Boston Red Sox

The Varitek Signing Aftershock

When comparing Varitek to similar catchers of his caliber and taking todays economy into effect, this is just bad management on the Sox part. However, this is no longer here nor there, and I think every rational Sox fan agrees with this. The real question now is, how do the rest of the catchers stack up after this?

Not to belabor an already conspicuous thought, but with the games played incentive that was so generously added by Mr. John Henry & Co. and Tito Francona's persistence on sticking with his veterans, one can safely presume that Varitek will get the vast majority of the at-bats coming from the catching position. So now the question becomes even more interesting, who gets the other fraction of the at-bats?

February 1, 2009 daniel rathman

Quick Post

Sox Officially sign six as Non-Roster Invitees

Within the last couple of days, the Red Sox have officially signed six players to minor league contracts and will report to Spring Training as non-roster invitees. Mostly seen as depth in case of the inevitable injury, the six players are:

Fernando Cabrera (RHP): Probably has the most major-league potential of the group, the 6'4" Cabrera has very good stuff, including a low-mid 90's fastball with good sink on it and an above-average split-change. Underwent elbow surgery last year, but came back and threw well in the Puerto Rican Winter League, picking up 12 saves while only giving up 12 hits in 22.1 innings and posting a 23 K/6 BB ratio.

January 27, 2009 daniel rathman

Lars Anderson

Fire Brand’s Top 40 Sox Prospects

Recently, ESPN ranked the Sox system 7th in all of baseball. This was quite a compliment to a team that just this past season graduated four of Baseball America's top five Sox prospects (Buchholz, Ellsbury, Masterson, Lowrie). Led by Director of Amateur Scouting Jason McLeod, the Sox quickly stocked up their system through the amateur draft and international free agency. Their 2008 draft class has arguably the highest potential of any team, and all of that was made possible by the Sox willingness to go over the slot to obtain guys that are considered to have signability issues. Part of the reason that has caused this has been the emergence of top prospects Pedro Alvarez and Matt LaPorta, two unsigned draft picks in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Spending over the slot should be a continuing trend for a team as rich in resources as the Sox, allowing them to remain as one of the top systems in baseball.

January 27, 2009 daniel rathman

Boston Red Sox

What to make of Bubba Bell

Perhaps the most perplexing, yet enticing prospect in the Sox system, Bubba Bell is at the stage in his career where performance is everything. There is no projection left. Always known as a hitter with above-average skills all-around, he no longer can point to this fact, and must produce or he'll remain a career minor leaguer until he's finally forced to retire. After a breakout season in the wind-tunnel, otherwise known as High-A Lancaster, Bell had many scouts wondering if he had made the necessary adjustments to become a major league regular. But even then, his ultimate ceiling was in question.

He had always been known to have solid, yet unspectacular tools all around. He makes excellent contact, has decent power, solid plate discipline, a tick above average speed, a good glove with decent range, and a plus arm. He can play all outfield positions well, but profiles more as a right fielder because of his stocky build. With his strong work ethic, fundamentally balanced swing, and contact rate, there isn't much doubt that he could at least serve as an adequate fourth outfielder. So what remains as Bubba's biggest stepping stone to the major leagues?

January 25, 2009 daniel rathman

Boston Red Sox

Sox system ranked 7th by ESPN

The 2nd Annual ESPN rankings of the top systems and top prospects by Keith Law were officially released this morning. Catching a lot of fans by surprise was the generous ranking at #7. I really can't quibble too much, however, as you could have made a case for every team in that 7-12 range. It's really just a matter of opinion, and the debate gets brought up a few times every year. Do you prefer a system with more impact major league ready talent or one that's deep with some impact talent at the top and a lot of low-level high-upside guys filling out the top 10. Keith understands that, and provided some valid reasoning:

While it's certainly feasible logic, I don't think you can accurately grade the 2008 draft class quite yet. Not that Law was doing that, as he clearly stated it has the "potential", but I don't know if you can precisely rank the Sox system over teams with more top-heavy systems like the Giants and to an extent, the Orioles. Of course, there's the counter-argument that guys like Pete Hissey (whose ranked 25th at SoxProspects) would probably rank in the 10-15 range for other teams in that 7-12 range. So while the Sox have graduated a lot of their top prospects, they've quickly reloaded through the amateur draft and the international market by adding a lot of depth, and a lot of high-ceiling guys.

January 22, 2009 daniel rathman

David Aardsma

Aardsma sent to Seattle for Prospect Williamson

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Red Sox have sent right-handed reliever David Aardsma to Seattle for 19 year old left-hander Fabian Williamson. Aardsma, who threw 48 2/3 innings for the Sox last season, will fill up the final spot on the Mariners 40 man roster. Williamson, who spent all last season in single-A Pulaski, striking out 59 batters in 46 2/3 innings, will more than likely begin the season in short-season Lowell.

I'd also like to introduce myself as this is my first post here at Fire Brand. Obviously, my name is Pat and I'm a sophomore at the University of Southern Indiana. I'm a baseball junky and also a big Red Sox fan. My main interests are intensively following players as they progress through the minor leagues and players coming up through the amateur rankings (HS, College). I'll be joining Fire Brand by frequently posting minor league updates as they come through and analysis on certain players once or twice a week. I also take requests, so shoot me an e-mail if you have a certain player you'd like me to break down.

January 21, 2009 daniel rathman