The 2020 MLB Draft will indeed only be five rounds, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The draft will be held June 10th, its original start date, and June 11th.
Amateur draft will be five rounds, sources tell me and @EvanDrellich. Teams can sign unlimited number players after that for $20,000 each. Also reporting: @JeffPassan.
Upon completion of this year’s amateur draft, clubs can sign an unlimited number of undrafted players for a signing bonus of up to $20,000 each.
The five-round draft will be the shortest in the sport’s history, and as The Athletic’sJayson Stark notes, that means that over 1,000 draft-eligible prospects who thought they were going to be drafted as recently as January won’t.
That being the case because under normal circumstances, the draft would be 40 rounds. However, due to the pandemic-induced shortened 2020 season, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA reached an agreement back in March to shorten the draft from anywhere between 5-10 rounds.
In a proposal sent to the MLBPA from commissioner Rob Manfred’s office earlier in the week, a 10-round draft would come “with other trade-offs that the Players Association determined were too restrictive, including slot amounts in rounds 6-10 at half their 2019 values and a limit of five undrafted players who could sign for a $20,000.” The union rejected the proposal.
If their had been five additional rounds in this year’s draft, the slot values of those rounds would have only come out to approximately $29,578,100, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In other words, less than $1 million per club, which has disappointed many across the game.
The Red Sox this year will make their first selection in this year’s draft with the 17th overall pick. That pick will have a slot value of $3,609,700.
Boston will be without a second-round pick as part of their punishment for stealing signs in 2018, but here are the rest of the slot values for the club’s third, fourth, and fifth-round picks, courtesy of Baseball America.
Round 3, 89th overall: $667,900
Round 4, 118th overall: $487,900
Round 5, 148th overall: $364,400
Again, the 2020 MLB Draft will begin on June 10th, and it will be held virtually, presumably on MLB Network.
The start date and length of the 2020 MLB first-year player draft may both be unknowns at this point in time, but that’s not stopping clubs from doing their due diligence ahead of the annual amateur selection process.
After not having any first-round picks last year due to luxury tax-related penalties from 2018, the Red Sox are slated to make their first selection with the 17th overall pick in this year’s draft. That being the case because at 84-78, Boston finished with the 17th-worst record in baseball last season.
According to Baseball America, the 17th overall pick in the 2020 draft has an assigned slot value of approximately $3,609,700, meaning that’s how much money the Sox will have to spend on that pick, although they can go over that allotted amount if they are willing to incur some tax penalties.
Personally, I’m no draft expert, but since the 2020 MLB Draft is right around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to look into who Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. could be targeting in the earliest stage of this year’s draft. Let’s get into it.
Target No.1: RHP Nick Bitsko, Central Bucks High School East (Doylestown, PA)
In his mock draft from April 15th, CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa had the Red Sox taking high school right-hander Nick Bitsko out of Doyleston, Pa.
Bitsko, 17, was initially set to graduate from Central Bucks High School East in 2021, but he will instead graduate early, adding on to an already impressive list of draft-eligible pitching prospects this year.
A University of Virginia commit, Bitsko posted a 1.18 ERA over six starts during his sophomore season last year, per MaxPreps.
According to a Baseball America scouting report from 2019, “Bitsko has a great pitcher’s frame, standing at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds and has a smooth and easy operation on the bump, with an overhead windup and clean three-quarter slot.”
From that same scouting report, Bitsko’s arsenal includes a 92-96 MPH fastball, a 76-83 MPH curveball, and an 86-87 MPH “firm” changeup.
If drafted by the Red Sox over the summer, Bitsko would presumably become one of the top right-handed pitching prospects in the organization, although there certainly are some minor concerns given just how young he is and how he didn’t get the chance to really throw in front of scouts this year.
Target No. 2: C Patrick Bailey, North Carolina State University
Moving to the college ranks now, Dan Zielinski III of the Baseball Prospect Journal has the Red Sox taking North Carolina State backstop Patrick Bailey in his latest first-round mock draft.
The 20-year-old out of Greensboro was drafted by the Twins in the 37th round of the 2017 draft, but he opted to honor his commitment to North Carolina State instead, and it looks like that decision is going to pay off for him.
Although he played in just 17 games for the Wolfpack this year due to the college baseball season being shut down last month, Bailey produced over the course of that small sample size, as he slashed .296/.466/.685 with six home runs and 20 RBI.
Per a March scouting report from Perfect Game USA, Bailey “has significant value as a switch-hitting catcher with pop on both sides of the plate to go along with strong defensive skills.”
If taken by the Red Sox this summer, I would guess that Bailey would slide behind Connor Wong as the second-best catching prospect in Boston’s farm system.
Target No. 3: RHP Tanner Burns, Auburn University
The first college hurler on this list, My MLB Draft’s most recent 2020 mock from earlier in the month has the Red Sox taking Auburn right-hander Tanner Burns in the first round.
Another former 2017 37th-round pick, Burns was limited to just four starts and 22 1/3 innings pitched this season due to the aforementioned shutdown. In those four starts though, the 21-year dazzled by posting a 2.42 ERA and averaging nearly 13 strikeouts per nine innings.
Listed at 6’1″ and 205 lbs., MLB Pipeline has Burns ranked as their No. 28 draft prospect. They describe the junior as a hurler, who “can work at 92-97 mph with his fastball and locate it to both sides of the plate. His breaking ball can be a plus pitch at times, combining slider velocity in the low 80s with curveball depth, but it gets slurvy at others. He hasn’t had much need for his changeup, though it has some sink and shows some signs of becoming an average third pitch.”
Burns also comes with some durability concerns, as he dealt with right shoulder soreness throughout the majority of his sophomore season in 2019.
Like Bitsko, Burns would presumably become one of the top right-handed pitching prospects in the Sox’ farm system if he is drafted by Boston at some point this summer.
Target No. 4: LHP Garrett Crochet, University of Tennessee
Sticking with the Southeastern Conference here, Prospects Live has the Red Sox selecting University of Tennessee southpaw Garrett Crochet in their 2020 Mock Draft 2.0.
A native of Mississippi who turns 21 in June, Crochet was only able to make one start for the Volunteers this year due to upper back soreness. To add on to that, the left-hander broke his jaw last May after taking a line-drive to the face in his final start of the 2019 regular season that resulted in him missing two weeks of action.
According to a Prospects Live scouting report from Crochet’s lone outing of the 2020 campaign against Wright State in March, the junior’s pitch arsenal included a fastball that sat around 95-97 MPH and maxed out at 99 MPH, an 84-86 MPH slider, an 80-90 MPH changeup, and an 80 MPH curveball.
MLB Pipeline has Crochet ranked as their 18th-best draft-eligible prospect, so he could very well still be on the board by the time the Red Sox make their first pick at No. 17.
Target No. 5: OF Heston Kjerstad, University of Arkansas
Last but not least, we have the lone outfielder on this list in the University of Arkansas’ Heston Kjerstad, who Perfect Game USA’s Brian Sakowski has going to the Red Sox in the first round of his most recent 2020 mock draft from late last month.
The Amarillo, Texas native did nothing but rake in his three seasons as a Razorback, putting together a .343/.421/.590 slash line to go along with 37 home runs and 129 RBI over 150 total games dating back to 2018.
Sakowski’s scouting report for Kjerstad looks a little something like this:
“The left-handed slugger has double-plus raw pop along with the bat speed and impact generation to crush balls with wood. There are some positional questions long-term, but the Red Sox have shown the willingness to take prospects with big power and figure out how to get them into the lineup later.”
MLB Pipeline has Kjerstad ranked as their 10th-best prospect in this year’s draft, so he might not even be on the board by the time the Red Sox make their first selection at No. 17, but if he is, and the Sox take him, that would be quite the addition to an already fascinating mix of outfield prospects that includes Jarren Duran, Marcus Wilson, and Gilberto Jimenez to name a few.
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Well, there you have it. Five prospects the Red Sox could take with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 first-year player draft. If they do wind up taking one of these five young players with their first pick, you can come back here and remember that I had it first.
Also, the 17th overall pick is the lowest first-round pick the Red Sox have had since 2016, so it’s probably important that they hit on it in order to improve a poorly-regarded, but steadily-improving farm system.
You ever visit those fantasy sports sites like ESPN or FantasyPros and notice how they compile their rankings into one elaborate chart that curates information from multiple sources/analysts? Well, I decided to do that with the top 30 prospects in the Red Sox farm system.
There might not even be any minor-league baseball played this year due to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, but I thought it would nonetheless be interesting to compare how different sites–MLB Pipeline, SoxProspects, and FanGraphs–view the top talent that Boston has to offer at the minor-league level.
The following Red Sox prospects were ranked by one of the aforementioned three sites, but not the other two: SS Ceddanne Rafaela, 1B Pedro Castellanos, OF Bryan Gonzalez, OF Eduardo Lopez, OF Juan Chacon, and C Naysbel Marcano.
Prospects Danny Diaz and Tyler Esplin, meanwhile, were ranked by two of the aforementioned sites and left off by the other. They made the list.
Prospect
MLB Pipeline
SoxProspects
FanGraphs
Average
IF Jeter Downs
1
2
1
1.33
1B/3B Triston Casas
2
1
2
1.67
RHP Bryan Mata
4
3
3
3.33
1B/3B Bobby Dalbec
3
6
4
4.33
OF Gilberto Jimenez
5
5
6
5.33
RHP Noah Song
6
9
5
6.67
OF Jarren Duran
8
7
10
8.33
LHP Jay Groome
7
4
15
8.67
RHP Tanner Houck
10
8
9
9
RHP Thad Ward
9
11
11
10.33
SS Matthew Lugo
11
15
7
11
OF Nick Decker
12
17
14
14.33
IF Cameron Cannon
17
18
8
14.33
IF C.J. Chatham
13
10
21
14.67
C/IF Connor Wong
16
12
16
14.67
RHP Brayan Bello
18
19
12
16.33
IF Brainer Bonaci
14
20
18
17.33
RHP Chih-Jung Liu
15
27
13
18.33
SS Antoni Flores
19
21
17
19
LHP Chris Murphy
20
16
23
19.67
RHP Ryan Zeferjahn
22
13
29
21.33
3B Brandon Howlett
23
25
20
22.67
OF Marcus Wilson
21
23
25
23
RHP Aldo Ramirez
27
14
31
24
IF Jonathan Arauz
30
28
22
26.67
RHP Durbin Feltman
25
29
28
27.33
IF Danny Diaz
24
32
NR
28
RHP Andrew Politi
26
37
27
30
LHP Yoan Aybar
29
31
34
31.33
OF Tyler Esplin
28
60
NR
44
So, to boil it all down, here’s a more simplified top-30 list based off the math you see in the chart above.
IF Jeter Downs
1B/3B Triston Casas
RHP Bryan Mata
1B/3B Bobby Dalbec
OF Gilberto Jimenez
RHP Noah Song
OF Jarren Duran
LHP Jay Groome
RHP Tanner Houck
RHP Thad Ward
SS Matthew Lugo
OF Nick Decker
IF Cameron Cannon
IF C.J. Chatham
C/IF Connor Wong
RHP Brayan Bello
IF Brainer Bonaci
RHP Chih-Jung Liu
SS Antoni Flores
LHP Chris Murphy
RHP Ryan Zeferjahn
3B Brandon Howlett
OF Marcus Wilson
RHP Aldo Ramirez
IF Jonathan Arauz
RHP Durbin Feltman
IF Danny Diaz
RHP Andrew Politi
LHP Yoan Aybar
OF Tyler Esplin
In total, 26 of the above 30 players were either drafted or signed by the Red Sox, while three were traded for, and one was acquired in the Rule 5 Draft.
For more in-depth analysis, information, and scouting reports on these prospects and even more players, check out one of the sites I used for this piece in SoxProspects.com. Those guys do a great job in covering the Red Sox farm system. You can even read more abut them and how they got their start here.
The Pawtucket Red Sox, Portland Sea Dogs, Salem Red Sox, and Greenville Drive should all be a little more than two weeks into their season right about now.
Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the baseball season, major and minor-league alike, on hold for the time being.
Recently, there have been reports about Major League Baseball potentially putting together a plan that would involve having all 30 clubs play their games this season in one central location, such as Arizona, Florida, or even Texas.
As encouraging as those proposals may seem, what has not been discussed much since MLB suspended spring training last month is when the minor-league season will start, or if there will even be one at all.
According to Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper, “In off-the-record discussions with people all around the game, there is a near-universal acknowledgement that there are a massive amount of hurdles that have to be overcome to make any MiLB season happen.”
Cooper gets into more of the financial and logistical side of things in his article, but in this case, I want to focus on the developmental side. More specifically, if no minor-league games are played in 2020, how would that impact a prospect’s development and career trajectory?
Take Red Sox infield prospect Jeter Downs for instance. The top prospect acquired by Boston from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts and David Price trade is projected by FanGraphs to make his big-league debut at some point during the 2022 campaign. Would having no minor-league games to play in this year result in Downs’ ETA being pushed back another year?
That probably still depends on what the 21-year-old does in 2021, but taking away a year to develop and continue to improve in actual games while being under the eyes of the organization is something worth thinking about nonetheless.
As odd as it would be to see MLB games played in front of no fans in one neutral location this year, it might be even weirder to have no minor-league baseball to look forward to in 2020 at all.
As part of their punishment for illegally stealing signs in 2018, the Red Sox on Wednesday were docked a second-round pick in this year’s first-year player draft.
That may not sound too significant on the surface, but when you consider that the 2020 MLB Draft will only be anywhere between 5-10 rounds to cut back on spending, it becomes that much larger of a hurdle.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom echoed that same sentiment when speaking with reporters via a conference call earlier Wednesday evening.
“The potential limitations on the draft this year just makes that punishment larger” he said. “It’s significant.”
According to Baseball America, the Sox were slated to make their second-round pick in this year’s draft with the 52nd overall selection, so all that means is the chance to continue to improve a poorly-regarded farm system has in part been taken away.
Some notable prospects the Red Sox have drafted in the second round of past drafts include Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Justin Masterson, Alex Wilson, Brandon Workman, and Sam Travis.
The loss of a second-round pick in this year’s draft comes a year after the Sox were without a first-round selection in the 2019 draft. That was due to luxury tax-related penalties, though, and they wound up taking infielders Cameron Cannon and Matthew Lugo with their first two selections in the second round.
The exact date of the start of the 2020 draft is not even known at this point. It could begin as soon as June 10th or as late as July 20th. It’s anyone’s guess, really.
On another note, I’m planning on writing something up on who Bloom and Co. could target in the first round of the 2020 draft (Red Sox have the 17th pick), so stay tuned for that in the coming days.
Four days after making their first round of spring roster cuts, the Red Sox cut 15 more players before taking on the Minnesota Twins earlier Sunday.
Out of those 15 players, eight were reassigned to minor-league camp, five were optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket, one was optioned to Double-A Portland, and one was optioned to High-A Salem.
The players who were reassigned to minor-league camp were cathcer Roldani Baldwin, catcher/infielder Connor Wong, infielder Jeter Downs, first baseman Josh Ockimey, right-handed pitchers R.J. Alvarez, Trevor Hildenberger, and Tanner Houck, and left-handed pitcher Mike Kickham.
The players optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket were infielders Bobby Dalbec and C.J. Chatham, right-handers Mike Shawaryn and Phillips Valdez, and left-hander Kyle Hart.
Outfielder Marcus Wilson was the lone player optioned to Double-A Portland, while right-hander Yoan Aybar was the lone player optioned to High-A Salem.
In total, seven players — Aybar, Chatham, Dalbec, Hart, Shawaryn, Valdez, Wilson — on Boston’s 40-man roster were cut from big-league camp on Sunday.
Out of the 14 non-roster invites still in major-league camp, the most notable are Brian Johnson, Jonathan Lucroy, Marco Hernandez, and Jarren Duran. Take away Duran and the other three are certainly vying for positions on Boston’s 26-man roster to open the season.
Some thoughts:
Seeing the two prospects the Red Sox acquired in the Mookie Betts and David Price trade get cut is not much of a surprise, but it is a bit surprising seeing names like Kyle Hart, Tanner Houck, and Mike Shawaryn be cut at this point in time.
At least in my mind, I thought Hart and Houck were candidates to fill the two vacant spots in the Sox’ starting rotation, while Shawaryn was competing for a bullpen role. Instead of beginning the year in the majors though, it looks like the trio of hurlers will start with the PawSox.
Guys like Chatham and Dalbec probably had an outside chance of making Boston’s Opening Day roster before Sunday, but if we do see them in the majors this season, it will have to come at a later date.
On a final note, I’m looking forward to seeing what Marcus Wilson does in his first full year in the Red Sox organization.
Per Abraham, Liu departed Taipei on a flight to San Francisco last week, where he, along with all international travelers, was screened for the virus.
Arriving in Fort Myers with the hopes of being ready for minor-league camp, the 20-year-old right-hander is instead “being quarantined in a hotel room by the Sox to guard against the coronavirus.”
The most recent reports from the Centers of Disease Control state that there have been 31 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Taiwan, and according to a team spokesman, the Red Sox are using “an over abundance of caution” with this international issue, as they also quarantined Taiwanese infielder Tzu-Wei Lin earlier in February.
“I had been here for a week and they said I needed to go back to my apartment,” Lin told Abraham. “I was fine. I stayed away for one day and that was it.”
While in quarantine, Liu is “being delivered three meals a day, doing some weight training, and going for an occasional run,” per his Facebook page.
The Red Sox signed Liu as a two-way international prospect out of Taiwan for $750,000 back in October, but according to vice president of player development Ben Crockett, the plan is to have Liu develop as a pitcher.
“We’re just really excited to get our hands on him,” Crockett said of Liu to The Athletic’sChad Jennings. “This guy has good stuff, and we know he’s athletic, and we’ve heard really good things about him as a person, too.”
According to MLB Pipleine, Liu is ranked as the Sox’ No. 17 prospect. If he is healthy, which he says he is, he is expected to report to Fenway South on Saturday.
Red Sox infield prospect C.J. Chatham was slated to start at shortstop in Boston’s spring training opener against the Northeastern Huskies baseball team on Friday. Instead, the 25-year-old was a late scratch from the Sox’ lineup due to right shoulder soreness.
Prospect C.J. Chatham had right shoulder soreness, which is why he was replaced in the No. 3 spot in the lineup today by Jeter Downs (MLB Pipeline's No. 44 prospect).
Jeter Downs, one of three players acquired in the trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, got the start in Chatham’s place at short.
Ranked as Boston’s No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Chatham entered big-league camp with the chance to provide the Sox with some depth around the infield a few months after being added to the club’s 40-man roster for the first time back in November.
The former second-round pick out of Florida Atlantic University split time between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket last season, slashing .298/.333/.408 with five home runs, 46 RBI, and seven stolen bases over 110 total games in 2019.
Earlier in the week, Sox vice president of player development Ben Crockett told The Athletic’sChad Jennings that Chatham has “been exposed to the outfield and could ‘potentially’ get some third base reps in preparation for a utility role.”
Depending on the severity of the soreness he is dealing with, Chatham could be held out of action for the next few days. There will probably be more news about once Friday’s contest comes to a close.
As for Downs, MLB Pipeline’s No. 44 prospect got the start at his natural position and already collected his first hit in a Red Sox uniform on a first inning infield single. He has also committed a fielding error.
The Red Sox are reportedly still seeking a top prospect from the Minnesota Twins in addition to right-handed pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol in order to complete the three-team trade that would send Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
Red Sox are still seeking a top-10 #MNTwins prospect in addition to Graterol. Thus far, Twins are saying no. #Mookie
At this point in time, per Heyman, Minnesota has yet to budge from their original offer.
This news comes one day after it was reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that the Red Sox, upon reviewing his medical information, viewed Graterol more as a reliever than a future starter, leading to the club seeking additional compensation for parting ways with two of its marquee players.
As a result of this, any official movement between Boston, Los Angeles, and Minnesota has been at an impasse.
In the original trade proposal, the Sox would be receiving Graterol and outfielder Alex Verdugo, the Dodgers would be receiving Betts, Price, and cash considerations, and the Twins would be receiving right-hander Kenta Maeda.
Compared to the Red Sox and Dodgers, the Twins’ return in this scenario is minimal, so it is understandable why they would not want to throw in an additional top-10 prospect when it would not really benefit them.
Because Boston and Los Angeles appear to and should be motivated to complete this deal before pitchers and catchers report next week, there are a plethora of directions they could go with this.
First off, the Twins could remain on as the third team while the Dodgers throw in another prospect to satisfy the Sox’ needs. On the other hand, the Sox and Dodgers could either try and work out a trade themselves or find a completely different third team that would fill the gap left by the Twins.
Either way, this trade is still going to happen, probably. It just may not go down the way it was initially set up to.
In discussions with the San Diego Padres revolving around the idea of trading star outfielder Mookie Betts, the Red Sox have reportedly ‘expressed interest’ in acquiring Padres catching prospect Luis Campusano in any potential deal, per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.
In the Mookie Betts trade talks, catching prospect Luis Campusano is one player the Red Sox have expressed interest in. The Padres value him highly; Campusano, a Cal League co-MVP last season, is 79th on Baseball America’s top-100 list.
Campusano, who turned 21 last September, was listed as the fifth-best prospect in San Diego’s farm system and the seventh-best catching prospect in baseball at the end of the 2019 season, according to MLB.com.
The former 2017 second-round pick out of Cross Creek High School in Georgia put together an impressive campaign in his second full professional season last year, slashing .325/.396/.509 with 15 home runs and 81 RBI over 110 games played for the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm. He was named co-MVP of the California League for his efforts back in August.
In the Arizona Fall League, Campusano, along with other Padres prospects, played for the Peoria Javelinas, the same team the Red Sox were affiliated with.
In an organization that is full of quality prospects, Campusano might not garner the same attention that others such as MacKensie Gore or Luis Patino do, but he is an exciting player nonetheless.
“He’s really special,” Lake Elsinore hitting coach Doug Banks said of Campusano in an interview with Baseball America last June. “He does some special things. There’s things he can do because he’s just so talented. For him to do what he’s doing at his position, catching, being as young as he is, it really is incredible.”
Any deal that involves Betts heading to San Diego would most likely involve the Red Sox getting multiple pieces, prospects and major-league players alike, in return, such as 29-year-old outfielder Wil Myers, who is owed $61 million over the next three seasons.
Because Betts is set to become a free agent for the first time next winter, it is safe to say that Padres general manager AJ Preller would be unwilling to move a prized prospect like Gore for what could turn out to be just a one-year rental.
That’s where players like Campusano come in. The 79th-ranked prospect on Baseball America’s Top 100 list would easily become one of the three best prospects in the Sox’ system.
San Diego may value the young backstop highly, but with veteran catcher Austin Hedges and former top catching prospect Francisco Mejia already on the active roster, Campusano could be expandable. Especially for a player of Betts’ caliber.
On Thursday, Lin reported that an agreement between the Red Sox and Padres was viewed as ‘unlikely’ so there is still a possibility that nothing comes from all this speculation. We’ll have to wait and see on that.
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