Tag: panama

Red Sox outfield prospect Eduardo Vaughan could burst onto the scene in 2022

Red Sox outfield prospect Eduardo Vaughan has a chance to fly up the team’s prospect rankings board this year, according to SoxProspects.com’s director of scouting Ian Cundall.

“If you’re looking for a prospect who could fly up the Red Sox prospect rankings this year, Vaughan is a great candidate,” Cundall tweeted on Friday. “He checks a lot of boxes, but has a wide variance with his hit-tool. How that develops will go a long way to determining his future potential.”

Vaughan, who turned 20 last month, comes into 2022 ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 44 prospect in Boston’s farm system. He originally signed with the Red Sox for $550,000 as an international free agent coming out of Panama in July 2018.

After spending the 2019 season in the Dominican Summer League, Vaughan was unable to play any sort of minor-league ball in 2020 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 20-year-old did, however, participate in fall instructs and took what he learned there into minor-league spring training last year.

Once minor-league camp broke and extended spring training concluded in June, Vaughan remained in Fort Myers as he wound up spending the entirety of the 2021 campaign with the rookie-level Florida Complex League Red Sox.

In 28 games with the FCL Red Sox, the right-handed hitter batted .226/.362/.405 (108 wRC+) with six doubles, three home runs, 18 RBIs, 16 runs scored, five stolen bases, 18 walks, and 24 strikeouts over 105 plate appearances. He surprisingly fared better against righties (.840 OPS in 74 PAs) as opposed to lefties (.572 OPS in 31 PAs).

Among FCL hitters who made at least 100 trips to the plate in 2021, Vaughan ranked 39th in on-base percentage, 29th in isolated power (.179), and eighth in walk rate (17.1%), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Vaughan saw playing time at all three outfield positions last year after only playing the corners in 2019. The 6-foot-4, 185 pounder logged 139 1/3 innings in center field, 59 2/3 innings in right field, and six innings in left field while recording a total of five outfield assists.

Shortly before the FCL season ended in September, Cundall wrote that Vaughan “has one of the system’s most projectable frames in the low minors” since he still has room to fill out physically.

“Vaughan already shows plus raw power, his best tool at present,” added Cundall. “His hit tool and approach are still works in progress, and his swing is on the long side, but his hands are quick. … He is a fringe-average runner right now and will likely get slower as he matures, but he has a good arm and a typical right field profile.”

While Cundall noted that Vaughan still has a ways to go developmentally, he also identified the San Miguelito native as a “high-risk, high-reward prospect” with “a wide gap between what he is now and what he could be in the future.”

This winter, Vaughan returned to his home country to suit up for Aguilas Metropolitanas of the Panamanian Professional Baseball League. He posted a .681 OPS across 18 games for the Panama City-based club.

As he prepares for the upcoming minor-league season, Vaughan is projected by SoxProspects.com to begin the year with Low-A Salem. These next few months could prove to be pivotal for Vaughan, who can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this December.

If the Red Sox would prefer not to expose Vaughan to the Rule 5 Draft, they would need to add him to their 40-man roster by late November.

(Picture of Eduardo Vaughan: Bryan Green/Flickr)

What Does Future Hold for Red Sox’ Jonathan Araúz?

It took until the final inning of the final game of the regular season, but Red Sox infielder Jonathan Arauz collected his first career major-league home run in the top half of the ninth of Sunday’s 9-1 victory over the Braves.

Per Statcast, Arauz’s solo blast traveled 347 feet and had an exit velocity of 93 mph coming off a 1-1, 87 mph cutter at the top of the strike zone from Atlanta reliever Josh Tomlin. Not exactly a moonshot, but the 22-year-old will certainly take it, especially when it wraps up a three-hit afternoon.

By going 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI on Sunday, Arauz finishes his first full big-league season with a slash line of .250/.325/.319 to go along with that lone big fly and nine total runs driven in on the year.

In remaining with Boston for the entirety of the 2020 campaign, Arauz is now in a position where he could remain a member of the Sox organization for the foreseeable future.

Last December, the Red Sox selected Arauz from the Astros in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft and wound up paying Houston $100,000 to do so.

Because the Panama native made it through the entire year without getting offered back to his previous club for $50,000, though, the Sox can now maintain his services without the risk of losing him to waivers.

Prior to the 2020 season, Arauz had never played a single minor-league game above the Double-A level. With that in mind, it appears that the switch-hitting infielder could be in line to see significant playing time at the Triple-A level in 2021.

Regardless of how the minor-leagues are formatted next year, the Red Sox will still have their Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, Mass. It remains to be seen if the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will also derail the 2021 minor-league season, but assuming it doesn’t, Arauz should be part of a solid mix of infielders there that could include the likes of Jeter Downs, C.J. Chatham, and Chad De La Guerra.

Unlike those three, Arauz already has some major-league experience. And although he did not exactly shine this season, he did show some flashes with the bat (went 12-for-30 at the plate from Aug. 10-23) and proved that with time, he could become capable of adequately playing multiple positions (2B, 3B, SS) around the infield.

Arauz was one of 28 Red Sox players to make their club debuts and one of six to make their major-league debuts this season. Considering he is presumably under team control through 2025, it should it be fascinating to see what Arauz’s role with Boston looks like for 2021 and beyond in the coming months.