The Red Sox promoted their top two shortstop prospects today. Hanley Ramirez was sent to Double-A Portland, and 2004 first-round pick Dustin Pedroia was promoted to high-A Sarasota. While Red Sox fans are enjoying Orlando Cabrera at shortstop -he may be batting under .100 as a Red Sox, but his defense is impeccable; did you see the two groundballs he fielded on the OPPOSITE side of second yesterday!? Not since Pokey Reese have we seen that. And not since before Pokey Reese have we seen that since 2000, minimum. It was a good sight to see. What else was a good sight to see is the Red Sox starting shortstop celebrating along with the rest of the team over Manny’s catches and hits the last couple of nights. Manny already has a high-five motion he goes through with ‘Oh-lahhhndo’. It was good to see.
The invaluable Sox Prospects shows scouting reports for each player. Hanley’s scouting report states that he is an
athletic five-tool shortstop with great instincts. Very young, with above average speed, power, and contact. Good range with an average arm. Has all-star potential. However, may have struggled at dealing with all the hype – most reports list Hanley as the #1 prospect in the organization. He has been very inconsistent throughout his second season, and has had some problems with immaturity, having a few run-ins with management which earned him suspensions. Hanley has shown improved maturity in 2004, improving his game preparation and self discipline despite a lot of spotlight. Highest ceiling in organization.
Hanley Ramirez hit .310/.364/.389 in 239 at-bats with Sarasota. He has a difference of 0.50 between AVG and OBP – a lot like Nomar. He also has made 17 errors at shortstop in 61 games. While in his other years his SLG has been consistently above .500, this year he’s barely hitting for power, which makes me wonder why we promoted Ramirez. Is this a direct result of Pedroia’s success at Augusta, neccessitating a move-up to Sarasota, where Hanley was? I honestly do not see much to be excited about this year. If his slugging percentage this year had been around .500, then I would be excited. Right now though, it looks as if the competition is catching up with Hanley. If Hanley can return to his 2002 Gulf Coast League ways in which he hit a prime-Nomaresque (minus power) .341/.402/.555, then he has a future – only if he shores up his defense.
Dustin Pedroia is a
small infielder had a tremendous career at Arizona State. Average power for a middle infielder, with good bat speed and excellent plate discipline. Loves the game and has fantastic instincts. Plays top-notch defense up the middle, named the 2003 National Defensive Player of the Year. Very scrappy and a great teammate.
Pedroia indeed had a great career at Arizona State, improving in almost every single category. This year, for the Augusta GreenJackets, he had a nice line of .400/.474/.560 in 50 at-bats. That’s in 12 games, so you know the Red Sox are impressed with Pedroia. He also had zero errors in 12 games at short. In 422 at-bats for Hanley in Augusta last year, he hit .275/.327/.403.
I’m not saying stats are the end-all be-all, but they are the final line on which players should be judged. Hanley is already known to not have a fair attitude, although that can always change. But looking at the stats, it doesn’t seem he is the one for us, whereas Pedroia is. He was a leader at Arizona State and plays near flawless defense, something Hanley Ramirez still needs to work on.
In this off-season, I think you will see the Red Sox sign Orlando Cabrera (or a different shortstop, if Orlando doesn’t work out) to a two- or three-year deal, no later than that. I’m rather excited to see the left side of the infield for the Red Sox in four years. If I could look into the future and see Youkilis at third and Pedroia at short, I’d be a happy man.