January 1, 2010 at 12:11 PM
Sox Prospects of the Decade: 21-30
Happy New Year! Today we bring you Red Sox Prospects 21-30 of the 2000-2009 decade. What's the name for that decade, anyway?
30. Manny Delcarmen has been a cog in Boston’s bullpen since 2005, putting up a 3.74 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 240.1 career innings with the Red Sox. A local product, Delcarmen was drafted in the second round of the 2000 draft out of West Roxbury High School in Massachusetts. He spent seven seasons in the Sox minor league system, but essentially missed one of those seasons following Tommy John Surgery in May 2003. Over his minor league career, the right-handed reliever was 25-25 with 6 saves and a 3.58 ERA, striking out 418 batters in 384.1 innings. Entering 2010, Delcarmen will continue in a set-up role in the Sox bullpen, and then he’s under Red Sox control through 2012.
29. Jose Iglesias officially signed with the Red Sox in September 2009 after he defected from Cuba in July 2008. He made his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League this September, hitting .275/.324/.420 in eighteen games with Mesa. But Iglesias’s strong suit is his defense, and he has received rave reviews for his outstanding glove, arm, range, and footwork, already drawing comparison to Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel. As the shortstop has yet to debut in regular season ball, it’s a little tough to make projections, but many scouts are already penciling him in as Boston’s starting shortstop by 2012. Look for Iglesias to start the 2010 season in Double-A Portland.
28. Junichi Tazawa asked his home country's pro teams to refrain from drafting him during the 2008-2009 off-season in order to allow him to pitch in the United States directly from the amateur ranks. He signed with Boston in December 2008 despite receiving larger offers from several other major league clubs. He played at two minor league levels in 2009, going 9-7 with a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts between Portland and Pawtucket. He also made 6 appearances for the big league club in 2009, going 2-3 with a 7.46 ERA. He’ll likely start the 2010 season in Pawtucket, expecting to be one of the first call-ups to Boston should a need arise in either the bullpen or the rotation. Long-term, Tazawa has the potential to be a solid back-of-the-rotation starter or a late-inning reliever.
27. Tomo Ohka was signed as an international free agent by Boston in November, 1998. He spent 2000 and 2001 with Pawtucket, going 11-11 with a 3.60 ERA over those two seasons. In one of the farm system's highlights of the decade, Ohka pitched a perfect game for the PawSox on June 1, 2000. On July 31, 2001, he was traded to Montreal with Rich Rundles for Ugueth Urbina. During his ten-year major league career, Ohka has pitched for five clubs, going 51-68 and putting up a 4.26 ERA in 202 career games. He’s struck out 590 batters in 1,070 career innings. Ohka is presently a free agent, and there have been some rumors that he may return to Japan to pitch for Yokohama in 2010.
26. Cla Meredith, a sixth-round pick from 2004, spent three season in the Sox farm system between 2004 and 2006. He impressed Boston’s brass during that time, saving 35 games and putting up a 2.95 ERA in 114 relief appearances. The right-handed reliever made his major league debut with the Red Sox on May 8, 2005. In what many have considered a learning experience for manger Terry Francona on how to initiate new players, Meredith was sent to the mound for his first appearance in a pressure-packed situation against the Mariners. He ultimately walked two batters before giving up a grand slam to Richie Sexson. The game shook Meredith’s confidence, leading to two more sub-par performances, and he was optioned to Pawtucket ten days later. The following season, he was traded to San Diego along with Josh Bard for Doug Mirabelli, who returned to Boston as Tim Wakefield’s battery-mate. Meredith has gone on to have a successful major league career, earning 41 holds and putting up a 3.52 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP in 268.1 career innings. He recently signed a one-year deal with Baltimore for the 2010 season, where he’ll likely serve as a seventh-inning set-up man.
25. Anthony Rizzo, presently the sixth-ranked prospect in the Red Sox system, was selected in the sixth round of the 2007 draft out of Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The big first baseman got off to a hot start with Low-A Greenville in 2008, hitting .373 in 21 games, but was sidelined for the remainder of that season after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in May. After receiving chemo-therapy treatment later that year, he was declared cancer-free in November. In 2009, he split his age 19 season between Greenville and High-A Salem, putting up a .297/.368/.361 line in 119 games. During that time, he also demonstrated top-notch defensive skills at first base. He’ll likely return to Salem to start 2010, but a promotion to Portland may not be that far off on the horizon.
24. Nick Hagadone was a supplemental-first-round pick in 2007, selected fifty-fifth overall by Boston. He put up a 1.82 ERA in 59.1 innings between Lowell and Greenville from 2007-2009, missing about one year’s worth of time after June 2008 Tommy John Surgery. This past July, Hagadone was sent to Cleveland with Justin Masterson and Bryan Price for Victor Martinez, and spent the final five weeks of the season with Low-A Lake County, where he was rather dominant, and High-A Kinston, where he only made two appearances. The big lefty turns 24 today, so Cleveland will probably want to see him in Double-A Akron by the end of 2010, but they’ll need to be cautious with pushing him too fast, as Hagadone has yet to perform at High-A, and may not be able to take on a huge bump in innings. In the end, look for Hagadone to land in Cleveland’s bullpen by mid-season 2011, where he should compete for the closer’s job down the line.
23. Lars Anderson, the top-ranked prospect in the system heading into this season, had a tough 2009 campaign that caused his stock to drop in many scouts’ eyes. Drafted in the eighth round of the 2006 draft out of Jesuit High School in California, Anderson signed for an $825,000 bonus in August of that year. In three seasons with the organization, the first baseman has hit .281/.380/.436, hitting 31 home runs in 371 games. Still just 22, he will likely return to Double-A Portland to start the 2010 season, where many expect him to have a bounce-back year. If he can indeed return to his form from 2007 and 2008, Anderson has all-star potential at first base.
22. Josh Reddick has hit .291/.343/.512 since entering the system as a seventeenth-round draft pick in 2006, leading to his present rating as the fourth-ranked prospect in the system. His rise up the organizational ladder has been highlighted thus far by his 2008 campaign in High-A Lancaster, where he hit .343/.375/.593 with 17 home runs in 312 at-bats. He showed improved plate discipline in Portland in 2009, and received a promotion to Boston in July, where he hit just .169 in 59 at-bats. The outfielder turns 23 in February, and likely will begin the 2010 season roaming center field in Pawtucket. Reddick should also get opportunities to play with the big club in 2010, as well as opportunities to become a regular in Boston’s outfield on down the line. He’ll just need to prove some of his doubters wrong by continuing to work on his plate discipline and carrying over the power he’s demonstrated at the lower levels.
21. Ryan Kalish has run neck-and-neck with Reddick in terms of projections and potential, leaving many scouts split on who they believe will have a more productive major league career. Drafted in the ninth round of the 2006 draft out of Red Bank Catholic High School in New Jersey, Kalish presently rates as the third-ranked prospect in the Sox system. In four minor league seasons, Kalish has put up a .281/.370/.421 line, stealing 60 bases in 289 games. He demonstrated improved power in 2009 after a nagging wrist injury seemingly subsided, hitting 18 home runs and slugging .451 in 135 games between Salem and Portland. Kalish will be 22 at the start of the 2010 season, and most likely will return to Double-A to start the year, but the organization might be aggressive and push him to Triple-A Pawtucket early on. Looking on down the line, Kalish’s speed and plate patience make him a candidate to become a major league lead-off hitter, but at the same time he will likely end up as a corner outfielder, leaving some scouts to question whether he’s a “tweaner.”