State of the System '20: Middle Infielders

Part six of our State of the System series will focus on middle infielders drafted from 2014 onward or signed on the international market in July 2013 and later. Be sure to check out the rest of the entries in the series.

The Lineup

Notable Draftees, 2014-2019

Jeremy Rivera – 2014 17th rd., <$100,000 bonus; 2019: AA

Chad De La Guerra – 2015 17th rd., $5,000 bonus; 2019: AA/AAA

Yomar Valentin – 2015 20th rd., $130,000 bonus; Released, Jan. 2018

CJ Chatham – 2016 2nd rd., $1,100,000 bonus; 2019: AA/AAA

Santiago Espinal – 2016 10th rd., $50,000 bonus; Traded to TOR for Steve Pearce, June 2018

Brett Netzer – 2017 3rd rd., $475,000 bonus; 2019: AA

Andre Colon – 2017 11th rd., $125,000 bonus; 2019: Rk

Cameron Cannon – 2019 2nd rd., $1,300,000 bonus; 2019: A-

Matthew Lugo – 2019 2nd rd., $1,100,000 bonus; 2019: Rk/A-

Alex Erro – 2019 17th rd., $125,000 bonus; 2019: A-

Karson Simas – 2019 25th rd., $175,000 bonus; 2019: Rk

Daniel Bakst – 2019 28th rd., $75,000 bonus; Retired, Jan. 2020

Notable International Signees, July 2, 2013 to present

Yoan Moncada – March 12, 2015, $31,500,000 bonus; Traded to CWS for Chris Sale, Dec. 2016

Antonio Pineiro – July 2, 2015, $300,000 bonus; Contract voided, July 2016

Eduardo Torrealba – July 2, 2015, $300,000 bonus; Contract voided, July 2016

Everlouis Lozada – July 2, 2015, $250,000 bonus; 2019: A

Yeison Coca – July 2, 2015, $220,000 bonus; Traded to MIL for Tyler Thornburg, Dec. 2016

Kervin Suarez – July 2, 2015, $100,000 bonus; 2019: A/A+

Antoni Flores – July 2, 2017, $1,400,000 bonus; 2019: A-

Denny Daza – July 2, 2017, $250,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Ceddanne Rafaela – July 2, 2017, $10,000 bonus; 2019: Rk/A-

Esteban Quiroz – November 21, 2017; Traded to SD for Colten Brewer, Nov. 2018

Eddinson Paulino – July 2, 2018, $205,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Axel James – July 2, 2018, $60,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Brainer Bonaci – July 9, 2018, $290,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Jose Mendez – July 2, 2019, $200,000 bonus; 2019: Tricky League

Allan Castro – July 2, 2019, $100,000 bonus; 2019: Tricky League

Johnfrank Salazar – August 5, 2019, $400,000 bonus; 2019: Tricky League

Trade Acquisitions

Marco Hernandez – Acquired from CHC for Felix Doubront, Dec. 2014; 2019: Rehab/AAA/MLB

Jeter Downs – Acquired from LAD  for Mookie Betts and David Price, Feb. 2020; 2019: A+/AA

Independent League Signings

Ryan Fitzgerald - Contract purchased from Gary of the American Association, May 2018; 2019: A+

Rule 5 Draft

Jonathan Arauz – Selected from HOU, Dec. 2019; 2019: A+/AA

Position Status: For a time, with Xander Bogaerts (pictured, left) entrenched as the everyday shortstop and Dustin Pedroia locked up until 2021, the Red Sox had their middle infield set for the foreseeable future. Perhaps as a result, from 2014 through 2018, the organization rarely used high picks or large bonuses on middle infielders... with one enormous exception. In March 2015, the club gave the largest international free agent signing bonus ever, $31.5 million (not even counting the tax the club paid on the bonus), to second baseman Yoan Moncada. The Red Sox later leveraged his prospect status as a significant chip in acquiring Chris Sale in 2016, and with him, the 2018 World Series Championship. But now, a full season removed from that championship season, Sale will likely miss the first two seasons of his five-year, $145-million extension after Tommy John surgery and it is the White Sox now reaping the benefits. Meanwhile, Moncada broke out last year, hitting .315/.367/.548 and putting himself on a trajectory to become a star with a 4.8 bWAR/5.7 fWAR season. Flags fly forever and both teams will rightfully call the trade a win, but much as some fans, even after Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell were crucial in securing the 2007 World Series championship, couldn’t help but wonder “What if?” after trading future MVP Hanley Ramirez, so too may some dream about how a Devers-Bogaerts-Moncada infield might have looked in Boston for years, not to mention whether opting not to extend Sale would have kept Mookie Betts in Boston.

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Minor Notes: Red Sox punished for video room scandal

There is no baseball to watch, but there is plenty of baseball news to talk about. Here is what's going on down on the farm.

• After a seemingly interminable wait, the commissioner's office finally doled out the Red Sox punishment for the scandal involving their unauthorized use the video replay room. The team was docked a second-round choice in June's amateur draft. Replay operator JT Watkins was suspended for the 2020 season and will not be allowed to return to that role in 2021. Manager Alex Cora escaped punishment beyond what he received for his role in the more involved Houston Astros scandal.

• The SoxProspects.com news page has kept on ticking even while games remain on hold. Ian Cundall and Chris Hatfield have collaborated to run the new State of the System series over the last few weeks. The most recent entry dives into likely the deepest position in the organization, the corner infielders, including top prospect Triston Casas (pictured). 

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Cup of Coffee: Where are they now? (Pitchers Vol. 2)

4/27 Cup of Coffee: We continue our look around at players who have moved on from the Red Sox system in recent years with a quartet of pitchers, including two of the more coveted prospects the team dealt in their run of success.

Michael Kopech

It takes a pretty special talent to undergo Tommy John surgery and not lose any prospect sheen. So it is with Kopech, in the conversation for being the human being who hurls a five ounce orb harder than any other on the planet. The co-headliner (along with Yoan Moncada) of the deal that brought Chris Sale from the White Sox, Kopech had been whittling down his walk rate while climbing the minor league ladder while continuing to strike out batters at an exceptional rate. In 2018 with Triple-A Charlotte, he struck out 170 batters in 126 1/3 innings against 60 walks. The 11.1% walk rate was the lowest for Kopech in any season about 70 innings, while his strikeout total was the highest in Triple-A despite throwing the 28th-most innings. 

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Scouting Report Updates: Ward, Decker, Aybar, Fitzgerald, Bazardo

Our latest scouting report update includes five players on our current Top 60 list. This set of reports is led by 2019 SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Year Thaddeus Ward. Ward was consistently excellent last year, splitting his time between Greenville and Salem, and adding a cutter to his pitch mix.

SoxProspects.com scouting reports are written by our scouting report team, led by Director of Scouting Ian Cundall.

Thaddeus Ward, Right-handed pitcher

Physical Description: Thin, athletic right-hander with some projection in his upper body.

Mechanics: Throws from a three-quarters arm slot from the first base side. Easy, athletic mechanics. Starts in the stretch but then steps like he is throwing from the wind-up. Loose arm action. Stab behind during delivery. Comes across body. Arm gets out of sync with the rest of his delivery at times. Gets good extension. Maintains delivery deep into games.

Fastball: 91-94 mph. Tops out at 96 mph. Primarily, will sink the pitch with late movement down and in on right-handed hitters. Could add velocity as he matures. Typically has good control of the pitch; control appeared to have taken a small step back after promotion to High A in 2019, but that may have been caused by the after-effects of a comebacker off his pitching hand in mid-July. Potential above-average offering more likely to settle in the solid-average range.

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State of the System '20: Corner Infielders

Part five of our State of the System series focuses on corner infielders going back to the 2014 draft, as well as international free agents from July 2013 onwards. Be sure to check out the rest of the entries in the series.

The Lineup

Notable Draftees, 2014-2019

Michael Chavis – 2014, 1st rd., $1,870,500 bonus; 2019: AAA/MLB

Sam Travis – 2014, 2nd rd., $846,800 bonus; Traded to TEX for Jeffrey Springs, Jan. 2020

Josh Ockimey – 2014, 5th rd., $450,000 bonus; 2019: AAA

Jerry Downs – 2015, 15th rd., $100,000 bonus; 2019: A+/AA

Bobby Dalbec – 2016, 4th rd., $650,000 bonus; 2019: AA, AAA

Garrett Benge – 2017, 13th rd., $125,000 bonus; 2019: A+

Triston Casas -  2018, 1st rd., $2,552,800 bonus; 2019: A, A+

Devlin Granberg – 2018, 6th rd., $40,000 bonus; 2019: A, A+

Nick Northcut – 2018, 11th rd., $565,000 bonus; 2019: A-

Brandon Howlett – 2018, 21st rd., $185,000 bonus; 2019: A

Stephen Scott – 2019, 10th rd., $50,000 bonus; 2019: A-

Notable International Signees, July 2, 2013 to present

Rafael Devers – July 2, 2013, $1,500,000 bonus; 2019: MLB

Elwin Tejada – July 2 , 2014, $300,000 bonus; Released, March 2017

Hemerson Serven – July 2, 2014, $100,000 bonus; Released, July 2016

Pedro Castellanos – July 2, 2015, $5,000 bonus; 2019: A+

Danny Diaz – July 2, 2017, $1,600,000 bonus; 2019: Rk/DSL

Wilker Vargas – July 2, 2017, $175,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Albert Feliz – July 2, 2018, $400,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Noelberth Romero – July 2, 2018, $275,000 bonus; Traded to BAL for Andrew Cashner, July 2019

Lyonell James – July 2, 2019, $440,000 bonus; 2019: Tricky League

Position Status: In the time period covered here, the Red Sox have gone with a quality-over-volume approach towards corner infielders, inconsistently acquiring players for the corners in given years, but being unafraid to use high draft picks and/or over-slot bonuses in the draft and large international bonuses when they do. One reason for that, at least with international amateurs and, to some degree, high school draftees, very few players sign as true first base or third base types given that the best players typically play up the middle. In the draft, however, especially (but not always) with college players, you will see more true corner infield prospects.

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Cup of Coffee: Where are they now? (Pitchers, Vol. 1)

4/21 Cup of Coffee: The Red Sox traded a lot of pitchers between 2016 and 2018. Here are four of them:

Jamie Callahan

The top-ranked prospect in the 2017 deadline deal to acquire Addison Reed, Callahan made his major league debut for the Mets just six weeks later. After sputtering as a starter to start his pro career, the 2012 second-round pick was dominant in a bullpen role with Portland to start the ’17 campaign and continued to pitch effectively after a May promotion to Pawtucket. Callahan allowed four runs (three earned) in 6 2/3 innings across nine appearances in a September audition that seemed to set him up to compete for a job in the Mets bullpen the following year, but a shoulder injury suffered in April shelved him for 14 months. Non-tendered by New York, Callahan signed a minor league deal with the Giants. He struggled in his return to Triple-A and was released in spring training. Still only 25, Callahan is currently a free agent. 

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Cup of Coffee: How the Eduardo Nunez trade predicted everything

4/18 Cup of Coffee: Full disclosure – this piece began as a much more straightforward continuation of the “Where are they Now” set that ran earlier in the week, but soon morphed into a “How Did We Get Here.” Two paragraphs into a Shaun Anderson (pictured) entry it started to turn in a different direction. In normal times, I likely would’ve stuck to the task and not fallen down the rabbit hole. However, these are not normal times—we’re locked in our houses and the Red Sox traded Mookie Betts. So you’ll have to indulge me as I break down the 2017 trade that sent pitchers Anderson and Gregory Santos to San Francisco for infielder Eduardo Nunez and how it illustrates the story of how the Red Sox got to where they are. 

The college-reliever-turned-pro-starter path is one rarely tread successfully, and when Anderson had a brutal debut with Lowell after getting taken with Boston’s third-round pick in the June 2016 draft it wasn’t looking particularly promising. Undeterred, Boston assigned him to High A Salem for his first full-season assignment and they would see that confidence rewarded. It took only 11 starts at the level for Anderson to re-establish his value before he was sent to San Francisco in the Nunez trade. 

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State of the System '20: Catchers

Part four of our State of the System series focuses on catchers acquired going back to the 2014 draft, as well as international free agents from 2013 onwards. Be sure to check out the rest of the entries in the series.

The Lineup

Notable Draftees, 2014-2019

Ben Moore – 2014 draft, 8th rd., $152,700 bonus; Released April 2017

Devon Fisher – 2014 draft, 20th rd., $300,000 bonus; Converted to pitching in 2016, Released Nov. 2019

Austin Rei – 2015 draft, 3rd rd., $742,400 bonus; 2019: AA

Andrew Noviello – 2015 draft, 25th rd., $100,000 bonus; Released March 2017

Alan Marrero – 2016 draft, 8th rd., $160,000 bonus; 2019: A

Alberto Schmidt – 2016 draft, 16th rd., $100,000 bonus; Released Nov. 2019

Nick Sciortino – 2016 draft, 17th rd., $80,000 bonus; 2019: A+

Beau Hanna – 2017 draft, 12th rd., $125,000 bonus; Retired, 2018 (playing Division II baseball)

Kole Cottam – 2018 draft, 4th rd., $375,000 bonus; 2019: A, A+

Elih Marrero – 2018 draft, 8th rd., $157,700 bonus; 2019: SS-A; A+

Jaxx Groshans – 2019 draft, 5th rd., $304,200 bonus; 2019: SS-A

Jacob Herbert – 2019 draft, 18th rd., $125,000 bonus; 2019: Rk

Notable International Signees, July 2, 2013 to present

Roldani Baldwin – November 8, 2013, $45,000 bonus; 2019: Injured, Rehab in Rk/A-

Carlos Pulido – March 6, 2015, $200,000 bonus; Released in March 2019

Keibert Petit – March 9, 2015, $200,000 bonus; Released Feb. 2020

Daniel Flores – July 2, 2017, $3,100,000 bonus; deceased

Jonathan Diaz – July 2, 2017, $7,500 bonus; 2019: SS-A

Naysbel Marcano – July 2, 2018, $350,000 bonus; 2019: DSL

Rivaldo Avila – July 2, 2019, $405,000 bonus; 2019: Tricky Lg

Trade Acquisitions 

Connor Wong - Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 10, 2020

Jhonny Pereda - Acquired from the Chicago Cubs on March 23, 2020

Position Status: Over the last few years, the Red Sox have spent a fair but not overwhelming amount of draft capital on catchers with little success. In the current SoxProspects top 60, there are only three catchers ranked, the top two of whom were acquired via trade in the past couple of months. Only Connor Wong, acquired in the Mookie Betts deal, is inside the top 50, at number 12.

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Cup of Coffee: Where are they now? (Outfielders)

4/15 Cup of Coffee: We continue to check in on some players who started their rise in the Red Sox organization. Today we look at a group of outfielders ranging from an established major leaguer to a former top international signing struggling to get out of the New York-Penn League. 

Manuel Margot

It is now over four years from the still-polarizing deal that sent Margot and three other prospects to San Diego for Craig Kimbrel, and we still don’t have a terribly firm handle on how good Margot is. He’s still young (he’ll be 25 for most of a theoretical regular season) and he’s already amassed over 1500 major league plate appearances. He was good but not great in 2017, mediocre but not poor in 2018, and somewhere in between in 2019. If there’s been a disappointment in his development it’s with his contact skills. Margot had high contact rates in the minor leagues, including a memorable stretch where he began the 2015 season with only one strikeout in the entire month of April. In the majors, the K rate has floated close to 20%, keeping his batting averages a little too low for a player whose low walk rates and middling power make his offensive game rather base hit dependent. 

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Minor Notes: Season still in limbo; changes to MLB Draft

Here are this week's minor league notes:

• With the baseball season still suspended due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the SoxProspects scouting team has taken the chance to reflect on the Red Sox farm system in our State of the System series. So far our staff has completely covered the pitching side of things, with deep dives on arms in the low-minors, mid-minors, and high-minors. We will continue to update this series regularly as we analyze the system position by position, starting with the catchers. 

• In addition to our State of the System series, the scouting team has been hard at work updating our site's scouting reports. Three batches of scouting report updates have been released so far featuring Jhonny Pereda, Brock Bell, and Wil Dalton among other prospects from all levels of the system. 

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Scouting Report Updates: Jimenez, Reyes, Shawaryn, Northcut, Diaz, Schellenger

Another round of scouting report updates are have been filed, just in time for the theoretical start of the minor league season. This collection of reports is led by 2019 SoxProspects.com Breakout Player of the Year Gilberto Jimenez. At this time one year ago, Jimenez had shown promise, ranked as our #16 prospect in the system. After a stellar year in Lowell, where he slashed .359/.393/.470, Jimenez is now perched at the number 5 spot in our rankings.

SoxProspects.com scouting reports are written by our scouting report team, led by Director of Scouting Ian Cundall.

Gilberto Jimenez, Outfielder

Physical Description: Extremely loose and athletic. Standout athleticism. Some projection in frame. Lower half is filled out, but could stand to get stronger with his upper body.

Hit: Plus bat speed and very quick hands. Unusually advanced contact skills. Left-handed swing is a work in progress. Starts crouched and square. Uses a toe-tap. Swing is short and direct to the ball. Tends to slap at it, looking to put the ball in play rather than drive it, and doesn’t incorporate his lower half. From this side has shown a strong willingness to drop a bunt down for a base hit. Swing is more fluid from the right side of the plate, his natural side. Utilizes a leg kick and keeps the barrel in the zone longer. Generates more hard contact. Approach and pitch recognition are raw, but strikeout rates are very low due to advanced bat-to-ball skills. Had made clear adjustments to his set up and left-handed swing in the 2019 Fall Instructional League, starting with a wider base and using a more pronounced weight transfer to better incorporate his lower half. This allowed him to stay in the box longer and square the ball up more to the pull side in batting practice sessions. Wide range of outcomes with his future hit tool, but you can dream on it developing into a plus tool.

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Cup of Coffee: Where are they Now? (Infielders edition)

4/14 Cup of Coffee: For our Tuesday morning edition, we'll check in around the league with some familiar faces. We'll start out with a quintet of infielders.

Mauricio Dubon

One of the more popular players in the system, both among his teammates and fans, Dubon went to Milwaukee as part of the Tyler Thornburg trade. He had a solid 2017 campaign in the Brewers system and raced off to a hot start in 2018, tallying a 23-game hitting streak that seemed to have him on the cusp of his first taste of the majors. An ACL tear on May 5 ended his season, a particularly untimely injury given that the Brewers went through that season with a below-average committee manning the keystone. Healthy in 2019, Dubon hit .297/.333/.475 for Triple-A San Antonio in 98 games before getting the call. 

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Podcast Ep. #177 - It's got a better twist than that

Baseball extended winter continues. All of us at SoxProspects want to send you our sincere wishes for health and safety. And with time on our hands, we can turn our attention to a little series we just launched: State of the System. If you haven’t seen it yet, please take a look. Ian and Chris take a look at the series and share their thoughts. They start by breaking down drafts and J2 signings to evaluate the evolution of the Sox farm system in the last several years. And then it is on to the mailbag. Thanks for listening and filling up the mailbag. Let us know if there are any other topics you want us to talk about by dropping a line to podcast@soxprospects.com

0:00 – Intros, housekeeping, email us and remember to check us out on Patreon.
3:00 – State of the System series introduction
12:00 – Drafted pitchers in the minors
48:20 – International pitching prospects
59:10 – Mailbag

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Cup of Coffee: Ten most excellent minor league logos

4/11 Cup of Coffee: So, some ground rules to start out. First off, in the interests of eliminating bias and hurt feelings, no Boston affiliates are going to be considered here. Next, this isn’t meant to be a design critique – instead, it’s more a discussion on how the nickname fits with the overall oeuvre of the franchise. A good-looking logo that doesn’t match the team or that goes with a boring or try-hard nickname isn’t going to fly. Finally, while I've chose ten, these aren't necessarily a Top Ten, just ten I thought were fun and wanted to say something about. So, here we go, ten great minor league name/logo combinations, listed in no particular order. 

Amarillo Sod Poodles

Regional colloquialism as a team name? Check. Adorable animal attempting to be menacing in the logo? Check. A name you can’t say without smiling? Double check. A “sod poodle” is apparently a local term for a prairie dog, and the Texas League’s franchise is the one that connects the best among the new absurd team names.

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Cup of Coffee: Talking baseball when there's no baseball

4/10 Cup of Coffee: You'd be forgiven had you not remembered, but the 2020 minor league season was scheduled to begin on Thursday afternoon. One of the staples of this site for several years has been our Cup of Coffee, a quick, breezy recap of the previous night's games. Sometimes a lot happened and the Cup was a must-read. Other days nothing particularly of note happened and, rather miraculously, people read anyway. It has been fun and humbling to be part of people's daily routine, and as long as baseball was happening, then the Cup of Coffee was happening too. 

Baseball isn't happening right now, but in some ways the little bits of our routines that we can stick to are more important than ever. So, while we wait patiently and safely for baseball to return, the Cup of Coffee will be there. As ever before, the Cup isn't going to the spot for in-depth analysis; check out our news page, particularly Ian and Chris's State of the System series, for that. It'll be something light to start your day, a few paragraphs while you munch on your breakfast or procrastinate at work. 

Stay safe out there. 

Photo Credit: Rafael Devers and Michael Chavis at Spring Training 2015 by Kelly O'Connor

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State of the System '20: High-Minors Pitchers

Part three of our State of the System series will focus on pitchers signed in the 2014 and 2015 drafts, as well as international free agents signed between July 2, 2013 and July 1, 2016. Be sure to check out the rest of the entries in the series.

The Lineup

Notable Draftees, 2014 and 2015

Michael Kopech – 2014 draft, 1st rd. (supp.), $1,500,000 bonus; Dec. 2016: Traded to CWS for Chris Sale

Jake Cosart – 2014 draft, 3rd rd., $450,000 bonus; Nov. 2019: Released

Kevin McAvoy – 2014 draft, 4th rd., $300,000 bonus; March 2019: Released

Kevin Steen – 2014 draft, 9th rd., $255,000 bonus; 2019: Injured

Jalen Beeks – 2014 draft, 12th rd., $150,000 bonus; July 2018: Traded to TB for Nathan Eovaldi

Chandler Shepherd – 2014 draft, 13th rd., $90,000 bonus; May 2019: Designated for assignment

Travis Lakins – 2015 draft, 6th rd., $320,000 bonus; Jan. 2020: Traded to CHC for Jhonny Pereda

Ben Taylor – 2015 draft, 7th rd., $10,000 bonus; Feb. 2017: Designated for assignment

Logan Allen – 2015 draft, 8th rd., $725,000 bonus; Nov. 2015: Traded to SD for Craig Kimbrel

Matt Kent – 2015 draft, 13th rd., $75,000 bonus; 2019: AA, AAA

Bobby Poyner – 2015 draft, 14th rd., $10,000 bonus; 2019: AAA, MLB

Marc Brakeman – 2015 draft, 16th rd., $225,000 bonus; March 2018: Released

Notable International Signees, 2013-16

Enmanuel De Jesus – July 2, 2013, $787,500 bonus; 2019: A+

Jhonathan Diaz – July 2, 2013, $600,000 bonus; 2019: A+

Yoan Aybar – July 3, 2013, $450,000 bonus (Signed as an OF); 2019: A, A+

Darwinzon Hernandez – Aug. 26, 2013, $7,500 bonus; 2019: AA, AAA, MLB

Dalier Hinojosa – Oct. 18, 2013, $4,000,000 bonus; July 2015: Claimed off waivers by PHI

Anderson Espinoza – July 2, 2014, $1,800,000 bonus; July 2016: Traded to SD for Drew Pomeranz

Christopher Acosta – July 2, 2014, $1,500,000 bonus; 2019: Restricted list

Junior Espinoza – July 2, 2014, $400,000 bonus; Nov. 2018: Released

Roniel Raudes – July 2, 2014, $250,000 bonus; 2019: Injured

Eduard Bazardo – July 2, 2014, $8,000 bonus; 2019: A+, AA

Denyi Reyes – July 2, 2014, bonus unknown; 2019: AA

Victor Diaz – Dec. 9, 2014, bonus unknown; Dec. 2016: Traded to CWS for Chris Sale

Cesar Gonzalez – July 2, 2015, $300,000 bonus; July 2016: Contract voided

Ronald Gutierrez – July 2, 2015, $200,000 bonus; July 2018: Released

Oddainier Mosqueda – July 9, 2015, bonus unknown; 2019: A

Junior Figueroa – Aug. 17, 2015; $300,000 bonus; July 2017: Released

Gregory Santos – Aug. 28, 2015; $275,000 bonus; July 2017: Traded to SF for Eduardo Nunez

Joan Martinez – Jan. 23. 2016, $5,000 bonus; 2019: A+

Bryan Mata – Jan. 27, 2016, $25,000 bonus; 2019: A+, AA

Position Status: During the least recent time period we will cover, the Red Sox deployed some early picks and large bonuses on pitching prospects. Domestically, the organization hit on three picks who turned out to be potential MLB starters in two drafts. However, all three were later traded—from the 2014 draft, first-round pick Michael Kopech (pictured, above) and 12th-round pick Jalen Beeks were traded for key contributors to the 2018 World Series win in Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi, and from the 2015 draft, over-slot 8th-round pick Logan Allen was traded as part of the Craig Kimbrel deal. While only Beeks pitched for Boston—and only 6 1/3 innings at that—that they were all used to acquire players who directly impacted the 2018 World Series Champion team can be judged a scouting and player development win. But because that positive outcome involved trading those players, those moves and other attrition have left only a pair of organizational depth left-handers, neither on the 40-man roster, still in the system from these two drafts.

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State of the System '20: Mid-Minors Pitchers

Part two of our State of the System series will focus on pitchers signed in the 2016 and 2017 drafts, as well as international free agents from that same time period. Be sure to check out the rest of the entries in the series.

The Lineup:

Notable Draftees, 2016 and 2017

Jay Groome – 2016 draft, 1st rd., $3,650,000 bonus; 2019: Injured, Rk, SS-A

Shaun Anderson – 2016 draft, 3rd rd., $700,000 bonus; July 2017: Traded to SF for Eduardo Nunez

Mike Shawaryn – 2016 draft, 5th rd., $637,500 bonus; 2019: AAA, MLB

Stephen Nogosek – 2016 draft, 6th rd., $250,000 bonus; July 2017: Traded to NYM for Addison Reed

Matthew Gorst – 2016 draft, 12th rd., $115,000 bonus; 2019: AA, AAA

Kyle Hart – 2016 draft, 19th rd., $5,000 bonus; 2019: AA, AAA

Tanner Houck – 2017 draft, 1st rd., $2,614,500 bonus; 2019: AA, AAA

Jake Thompson – 2017 draft, 4th rd., $350,000 bonus; 2019: Injured

Alex Scherff – 2017 draft, 5th rd., $700,000 bonus; 2019: A, A+

Zach Schellenger– 2017 draft, 6th rd., $175,000 bonus; 2019: AA, A+

Aaron Perry – 2017 draft, 14th rd., $172,500 bonus; 2019: Rehab, Rk

Kutter Crawford – 2017 draft, 16th rd., $125,000 bonus; 2019: A+, AA, Injured

Notable International Signees (2016-18)

Hector Velazquez – February 18, 2017, $30,000 bonus; 2019: AAA, MLB; Claimed off waivers by Baltimore

Brayan Bello – July 2, 2017, $28,000 bonus; 2019: A

Yasel Santana – July 2, 2017, $10,000 bonus; 2019: SS-A, A

Alexander Montero – July 2, 2017, $10,000 bonus; 2019: Rk

Felix Cepeda – July 11, 2017, $40,000 bonus; 2019: Rk

Jorge Rodriguez – November 19, 2017, $37,500 bonus; 2019: Rk

Yoelvis Guedez – November 20, 2017, $10,000 bonus; 2019: Rk

Osvaldo De La Rosa – March 26, 2018, $1,000 bonus; 2019: SS-A

Aldo Ramirez – April 18, 2018, Purchased from Mexican League for $550,000; 2019: SS-A

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Scouting Report Updates: Dalton, Erro, Bandy, Thompson, Berry, Corcino, Spacke, Ramsey

The latest scouting report update follows up on several recent draftees and signings, headlined by two big-conference college hitters in Wil Dalton and Alex Erro. These reports are written by our scouting report team, led by Director of Scouting Ian Cundall.

Wil Dalton, Outfielder

Physical Description: Average, athletic frame. Minimal remaining projection, strong upper body.

Hit: Starts slightly open and vertical. Starts with his hands high and uses a leg lift timing device. Swing can get long and has fringe-average bat speed. Pitch recognition is a work in progress. Really struggles recognizing spin and making contact against plus velocity up in the zone. Swing has a slight uppercut. Will take a walk. In the early stages of developing an approach. Can get very pull happy. Potential well below-average hit tool.

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State of the System '20: Low-Minors Pitchers

As we continue past a baseball-less MLB Opening Day and approach what would have been minor league opening day on April 9, many of us—including those of us here at SoxProspects!—have mourned the absence of the game from our lives. But while there will be no games for some time, that does not mean that there is a lack of meaningful opportunity to take stock of the Boston Red Sox farm system in a meaningful way.

So, welcome to the first installment of State of the System. Over the next few weeks, this series will take a position-by-position look at the Red Sox system, evaluating the areas of strength and weakness as well as providing the context for why those strengths and weaknesses exist. This edition will be the first part of our look at the pitchers in the system, which will be split into three parts. Today, we will focus on the most recent additions to the organization from the last two draft and international free agent classes.

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