Major League Baseball's amateur entry draft is this upcoming Monday, meaning there will be a slew of new potential Red Sox to analyze. Before then, though, it's time to look at the kinds of players the Red Sox might be acquiring.
Kevin Goldstein wrote about his top 30 draft prospects, making sure to note that this isn't a mock draft, just his thoughts on who the top 30 talents available in Monday's draft are. You'll have to read the pieces to see the full reports on all 30, but there are some things worth noting here.
- 14 of the top 30 are pitchers. Just four of those arms are in high school, with the rest college pitchers. Four of 14 are left-handed hurlers.
- To no one's surprise, 10 of the 16 hitters are up-the-middle players (shortstop, catcher, center field). Second base isn't represented, but that's not surprising, as it's generally failed shortstops who end up at second, anyway. These undrafted players haven't been around long enough to get to that point yet.
- Goldstein notes that "Power is hard to find in this draft", so the few names in the top 30 who feature power worth talking about stick out. Goldstein's first-ranked, shortstop Carlos Correia. High school outfielder Courtney Hawkins. Third baseman Richie Shaffer. Third baseman Joey Gallo. This looks like a draft with plenty of good hitters, but not necessarily ones who will put up eye-popping homer numbers.
- Gavin Cecchini, younger brother of Boston's Garin Cecchini, ranks #17. He's a shortstop who is expected to stick at the position thanks to plus defense, but he's also expected to be selected before the Boston's first pick (#24) because of the fact he's an actual shortstop.
Boston picks at #24, and again at #30, thanks to the Phillies signing Jonathan Papelbon before the new collective bargaining agreement did away with the Elias Rankings and the now old style of draft pick compensation. They also select at #37 in the sandwich round thanks to losing Papelbon, giving Boston three first-round selections, as compared to 2011's four.
In 2011, the Red Sox ended up with Matt Barnes (#19), Blake Swihart (#26), Henry Ownes (#36), and Jackie Bradley Jr. (#40). There's plenty of talent there for smart shoppers in those spots, as Boston has shown over the years. We're not quite at the mock draft stage where we know exactly who those players are going to be, but we're getting there.
We'll be covering the draft all day long on Monday, so make some time to ignore your work and see who the newest potential members of the Red Sox organization are going to be.