Hugh2

JBJ. I always had faith that he would produce. I was one of his biggest supporters when he struggled and always maintained the position that he was rushed to the majors. I always thought there was a MLB player in him. But I never saw him being this good....I thought he had a chance to have an average bat with a gold glove. Now, not only is the glove golden but he's swinging the bat at an all-star level.

Not to nit pick, but I'd lower that time frame to 2-4 years. If he's as good as everyone hopes he is, we could easily see him as early as 2018. His fastball is already there, he already has a big league change up, and he has a feel for a change up. Scouts say he already repeats his delivery and mechanics very well which is a very good sign for a raw high school player. With him, his development could have a lot to do with just building innings and arm strength. Too far away to not rule out injury, bust or trade but having the prospect of Groome/Espinoza at the top of your rotation gives one a lot to dream on.

I don't know, the Sox drafting a young, 17 year old, Highschool LHP from the northeast, that was his reasoning for hating Trey Ball. That and apparently everyone on earth knew that he was the best talent left on the board at #7 even though he didn't go #8 either. I would have loved to seen him be the only, or one of the only guys to hate this pick.

4th Rd pick Bobby Dalbec is starting for Arizona right now on ESPN2

Bobby Dalbec 3B for Arizona, Huge huge power ceiling but not a great hit tool. Long shot to reach the majors but if he can put it together he could end up being a good pick, probably a pick they save some money on too.

Then there is this one too. Q: Hi Keith. What are the makeup concerns about Groome? Is it serious stuff or 17-yr. old immaturity stuff? Keith Law: To me it's immaturity and idiocy. No violence, no felonies, not a sociopath. I am more concerned about Delvin Perez's makeup than Groome's.

I'd be willing to trade anyone for the right guy, I would not trade Espinoza for Teheran. Dreaming of Espinoza and Groome at the top of a rotation is too enticing, and Espinoza is the type of guy who you center around Sale....who isn't for sale. Pun intended.

That's pretty much my thoughts as well. I think he slots somewhere in that tier with Sam Travis and Michael Kopech. Maybe he slides ahead of Kopech because he was a higher ceiling but Kopech does have more success as a pro than him. But given a full year of success he should easily leap frog in with the big 4 somewhere.

You know, I could of been ok with the Thaiss pick depending on how the spread around the rest of the money but I think it would have been tougher on people to have drafted him with Groome sitting there. By the way, whats you name over at soxprospects? I'm the GreatScottCooper.

I'm wondering if that is all there is too it, otherwise I didn't see anything else wrong with the kid. Did teams not like the fact that he was scratching off lottery tickets hours before he was drafted? Now, I don't know anything here or have any insight into the situation but inherently you'd think if it was something serious we would know about it. When kids fail drugs tests, or beat up their girlfriends that stuff is normally out there, you would think if it was something bad we would of heard about it by now. Personally I don't understand the problem with the improper transfer, he didn't change his address when he moved back to NJ because that's where his parents live and he never changed it when he went to boarding school at IMG for a year. Could it be that he choose to leave behind a school like IMG for a lesser one? I mean, we are talking about a kid who last summer JUST turned 16 and wanted to come back home and be with his friends! again, nothing that really throws a red flag with me. Still, one has to to proceed with some caution seeing how we've been burned by the likes of the Jon Denneys of the world in recent years but I think the talent was to good to pass up. And it's not even close, easy decision and as far as I can tell he's a good kid. AND he's a Sox fan.

Or how about Karsten Whitson, turned down 2.1 million from the Padres in 2010, goes to Boston in 2014 for 100K. Currently he's out of baseball.

He's a life long Red Sox fan, And we couldn't of asked for a better talent the last 2 times we picked #7. I don't see this kid not getting signed. It would be nice if he cut us a deal, but his price tag was 4 million. They could give him appx 3.35 million with the 5% overage before draft pick loss penalties kick in. After that, they will have to move around money elsewhere. They could easily sign a few guys with the 4th and 5th pick unranked and sign them 10K and move the rest of that slot money over to give Groome his 4 million. As I said earlier the only downside to this is it could hurt the rest of their draft, but whatever it's all worth it if Groome is 1/2 the player you hope he is. I'm going to throw my guess in the ring and say he signs for 3.75 million.

JJ Cooper @jjcoop36 Dodgers aren't the No. 1 farm system...Seager no longer eligible. Red Sox's system significantly better. I wonder were Groome will fit in? My guess is right after the big 4. But I could see him 5-6 behind Kopech and Travis until he at least proves himself in pro ball. But thats good news. #1 system, and a very good young talented team at the MLB level.

MLB.com and Perfect game had Groome ranked #1, ESPN had him #2 and baseball america had him #3. The only possible downside to think is they might have to bank their whole draft on this. I could see them drafting a lot of unranked college seniors 3-10 to sign well underslot to save some slot money to throw at Groome. But still, if he pans out......it doesn't matter who else they draft.

Some people had him going to the Sox, s***....you guys got a good prospect.

I think Dunn is still on the board, I would have been happy with him at 12.

Today will really be great if Matt Thaiss falls to us in Rnd 2. But I doubt that happens, he should go end of the first round somewhere, I believe he was a Yankee target too. Maybe Sheffield? or Bryan Reynolds? for their pick

A future rotation of Espinoza, Groome, Kopech, and if he ages well....Price.

Yup and we got Andrew Benintendi last year too.

The maturity issues seem insignificant especially for a 17 year old, but I think he also fell because of his bonus demands. Once a guy with high bonus demands falls a few spots he scares teams off because if they can't sign him they lose their bonus pool money. I'd be willing to bet if the Sox didn't draft him he would of slid all the way down to #24. The Padres have 3 first round picks and tons of bonus pool money. The same thing happened last year with Daz Cameron; top ten talent dropped to 34.

Good thing no one had a gun to my head.

We just drafted a kid who is arguably the most talented in the draft.

WOW...It's Groome. We got Groome!!!

We will have our pick of Groom, Rutherford or Dunn. I'd be very happy with both but the Sox could still go Thaiss. Gun to head I'm going with Rutherford, but if it was up to me I'd take Groome.

The Matt Thaiss rumors wont' go away but Jim Callis has been perfect with his mock through 9. He has us picking HS outfielder Blake Rutherford, but he also just tweeted out we are tied to Groome now. I really like Groome.