Red Sox Draft Anthony Ranaudo, RHP with Pick #39

The Red Sox drafted Anthony Ranaudo, RHP with pick #39 in the 2010 MLB Draft.

Vitals:

6'7", 231 lbs.

9/09/89

My reaction:

Ranaudo is a risk, and one that scares me. Robbed by injury of his effectiveness and--most frighteningly for me--his command last year, if Ranaudo does not return to form, then he is a waste of a pick. On the other hand, if he does return to form, he'll have #1 potential. Having Scott Boras as an agent is never a good thing, but it seems unlikely that the Red Sox would whiff on a supplemental 1st round pick.

I'm just glad they waited until they had a couple more solid picks in the bag.

Randy had this to say in his Red Sox draft preview at SBN Boston:

Ranaudo is a top-five talent that very well could fall to the Red Sox at No. 20 -- but it's no mystery if he does fall.

Not only is Ranaudo's agent the infamous Scott Boras, but injury concerns have dropped the right-hander's stock after a subpar 2010 season. Ranaudo was sidelined a month at the beginning of 2010 because of a sore elbow and hasn't been the same pitcher since.

Ranaudo is a scary presence on the mound for the simple fact he is 6'7". His fastball touches 93 MPH and he has a straight over-the-top curveball. His changeup is considered OK, but the combination of his stuff and ability to hit the zone makes him one of the best pitchers in the draft. However, some of his  "stuff" and "ability to hit the zone" was lost after the injury.

In 2010, Ranaudo racked up a 7.49 ERA in 45.2 innings for LSU. He allowed 53 hits and 23 walks over that span. One nice nugget of information is that Ranaudo didn't lose his ability to strikeout a batter. He still struck out 44 -- almost one batter per inning -- despite the arm issues.

His 2009 season is one in which the Sox would be drafting him for: in 124.1 innings of work, Ranaudo struck out 159, held opponents to a .209 batting average and notched a nifty 3.04 ERA. That's what the Sox would expect out of the tall righty.

If the Red Sox take Ranaudo with the 20th pick, it's likely because they know they'll be able to patch him together and get him back to the pitcher that he used to be. If the Sox didn't think they could do that, they wouldn't waste a first-round draft pick on him. The Sox must also be confident they can sign him, which really hasn't been much of an issue in the past with Boras clients.

Andy Seiler from the SBN draft site, MLB Bonus Baby, has this to say:

Anthony Ranaudo is a high-ceiling right-handed pitcher from Louisiana State University. Ranaudo
originally came to LSU from St. Rose High School in Belmar, New Jersey, where he was a promising
prospect. He was seen as a typical cold-weather projectable arm, and his big frame led scouts to wonder
about what he might become with some innings under his belt. He was a top five rounds candidate
leading up to the 2007 draft, but an LSU commitment and a major lack of polish led to him dropping to
the Rangers in the eleventh round, and they failed to sign him despite a hard push to do so. At LSU, he
was supposed to play a solid bullpen role as a freshman, but elbow tendinitis prevented him from doing
so, and he ended up throwing only a dozen innings all year, though they were a dozen impressive
innings. When he returned for his sophomore year, he was supposed to step into an important starting
role, and he flourished. He became one of the country’s best starters, and he was a key piece to the
Tigers winning the College World Series last June. He took the summer off due to a huge workload as a
sophomore, and he started the 2010 poised to possibly become the number two overall pick as a
potential good number two starter. However, a stress reaction in his elbow led to two months off, and
he was ineffective in his return, which threw his draft stock into limbo. When healthy, he features a plus
91-94 mph fastball with excellent movement and downward plane, and he adds in a plus to plus-plus
curveball and an above-average changeup. His command took an exceptional leap forward a year ago,
and was considered plus coming into the year. With the injury problems and his representation by the
Boras Corporation, his draft stock is up in the air, but he’s a first round talent, and he shouldn’t fall lower
than the second round, where he’ll receive an over slot bonus.

Andy is giving us a free preview of our top 3 picks in the draft from his 2010 MLB Draft Notebook. Stats and profiles for over 700 players are available in the over 400 page notebook for $9.99 at Andy's site.