Red Sox Top 10 Prospects (BP)

Good read, nothing too surprising, but well-written scouting reports.

Austin Rei at #10 is surprising. But there probably isn't that much of a gap between 10 and 30 right now.

I was surprised Rei was even ranked by BP as he looked so over-matched at the plate the few times I saw him in Lowell. On the otherhand, Basabe is a very interesting prospect to watch as he appears to have all the tools and the power will continue to develop as he matures.

I'll go ahead and say that Rei at 10 is plain indefensible based on what he showed on both sides of the plate in Lowell. My guess is they threw up their hands at who to put at 10 and figured he might bounce back.

That said, I don't disagree with paydro's point either.

They probably didn't see him much (maybe even not at all) post-draft and were relying on their pre-draft scouting reports of Rei, which were generally quite glowing.

Funny, as I read through the list, that was exactly the one that really stood out to me, too. I think even 60 is pretty conservative; given his HS history and then last year's across-the-board breakout (particularly a 1:1 BB:K rate in Greenville), he's shown terrific selectivity and great bat speed with a very "planned" approach. He's a 65-70 to me, although I though the rest of his tools were pretty fairly judged (his power could be underrated, but I get why). I thought they were a little stingy with Devers's hit tool, too, but not like Benintendi.

I'm not sure how his velocity was in Pawtucket last year, but he was only 86-89 in his start against Houston. Now, he had a long lay-off, which should've made him stronger...but if he had that underlying ulnar nerve irritation, that could've been the issue. Still, I've never seen him hit 95, and it may be that he simply can't, anymore. Of course, he still missed a good number of bats, and the command grade they slapped on him was unnecessarily conservative. But until he shows a current solid-avg or plus FB, that's the label he's keeping. Hey, it didn't keep John Tudor from being awesome, or Bruce Hurst from being really good.

That was a great read. My only minor issue is Rei at number 10, but the system doesn't have a true number 10 prospect until the 2016 draft is done.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Basabe writeup yet....thats the highest I've seen someone rank him, and the writeup was rather glowing. Potential seems very high.

The part that caught my eye, aside from what's already been mentioned, is that list of talent 25 and under at the end. The Sox may not have drafted for need, but they filled their dance card in any case. Others have mentioned how balanced the system is/was with one of everything: a complete outfield, a catcher and three pitchers, and - if you throw in Sam Travis - that completes the infield. It was hard for the writer to keep from gushing about it:

Easler had a great '85 for the Sox, too, although he faltered in '86. Tudor definitely threw pretty hard before he got traded, but he was 29 at the time and his velocity was dropping. He was still low-90s in '85 from what I remember (relatively hard for a LH then), but he was high '80s after his injury into his mid-30s, and he still mowed 'em down. I was just a kid, so I didn't really get what a mistake that trade was at the time, team-building-wise, but I remember being bummed because I saw him pitch in '82 or '83 and, because my dad was a lefty, I thought lefty pitchers must be pretty awesome.

I really, really dislike trading young pitchers with upside. I think a well-run team has quality and stability up top and keeps its 4-5 spots "open" to develop young pitchers. You can't have too many holes in a rotation, but time and again, it's been shown that young players, especially pitchers, take their lumps. If you've got a solid (not even spectacular) 1-2-3, and a young-but-learning 4, you can afford a few lumps in the 5 spot. I see the 2013 Sox as a good example of what the 1-2-3-4 should look like, they just didn't have anyone from AAA to plug into the 5 spot. Of course, you need a backup plan, which is why a good swingman helps (maybe Joe Kelly this year?).