Fitting the Day Two picks into the Red Sox system

It is far too early to really get a sense of who the Red Sox just drafted, but we must persevere because, well, what else are we going to do? Keeping talking about proposals to get a 2020 season going that are sure to go absolutely nowhere? No thanks! Just as I did yesterday with first round pick Nick Yorke, I thought it would be fun to try and place the Day Two picks into the Red Sox system.

A couple of caveats, just like with yesterday. First and foremost, this is going to change probably multiple times before these guys even see the field for the first time in 2021. We get more information, trades happen, et cetera et cetera. This is just a very preliminary ranking. Number two, just as I said yesterday I’m more comfortable dealing in tiers than strict rankings. I’ll put them in numbered rankings, but really anyone within in a tier can be ordered in whatever order you prefer. It’s not a major distinction in my mind.

Just as a reminder, here’s how I had things ranked out yesterday. Lines represent the start of a new tier.

1. Triston Casas

2. Jeter Downs

3. Bobby Dalbec

4. Bryan Mata

5. Noah Song

6. Jay Groome

7. Jarren Duran

8. Gilberto Jimenez

9. Thad Ward

10. Tanner Houck

11. C.J. Chatham

12. Chris Murphy

13. Matthew Lugo

14. Nick Decker

15. Nick Yorke

Now, let’s get into the new names.

Blaze Jordan

Jordan actually came in more highly ranked than Yorke on a lot of the pre-draft rankings, and I had some expectation that whoever they selected with this third round pick would actually end up slotting higher than Yorke on my list as well. I don’t think I’m going to do that, though. It’s possible I’m just drinking the Kool Aid from the Red Sox front office about Yorke and leaning too heavily into my preference for line drive-hitting middle infielders, but I just like the profile better than a somewhat raw power hitter who is likely first base-only. That said, I do think I would put Jordan in that same tier as Yorke. So, to continue from Yorke, I’d go:

16. Connor Wong

17. Brayan Bello

18. Blaze Jordan

Shane Drohan

Drohan was actually the fourth and final selection and not the third for the team, but pretty much everyone agrees he is the third best player the Red Sox took in this draft. There is a lot to like about the southpaw out of Florida State University, and I think he is the type of player who certainly has a chance to shoot up the organizational rankings in a similar fashion as Chris Murphy last year. That being said, I need to see it before I can really factor that in. I’m not going to continue going down the numbered rankings here, but I will say that I think Drohan is somewhere in the 20s, probably closer to number 30 than number 20. I see him in a group with guys like Pedro Castellanos, Antoni Flores, Chih-Jung Liu and Jorge Rodriguez.

Jeremy Wu-Yelland

While Wu-Yelland was the team’s fourth round pick, he is likely to get the smallest signing bonus of any of the four picks from this draft class and came in ranked lower than the other guys here as well. That’s not to say there’s nothing here because there is intriguing stuff, but he has a lower chance at sticking as a starter than Drohan as well as lower upside. Ultimately, I think I’d have this lefty from the University of Hawai’i somewhere in the 35-40 range around guys like Chase Shugart and Joan Martinez.