Hugh2

Yes I'm replying to my own alias. Ronan is not signing, I got that wrong. The kid is going to college.

I believe the 4th and 5th round picks have signed too, so that makes it 8. I also believe they reportedly have a deal with Northcut, Ronan, Howlett, Ramsey, and a few others are signed too. Obviously a few guys like Watson and others will not sign, but I think the Sox will sign most of their picks. It looks like they really did their homework this year.

Can't ask for much better for a PTBNL. They can can make contact and strikes out at an insanely low pace.

I think him graduating college 2 years older than normal is what makes the appearance of his development slow.

With the Caveat of having Penalties and restrictions for two years I can't remember the last time the Sox didn't nab at least 1 top tier July 2nd guy. Still, the Sox, like the Yanks have had a lot of success finding and developing international talent from all levels of talent.

The Sox have gone back to running two DSL teams so you can be sure they will be very active this year. They will have a lot of spots to fill, so you can bet they'll nab a top guy or two (top 30). One thing to remember is these are kids, and the further away from MLB you are the more uncertainty there is. That means there is more of a bust rate for the top 10 international guys than there might be for the top 10 college guys going in the draft. That also means guys who are unranked are more likely to become MLBers. When talking about 15/16 year old kids, it almost makes sense to go with QTY over QLTY.

Well, that's another way of looking at it too. 1/2 the reason the farm system sucks so much now is because guys have either graduated or been traded for guys who are helping a big league club that is really really good right now. So there is that.......but if we want this window extended we're going to need some guys to emerge. The system was pretty damn weak in 2011-2012, but then Xander emerged and the 2011 draft class started to make it's mark over the next couple years. It only really takes a few good guys to turn a system around. That task has obviously gotten just a little harder under the rules today but this is why you pump money into the scouting department to do their job.

Yup, and you could very well see Mata and Houck flip by the end of the year.

the problem is there aren't really any "newer" guys, they system is empty and a bottom 10 system in baseball right now. You might find some guys to place higher on a rankings list if you want to go purely by stats, but if you want to go by talent, projection, and what a guy COULD be there really isn't a lot of talent in the system to place ahead of the guys struggling at the top. We also have zero clue where he is developmentally and what they have him working on. Maybe he shoots through the minors if they move him to the bullpen and becomes a lights out closer, or maybe he's the next Trey Ball. He's also working on changing his mechanics this year, which is tough, and he may never figure it out but if he does make that transition he is the best bet to have a middle of the rotation starter to better in the system not names Groome

I think Tanner Houck at #2 is more of an indictment on the system than the soxprospects rating system at this point. I'm sure if he continues to struggle he'll fall at some point.

It's definitely been a bad year for the prospect loving folk around here. The barren system is partially due to a lot of graduations and trades over the last couple years from guys who look like they're turning into (or are) superstars but there's a lot of bad with the good too. We've had some busts from Marrero to Ball and empty drafts that have returned very little in the later rounds. Are two top prospects include a guy who will end up missing the majority of 2 out of the 3 last seasons due to injury and suspension and another guy who in his 3rd season will have yet to pitch over 55 innings and will miss all of this year. On top of it all, the top international recruit who we signed ended in tragedy when the kid died. Systems can be cyclical, I fully expect the Sox system to recover at some point. I'm just hoping it's in time to supplement this big league roster when guys start reaching their FA.

Ugh, I'm pretty sure a "position player" is referring to one who plays on the field excluding the pitcher so it effectively is one who would hit. Troll he may be, but normally Harmonys posts (or at least what I remember from the boston.com days) were witty and informative, this is just arguing semantics for the sake of arguing semantics.

Great, so now I can expect a ROTY in about 2022.

Certainly sounds like Northcut is singable. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/high-school/ohio-high-school/2018/06/07/three-former-mason-baseball-players-were-picked-mlb-draft/681187002/

You were concerned about Tatum?>?????? Please tell me more about how CASAS sucks.

I understand where you're going with this, but remember it's a two way street with prospect value. Yes, guys bust and everyone screaming "DON'T TRADE HIM" look dumb and you get peanuts for them. But guys like Mookie Betts, and Xander Bogaerts are worth 3X the amount now as they would have been when they too were prospects. A farm system exists to support the big league club. Sometimes that entails trading guys, other times it makes sense to hold onto your chips.

Most of these guys do go bust, even top of the first round picks fail 50% or more of the time, so claiming these guys will probably bust is taking the easy way out. That would be like me trying to claim I'm a weather man by predicting sunny skies every day.

I'm not sure Devers has anything to learn in the minors. Best way to learn how to hit MLB pitching is to face MLB pitching, he already passed the minors and he needs how to learn to adjust to the league adjusting to him. Sticking with him can pay some dividends, and as long as the team is winning I think it makes that decision a lot easier. If he's smashing the ball come August just remember these days. Hopefully he can turn it around because he's a potential middle of the order bat.

This pick was your classic high risk/high reward pick. He was ranked by MLB/BA/PG @ #20 #25 and #31 respectively. 6'4" 240 LB's with plus plus raw power to all fields. If this guy hits, he's your clean up hitter. It will also be interesting to see what these guys sign for. There's no way they have enough money to sign both Northcut and Watson. I was actually thinking Watson was their back up if a deal with Northcut falls through. It might be hard to go too far under-slot with Casas and Decker but admittedly I know nothing. The Sox completely changed their strategy in this draft and went big, lets hope it pays some dividends in a few years.

If this guy turns into the Trey Ball of hitters I'm going to completely blame you.

What is absolutely fascinating is that the Sox are going with a completely different draft strategy and one I've never seen before. They're swinging for the fences and going after big power guys. I can't think of the last time the Sox signed a 1B in the first round.

It's 50/50 at this point. The ultimate lazy man's answer, I know. But there's a strong possibility he signs. He's definitely getting drafted tomorrow, the questions do he sign and that will come down to, as you said, if a team has saved enough money on rounds 3-10 today to sign him.

From Baseball America: Triston Casas HS 1B/3B Notes: School: American Heritage School, Plantation, Fla. Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 238 | B-T: L-R | Commit/Drafted: Miami Scouting Report: One of the top power-hitting players in the class, Casas has established an impressive track record as a corner infielder who was originally supposed to be in the 2019 draft class before reclassifying to become eligible this June. A two-time member of USA Baseball’s 18U National Team, Casas was named the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s player of the year in 2017, after leading the U-18 World Cup field with three home runs and 13 RBI, pushing Team USA to a gold-medal victory over Korea. He was also named the MVP of the tournament. Casas has 70-grade raw power out of a 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame that he has maintained well over the offseason, and he might be a bit lighter now after trimming up prior to his final season with American Heritage High in Plantation, Fla. His power plays to all fields, and Casas has enough to drive balls out of the park even when he doesn’t make solid contact. The Miami commit has a patient, selective approach at the plate and was among the more difficult player to pitch to on the summer showcase circuit according to a number of pitchers, although he has shown some of the swing-and-miss tendencies that can coincide with long arms. A surprisingly good athlete for his size, Casas has plus arm strength, which gives him an outside shot to play third base, where he plays for American Heritage. Most scouts believe he’ll inevitably slide to first base, however, which is a tough position to draft out of high school. But it is also challenging to find a hitter in the draft class with a better combination of hitting ability, plate discipline, power and track record against quality arms than Casas provides.

He played 3B, but many see 1B in his future.

Kiley McDaniels is reporting that the Sox will draft Triston Casas in two picks from now. A HS senior with plus-plus raw power. High Ceiling, Low floor guy for sure.