Hugh2

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.

Well technically there is a window, but I have shelve with my server in front of it and it only looks outside to a 20X20 courtyard in the middle of a big industrial building so I don't think that counts. There is nothing wrong with Thaiss, I think it's just natural to assume the Sox could get better talent because there are a lot of guys on a lot of boards ahead of him for #12 but the more I think about it the more I might be ok with it. Thaiss looks more like a guy who goes in the 20-30 range, that is a range the Sox normally live in and have a much better than average hit rate in. Maybe they really like him, think he's just as good as the talent in the 10-15 range and if do sign him they will likely save a ton of money and be able to sign better guys in the later rounds. MLB network just got done talking about HS pitcher Ian Anderson. He's a top 10 talent who is apparently a Red Sox fan. That's 2 of the most talented players from the NY/NJ area that are high school pitchers and Red Sox fans as Jason Groome is too.

Jim Callis last mock has the Sox taking Jason Groome, who is my favorite pick. He's been mocked top 10 all year and is slipping due to bonus demands from what I've heard. Some say talent wise he's the #1 guy in the draft but almost everything else I've heard says the sox have ZERO interest in him. The latest buzz is the Sox are in on Matt Thaiss, who is a college catcher and a former late round Sox draft pick. He's good, but he's been mocked in the late 1st round everywhere so I'm not sure how happy I'd be with the pick. Perhaps they really like him and think they can save a ton of money on the pick. All this comes with me knowing that I know nothing....I sit at a desk all day.....with no window.

Well that's effectively like saying Owens/Kelly > Buchholz. And right now...thats...err..umm...pick your poison dude.

That seemed a bit odd to me too, simple groin strains don't normally necessitate MRI's. I would think for a sports hernia they would do an ultra-sound. MRIs are more expensive than ultra-sounds and I think CT scans too so they are usually a latter used tool for diagnostics. If he's getting an MRI, then they are likely worried about something more serious. NOTE: I'm not expert, so take everything I said with a grain of salt.

Scouts are actually mixed on whether he can stick at short stop or not. Of course, those scouts could be right! they did say the same thing about Bogaerts coming up.

Yes, all I've heard is just what Slash is posting. I felt like I was almost rooting against Hill last year when we had this conversation; I was actually hoping the best for him. I was just very against signing him for starters money given the injury risk he had. I would have been very happy with signing him as a depth option or having a depth option to replace him at the right price but he just seemed way to risky for me. It's really just simple math, you have to work through it. Guys can only increase their workload so much from year to year and not only was Hill someone who has barely ever pitched a full season he has not done it in almost a decade. Given a chance to start 5th day on a mlb rotation it was about as close as you can get to a sure thing he would get injured at some point. For his sake, I hope this is minor and he can still finish the season strong.

I was thinking it could be ADD medication. I was also thinking about how it barely changed Jon Grays decision. I'm not 100% convinced the fact that he is dropping is because it might have been something worse but it is suspicious. Another thing to consider may be that Gray was a proven college player, while a high school talent no matter how well regarded is always going to be more raw so I wonder if any bad news just weights down more on them. Of course, the thing is that we really don't know how far he will fall. He might only fall back a few spots, but I think the reality is if he falls out of the top 10 that no one else in the first round has the money to meet his bonus demands. If he gets past #7, he could slide all the way down to say maybe #25 were the Padres will have their 3rd 1st round pick. A team like them will have the money to sign him there. I will feel very very smart now if SD ends up signing him.

I made a friendly bet with one of the BDC posters last year about Hill not getting past 10 starts this year. Looks like I was wrong....he got to 11.

Doesn't look like anyone will be trading for Rich Hill any time soon.

Here is my prediction of the 4 players most likely to be drafted by Boston today in order. Zack Collins Dakota Hudson Ian Anderson Zack Burdi I think the Sox would jump on a better college bat like Kyle Lewis, Nick Senzel, or Blake Rutherford if they fall. I doubt that will happen, but one of them like Rutherford may. They also possibly could jump on a HS pitcher like Matt Manning or Jason Groome if they fall. It is rumored that Oakland likes both those guys but prefers Groome but will draft Manning if he's gone. I could see the Sox taking one of those guys if the college bats don't fall and they are still there, of course they could be falling due to too high a price tag and that could scare the Sox off and move them to sign a guy they have an understanding with in terms of what it will cost to sign them. Then again, someone like Jason Groome who is reportedly a life long sox fan may be willing to drop his price tag 1 million down to sign with the Sox for something like 3.1 million. I would like to note, that I viciously follow the Soxprospects and every year they do a draft preview, and EVERY year the Sox have picked one of the 4-5 guys they list as possible targets. So, if that holds then your first round draft pick is probably one of these guys talked about here. http://news.soxprospects.com/2016/06/2016-red-sox-draft-preview.html

This is what I want to know. Was it just weed? a 17 year old smoking weed isn't exactly a buzz kill for me. Some drugs that treat ADHD are considered performance enhancers that kids take all the time. I'd find something along those lines much less of a concern than him sniffing cocaine or shooting deca durabolin into his butt. I think he either doesn't fall that far, or he falls so far that no one will have enough money to sign him until he gets to the supplemental round or the 2nd round. Stuff like that happens all the time. I know it wasn't drug related but that's what happened with Daz Cameron last year; he was considered a top 10 talent but his price tag was so high no team wanted to sign him. By the time he got the supplemental round the Astros were happy to take him because they had a MUCH larger bonus pool. He ended up signing for 4 million. Even though he went 37th he got the 5th highest bonus. I know they say take the BPA, and generally the draft follows that rule but it's much more complicated than that. But back to Delvin Perez. Here is a kid who scouts think will have a plus bat, plus power, a plus arm and they are split on him staying at SS or moving to 3B. I think comparisons are wrong but it almost sounds like adding another 17 year old Xander Bogaerts to your system.

I'm very intrigued to see who we draft because if you're looking at talent alone this is a VERY highschool heavy draft. But teams are generally very uncomfortable with that and that is showing itself in a lot of college players moving up on the mock drafts the last couple weeks. Mock drafts change so much this time of year not so much because the consensus on talent is moving (but it is) but I think a lot of it has to do with scouts hearing rumors about what team is looking at who. If that holds true, then a lot of that HS talent that was projected to go top 10 maybe even top 5 will fall. But DD has a reputation of LOVING proven college guys in the first round so we might reach back for a guy who was projected in the 15-20 area. If we do, I hope we are able to at least get a guy under slot and spread that money around. I've heard good things about the depth of this draft. Still, I'd like to see them take the BPA but sometimes it isn't that simple.

As a Wrestler in highschool and someone who has boxed and thai-boxed for 15 years I'd agree that there may be nothing more demanding than combative sports. Your brain takes a beating from being punched and kicked in the head or slammed on the mat, your body gets bruised from smashing bones against bones and fighting on the mat or in the ring is very anaerobic and aerobic at the same time. I use this joke with people who've never wrestled or been in a fight before. I tell them to imagine sprinting up a long him as fast as you can on a hot day, and then imagine someone punching you in the face while doing it. But now that I think about it, I think you could argue gymnasts are the best athletes pound for pound too.