June 15, 2008:
2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft Preview
Boston heads into Major League Baseball's annual entry draft with the 30th overall selection based upon last year's record. Boston doesn't have much of a chance at grabbing the top tier of talent, headlined by Boston University's pitcher Hector Rodriguez, catcher Doug Osborn of Maine and Georgia pitcher Orlando "Moo" Duran.
With the recent graduation of Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz from the minors, the Red Sox are expected to focus on pitching in the draft.
"I think our philosophy is not going to change," General Manager Theo Esptein said from Fenway Park this morning, where the team's scouting and development staff are held up awaiting the draft. "We are going to draft the best available talent that fits our team's philosophy regardless of position or cost. Our staff has done a tremendous job getting these guys ready over the past few years and we are looking to continue that pipeline here today. We need to keep adding the pieces that we need to build for long-term sustainability at the major league level."
Team President Larry Lucchino and owner John Henry traveled to New York for the festivities.
The Red Sox are poised to have Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden and Daniel Bard all with a chance of cracking the team's pitching staff within the next season, allowing Boston to replace aging parts of their staff while keeping costs down. In addition, Lars Anderson (.282, 5 HRs, 31 RBIs with Pawtucket) is showing signs of developing into the power-hitting first baseman the Sox have lack since the days of Mo Vaughn.
"We like Lars bat, obviously, but defensively he rates out as a plus-defender. With Youkilis signed, we have options to work him into the lineup at DH and off the bench, but we see him fitting in as an everyday first baseman probably within two seasons."
Baseball America recently ranked the Sox as having the 2nd best minor league system in baseball thanks to the signing of free agent 17-year old 2B Lucio Serrano out of Costa Rica.
Having the college and high school programs in their first year, I also left on the 'additional players' option just in case the draft class was weak. In future years, I plan on removing this and maybe adding another division or two to the NCAA program, which currently has 260 teams mirrored on Division 1 NCAA baseball. After comparing this draft class to next year's, I'll make that decision. The high school level is 50 teams based upon a one-per-state tournament so the chances of expanding are slim depending upon options available in OOTP10.