a major league out pitch with his cutter. He also has spectacular makeup. I will be very surprised if he never pitches in the bigs.
Menses played at Greenville-Salem-Portland as a 19 year old and combined to put up this line….295-363-400-763 while playing solid defense at SS-2b-3b. He stole 25-31.
Red Sox have the best depth in baseball. Cutting the list is tough.
No way Tejeda should not be in the top 30. Dude was 21 and a half in AA. And he still wasn’t that bad.
In order of players on your list to cut first….
Travis Shaw—Too big to play 3rd. Not good enough to play first.
Williams Jerez—He would have snuck into my top 40 at the start of the season. Then he played very poorly. Nothing to tout as hope stat wise. Closing in on 20 already.
Its a fine list though. Great job.
menses
I was looking at Menses actually. I feel like I have to include Jerez due to draft status, however it is plausable I could cut out Shaw in favor of Menses.
by John Sickels on Dec 11, 2011 7:41 PM EST up reply actions
Meneses
I like Meneses a lot as a sleeper. He held his own playing a couple levels over his head in Portland after Bogaerts was promoted to Greenville. I could see him developing into a speedy utility infielder for a second-division. NL team. I like the Shaw-Meneses swap.
Yes, Meneses
Menses is different.
"It is so on that things have now become very much like Donkey Kong."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Dec 12, 2011 3:55 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
please don't trust draft season stats
people were so worried about Brentz last year because of his lowell stats. He came in this year and blew up. Jerez only had 141 PA’s. Walk rate, the quickest thing to stabilize dosen’t stabilize until 200 PA’s.
The Red Sox 2010 draft is looking pretty amazing now
Vitek: actually now looked on as the worst or tied with Workman for worst of the top 6 picks, still has a very good bat. Questions about glove.
Brentz: Is an absolute monster. Hit .359 in Greenville with a .460 wOBA and a 184 wRC+. Moved up to Salem and hit 19 homers with a 140 wRC+. Hit 30 home runs.
Ranaudo: Very good pitching prospect with a #2 or 3 ceiling.
Workman: Middle of the rotation starter who has put up good numbers.
Coyle: Underrated but very high ceiling. Has very good power, speed and defense for a 2nd baseman. He got unlucky with BABIP.
Cecchini: Has a monster ceiling. Could have a crazy bat and plays a very thing position.
Then some other sleepers
Henry Ramos and Kendrick Perkins are super toolsy.
Keith Couch has put up great numbers and he is one of my favorite prospects.
Didn't Kendrick Perkins get traded?
Wasn’t there hoopla? I distinctly heard hoopla..
by Matt0330 on Dec 12, 2011 10:46 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Stolmy and cuts
I would cut Shaw, Couch, Alcantara, Pena, Rivera, Stroup, Balcolm-Miller
Stolmy has to be in, just too good of an arm to give up on. Looking back at the list a year from now he could look like a huge omission.
Oscar Tejada- despite the stat line he easily belongs on the list, he still has the tools. I like him, wouldn’t be surprised to see a moderate improvement next year, followed by a big gain in 2013. could end up a nice bench guy in the end
Raul Alcantara- I think you could get away with waiting until next years list to include him, lots of potential but I think he’s still too raw to have a breakout in 2012.
Miguel Pena/Manny Rivera/Kyle Stroup- much the same belief as Alcantara, some upside but could probably wait a year to put them on the list and not miss out on one of them breaking through.
by GoldenSpikes24 on Dec 11, 2011 11:15 PM EST reply actions
Agreed
I have to admit my faith in former Red Sox favorites Micheal Bowden and Lars Anderson is starting to disappear…I still think Tejeda might surprise. I don’t think he’ll be Dustin Pedroia, but he could still develop into a very good utility infielder, maybe even start for a different team.
looks like a very average system that
thins out a lot when you get past 8 or 9. I’m guessing C’s begin around there.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Dec 12, 2011 10:05 AM EST reply actions
The cause for optimism is that there are a ton of those C’s
That have the tools to run up the list pretty quickly.
They’ve got a nice mix of guys who will have major league careers as role players in Alex Wilson, Kyle Wieland, Workman, Jose Iglesias (though he has some limited upside) and guys who are immensely toolsy in Owens, Kubac, and Jerez and a bunch of guys who no one really thought much of, having some success in Vazquez and Head.
there's usually plenty of reasons to find optimism in
C prospects in general.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Dec 12, 2011 10:32 AM EST up reply actions
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