2011 Draft - Red Sox Edition

But I’m not convinced they’ll deviate a ton from previous drafts. They generally prefer guys they’re sure will sign for around slot with the very first pick.

I think, traditionally, they’ll go with two good talents with picks 19 and 26 that will sign, and save more over slot players for the Supplemental and subsequent rounds. If you look at their history, only really Casey Kelly stands out in terms of being overslot for their first pick. If a player like Hedges falls due to signability I can see him being selected by Theo later on with pick 36 or 40.

I also think they lean away from taking high school pitchers, although like all things Sox draft, there are exceptions (like the aforementioned Kelly), but again, they just seem to lean that way. They seem to like polish and athleticism if they’re going to make an early round HS pitcher pick. Now, one theme a lot of the Sox high school picks have is being a two-sport athlete, so maybe someone like Archie Bradley, if he fell (and he won’t), would make a good pick. A college pitcher would make more sense to me as a realistic Sox pick, although it would depend on who it is. I could see them going after someone like Osich with pick 36 if he’s there. Or maybe even someone like Stanford’s Chris Reed who could move to a starter’s role, something the Sox aren’t adverse to doing.

Sox tend to prefer athletic up-the-middle position players too. I could see someone like Mikie Mahtook be the selection at 26 if they think he can stay at CF. I really like Josh Bell, and after last year’s Vitek and Brentz picks I could see us heading that route. He’s got an amazing bat and is supposed to have a pretty decent idea of what he’s doing at the plate. While I would prefer to wait until 26 to grab him, I think if the Sox wanted him they’ll have to grab him at 19. The Jays are supposed to be looking to spending a lot on this draft and he would make sense with their pick at 21.

I like Brandon Nimmo a lot, I think he’s athletic and has a nice swing with potentially good power. If he’s there at 36 I would scoop him up and not regret it one bit. Charlie Tilson is someone who’s had comparisons to an Ellsbury or Gardner type, so he would make some sense possibly at 40. Travis Harrison is someone who I think gets overlooked just a bit. Isn’t going to stick at 3B, but you could leave him there for a few years, and I like his bat just fine. He’s supposed to have good plate coverage too (for a high school pick anyway). Jackie Bradley Jr. is someone they could look at with a Supplemental round pick if he’s there. He should stick in CF and he’s fairly athletic. I’m intrigued by Cory Spangenburg, hearing conflicting reports on whether he could stick in CF or not. If he could, he’d make an ideal pick with 26, depending on how 19 goes.

I don’t really see Cron as a Sox-type player, so I would bet against him, but while the Sox have trends there’s always at least one exception so who knows for sure. Also, Susac doesn’t do a ton for me, personally. Would rather watch Hedges and Swihart drop and pick them up in the Supp. Round.

I’m writing up some potential draft pick profiles. I’ll post them later on as we get closer to the draft.