Red Sox Diaries

The first three rounds of the MLB Amateur draft took place Tuesday night, giving the Red Sox an opportunity to add even more talent to their thriving farm system. (Which Sports Illustrated ranked as the second-most successful during the past 10 years -- click here for the article.) Boston had three picks, all of them among the last five of each round -- an uncharacteristically simple haul, as the Sox missed out on the supplemental round action because they didn't gain or lose anyone especially significant.

High school outfielder Reymond Fuentes was selected in the first round, college right-hander Alex Wilson was snagged in the second and high school shortstop David Renfroe was taken in the third.

Below, I have broken down each player individually based on scouting reports I've read from various outlets. (ESPN's Keith Law has 100-200 word briefs on the top prospects here, but it's only available to Insiders. MLB.com is also a good resource.) I obviously haven't seen any of them play in person, nor am I a certified draft expert. And it's too way early to predict how these prospects will develop, anyway. But overall, I think it's a puzzling start to the draft.

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Reymond Fuentes (Prep OF, Puerto Rico)

The tendency of general manager Theo Epstein and his staff to draft smaller, speedier hitters has been pointed out in previous posts. Well, Fuentes (a nephew of Carlos Beltran) seems to fit the mold as well. He has a 6-foot, 160-pound frame -- suggesting that he has minimal power potential. Clearly he has the potential to build muscle, but it's doubtful that he'll become the 30-35 home run threat the Sox have not been able to develop. In fact, by all accounts, he most likely projects as a leadoff hitter. That's nice, except Jacoby Ellsbury is basically the same player at the same position. So I don't quite understand what the idea behind this pick was -- especially with a fair number of the top-ranked catching prospects still on the board. Plus, he likely won't end up hitting enough to move to a corner outfield spot.

Now, Boston has enough talent and depth that it can take a chance on a high-upside pick like this, give him time to develop, and hope he reaches his potential. Of course, one major problem is that the last prep outfielder that Epstein took (Jason Place, with the 27th pick in the 2006 draft) has not panned out thus far. His career strikeout-to-walk ratio is nearly 3:1, and he is still in high-A ball. Granted, Place is only 21, but after hitting 19 homers for Lancaster in the hitter-friendly California League (in which teams averaged scoring 5.17 runs per game), he has two dingers and is slugging less than .400 in the Carolina League (in which teams score half of a run fewer per game than in the CALL).

Time will tell whether or not Fuentes (and Place, for that matter) was a good choice. I guess the Red Sox didn't really have any glaring needs to address. I'm just not convinced that there weren't better options on the table, even considering Fuentes' raw talent. But an organization as well-run as Boston's is probably the best place for him to reach that potential, so I'll withhold judgment for now.

Alex Wilson (College RHP, Texas A&M)

This pick I understand even less than the Fuentes one. Epstein is always looking to add young, live arms to the system (Daniel Bard, Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buccholz and, less successfully, Craig Hansen come to mind), but the broad-shouldered, 6-foot-1 Wilson underwent Tommy John surgery two years ago and has to be considered somewhat of an injury concern for that reason.

According to the accounts I read, Wilson hits 95 miles per hour with his fastball and has a very effective mid-80s slider to complement it. He is also turning 23 years old this off-season, which suggests that he should be ready for the big leagues fairly soon if all goes according to plan. But considering his pitch arsenal, injury history and release point (he supposedly has a three-quarter delivery), I wonder if he might end up in the bullpen when all is said and done. At Texas A&M, he was jettisoned from the rotation in the middle of the spring but did not have the same strikeout numbers in the pen.

My guess is that he's more insurance in case Jonathan Papelbon leaves as a free agent in a couple of years, or he could serve as a valuable trade chip to go get the power bat they're currently lacking. I know this was a weak draft for hitters overall, but still -- it would be nice to see the Sox develop that bat themselves one of these days.

David Renfroe (Prep SS, Mississippi)

Renfroe has the potential to be the most intriguing of Boston's three picks, at least from where I'm sitting. But his selection was still a bit of a head-scratcher, because Boston already has Jed Lowrie in mind as its long-term solution at short and drafted Florida prep shortstop Casey Kelly in the first round a year ago. Actually, the reports I've read suggest that he and Kelly possess extremely similar skill sets: in addition to playing shortstop, both also pitched and quarterbacked for their football team in high school.

Kelly struggled greatly last season as a hitter, batting .173 in rookie league ball, and it seems like the Sox are trying him out exclusively on the mound this season -- with great returns, as he is 6-2 with a 1.37 ERA in A and high-A ball. (Kelly's transition makes the Wilson choice even more peculiar, upon further review.) So drafting Renfroe might be a signal that Kelly is no longer considered an option as a hitter. Renfroe's stature (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) also signals that he might switch to third base at some point (perhaps as the future replacement for Mike Lowell?), and reports indicate that he wouldn't have a problem making the move. Some scouts have even drawn comparisons to another David -- New York Mets' hot corner star David Wright.

Like Fuentes, Renfroe has good baseball bloodlines -- his father Laddie bounced around in the minors as a pitcher for nine years and had a cup of coffee with the Chicago Cubs in 1991. Hopefully David will stick as a hitter and be a much-needed impact corner-infield bat for years to come.

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Rounds 4-30 will be completed on Wednesday, and I would wager that the Sox land a couple of guys who have slipped because of signability concerns and pay over-slot to lock them up. It would be nice to see a catcher among the Day Two selections. Max Stassi, whom some mock drafts had going to Boston in the first round, is still on the board for some reason. It would be great if he's still there tomorrow at the bottom of the fourth round. If not, hopefully Epstein and Co. will manage to find a couple of diamonds in the rough--and guys who provide more reason for excitement than the ones taken today.

--Danny Daly (ddaly06)