Weekly Notes: PawSox fall short in the championship

This week's minor league notes:

• With the rest of the affiliates done for the year, the only remaining squad playing games was Pawtucket who faced off against the Reno Aces, an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in the Triple-A championship game. The impressive season for the PawSox came to an end with the 10-3 loss.  SoxProspects.com's Senior Staff Writer John Gray gives more details on the game and some individual performances.
• It was a big week and season for the PawSox, but it was also a big week for SoxProspects.com as we celebrated our 9th anniversary on Thursday.  SoxProspects.com's Executive Editor Chis Hatfield looks back nine years to when Mike Andrews started the site, and highlights some key developments over the years.  The site has come a long way over the years, and - due in large part to the interest from the fans - has grown to a staff of 23, receiving over 15-million page hits a year.
• Since the 2012 minor league season has drawn to a close, SoxProspects.com's Editor-in-Chief Mike Andrews took a look over at ESPN Boston at the season's statistical leaders.
• Next up for some of the prospects is the Fall Instructional League which begins today down at Ft. Myers.  Games are open to the public and Mike Andrews has the full schedule and the rosters. One name that sticks out on the roster is Anthony Ranaudo, who returns from a dead arm that shut him down at the start of July. SoxProspects.com's Director of Scouting Chris Mellen will be in attendance next week, so expect much more on this in the coming weeks.
• Speaking of Chris Mellen, as you may already know, he was the "first round pick" by Baseball Prospectus to become a member of a team of scouts and writers working closely with Jason Parks covering the minor leagues in the wake of Kevin Goldstein's departure. While Mellen has already started contributing to some of the Monday Ten Packs such as here and here, the official announcement came yesterday. Please join us in congratulating Chris, but worry not.  He will still continue with his role here as Director of Scouting, and his added exposure to players and contacts outside the organization will only make his input stronger.
• The Red Sox will have the highest draft pick in years, and therefore it is never to early to start looking ahead to next year's draft.  WEEI.com's Alex Speier is on it with profiles covering Stanford University's right-hander Mark Appel, Indiana State's left-hander Sean Manaea, and University of Arkansas' right-hander Ryne Stanek.
• Speier also continued with his Minor Details podcast, with two great shows.  The first was with Red Sox director of amateur scouting Amiel Sawdaye on how to rebuild a minor league pitching pipeline.  The second was with Pawtuckett outfielder Bryce Brentz and Red Sox minor league hitting coordinator Victor Rodriguez on the potential future power hitters in the system.
• Now that the PawSox season is over more players will be balled up to the Red Sox for the remainder of the season.  Tim Britton of the Providence Journal takes a look at these call ups, and how they are effected by the 40-man roster. Piece gives good insight into why the Red Sox will not call up players like Brentz or top prospect Xander Bogaerts.

Will Woodward is a Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com and you can follow him on Twitter @SPWill.

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