Draft Evaluations and Updates
With the 20th pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, the Boston Red Sox select Kolbrin Vitek. While this was a good selection, it was not the best one. Vitek does not have an above-average arm, and it will hurt his value that the Red Sox are unsure of what position he will play. This is the second pick in two years that has been what we could call a “utility player” (Casey Kelly). The Sox did make a good choice, in the end, though. Vitek has a terrific bat and he will fit right in because he’s a very nice guy. He’s athletic and well built. I believe he has a good future with the Red Sox, and there will be no competition or dislike between Pedroia and Vitek. I have come up with a nickname already (maybe someone already invented this, but to me I came up with this first) Tek II (Tek the second if you can’t understand Roman numerals). Vitek and Varitek. Varitek and Vitek. Good first pick by the Sox. With the 36th pick, we took another big bat in Bryce Brentz. The scouting report indicates that he is one of the best hitters in the draft and is a good baseball player that has a future with us. He has only one weakness according to the full scouting report, and that is he can be “overly-aggressive at the plate”. But I have confidence that the coaches in our minor league systems can work with him on that. He’s listed as a left fielder, which could be a potential weakness in 4 or so years, provided we don’t sign a superstar as our left fielder. This was also a good selection. With the 39th pick in the Draft, the Sox selected Anthony Ranaudo, a RHP. This was a big risk. Ranaudo was one of the top arms in the country in the spring, but has since injured his elbow, which caused him to miss significant time. He is now pitching, but is struggling to find the zone. To make matters worse, he is represented by Scott Boras, which means more money will be put on the table. Money that could easily go to waste. I don’t like this selection. We took a long shot here. With the 57th pick in the Draft, the Red Sox chose Brandon Workman, a 6’5, 225 pound righty out of Texas. He has been watched for a while and scouts have seen nothing that has lowered their opinions on him. According to the scouting report, he is an accurate thrower and has a “bulldog mentality.” Where did we here “bulldog”? Oh, that’s right, Ian Browne used that to describe Beckett. Are they similar? Yes, in more ways than one. Both are from Texas, both are competitive, and both have a good fastball. Workman’s only pitch that could be taken advantage of is his curveball, which is mediocre. However, he has good command over that, which will help things. His size, competitive nature, and good control will help him fight his way to the big leagues. With the 110th pick in the Draft, the Red Sox snagged Sean Coyle, a shortstop out of high school. Now here’s what worries me. He’s 5’8. I don’t see much of a future in him. But then again, that’s what people said about Pedroia, so who knows? With the 143rd pick in the Draft, the Red Sox selected another shortstop. Garin Cecchini. I also don’t see much of a future for Cecchini, and if he was picked after a 5’8 guy who plays the same position, then I have a pretty good idea of Cecchini’s potential. And….that isn’t much. Maybe he’ll turn out to be a good prospect for trading, but aside from that I can’t see anything else. That’s all the Sox have picked so far, I’ll update my blog throughout the day on the draft, though.
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