While Dombrowski has been noted as a savvy trader through the years, perhaps the forced-upon-him exchange of his job running a declining Tigers roster for an up-and-coming Red Sox one may prove to be the best trade he’s ever been involved in.Īcquired: Drafted 7th overall (1st round) in 2015 out of U of Arkansas by BOS for $3.59 million bonusĪfter Benintendi’s breakout season at Arkansas leading up to the draft, the only real question for me was how the power will translate to the big leagues. Long-term, the cupboard is still well stocked with young talent, and the Red Sox should have enough in the pipeline to contend not only in 2016 but beyond as well. And it very well may work, as Dombrowski inherited the core of a championship team, and the two pieces he paid premium prices to acquire are legitimately excellent players. While Cherington focused on internal development and roster depth, Dombrowski’s first winter has focused on paying high prices for elite talents, putting faith in a few stars to turn the team’s fortunes around. Next up will be the Chicago Cubs.Īfter a second consecutive disappointing season, the Red Sox made a significant leadership change, replacing former General Manager Ben Cherington with Dave Dombrowski, a long-tenured executive with some very different ideas about roster construction. Returning for his popular cameo, Carson Cistulli picks his favorite fringe prospect toward the end of the list. Below, Dave Cameron shares his thoughts on the general state of the organization. You can also find each player’s previous rank from Kiley’s list last year. In the biographical information, level refers to where they finished the year, unless they were sent down for injury rehab or other extraneous reasons. I feel this gives readers a better sense of the possible outcomes a player could achieve, and more information to understand my thoughts on the likelihood of reaching those levels. The third number is the ceiling grade, or 90th percentile projection, to help demonstrate the volatility and raw potential of a tool. The second number is the likely future grade or, if you prefer percentiles, call this the 50th percentile projection. One other difference for the way I’ll be communicating scouting grades to you is the presence of three numbers on each tool instead of just two. Here is a table to understand the position player grades: The grades I put on players heavily weight the functionality of each tool in game situations, rather than just pure tool grades. Here’s the primer for the series and my scouting thoughts in general. As a fair warning, I have a higher opinion of Mauricio Dubon and Trey Ball than may be commonly accepted, while Sam Travis gets more love after a strong regular season and fall performance than I’m willing to give just yet. The rest of the system still has a good mix of upside and safety with enviable pitching and middle infield prospect quality. The trade for Craig Kimbrel took four prospects off the list, which you can read about when the Padres list comes out (Margot would have been #3, Allen likely just off the top 10, Guerra towards the back end of the 45+ group). In the end, I decided on Benintendi, though I could get behind any of the other three being the preferred choice. Anderson Espinoza has a case for being on top of the list as well with his exceptional talent standing out at such a young age. Moncada has legitimate defensive concerns while Devers’ power is more projection than reliable skill for now. Separate Red Sox officials all had one of Yoan Moncada, Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi as top dog, each player having separate questions that potentially limit their ceilings (though they’re all pretty high regardless). The organization has four prospects who are pretty widely accepted as its top talents, though opinions differ greatly on the ranking order.
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