Red Sox Memoirs - Spiderman and The Rocket (1996 - )

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 20
Orioles (8-7) @ Red Sox (11-5)
Orioles 8 - Red Sox 9 (12 innings)

What a fantastic game. First we come back from being down five in the eighth to tie it on a three run shot by Mo Vaughn and a two run shot by Mike Greenwell. Then after Cal Ripkin singles home two runs in the top of the 12th, we still manage to come back to win it following a triple by Nomar, an error by the shortstop, a walk, and a two run double.

WP - Mike Maddux (2-0)
LP - Randy Myers (0-3)
SV - N/A
HR - Mo Vaughn (3), Mike Greenwell (3)

April 21
Orioles (8-8) @ Red Sox (12-5)
Orioles 6 - Red Sox 2

Our defense kinda did us in in this one. Going into the eighth inning Butch Henry had allowed only one run to the Orioles, but an error and some other bad plays allowed the Orioles to put five runs on the board in eighth and take game two in this critical early season series. Fortunately we're turning to Clemens for the rubber game of this three game series.

WP - Sidney Ponson (2-0)
LP - Butch Henry (1-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Mo Vaughn (4)

April 22
Orioles (9-8) @ Red Sox (12-6)
Orioles 0 - Red Sox 7

A very well pitched game by Mr. Clemens helped us win the rubber game in a big early season match-up. Clemens went eight innings without allowing a run, gave up only five hits, walked one, and struck out ten. We also got homers out of Tim Naehring and Mike Greenwell, as well as a 4-4 game out of Nomar, with two doubles, two runs, and two RBI's.

WP - Roger Clemens (3-1)
LP - Scott Erickson (1-2)
SV - N/A
HR - Tim Naehring (3), Mike Greenwell (4)

Thoughts: We played very well against the Orioles, which is huge. I think it's great, and also very important, that we were able to take two of three from them early in the season, especially when we figure to be gunning at each other and trading blows frequently throughout the season. When we face them again for the final three games of the month they'll be facing our top three pitchers (Clemens, Saberhagen, Moyer), so I have high hopes for that series as well. Anyways, next up we have the Yankees, who have vastly underperformed to this point in the season (8-10, projected to go 100-62). Hopefully we play well against them and they don't start righting the ship against us.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 23
Red Sox (13-6) @ Yankees (8-10)
Red Sox 4 - Yankees 5

Well this game was extremely frustrating. Bret Saberhagen put forth an excellent start, seven innings, three runs, five strikeouts, and the offense played well enough to win. But unfortunately our bullpen gave it up. Mike Stanton allowed the tying run in the eighth, and then Slocumb gave up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth when he threw a wild pitch with a man on third base.

BREAKING NEWS

In this game Canseco and Jeff Frye both suffered injuries. Frye will only miss the next two games with a minor case of shoulder bursitis, but Canseco on the other hand will miss 12 days with a twisted knee. Jeff Frye's injury isn't particularly consequential because it's only two days, and neither is Canseco's because he's been hitting like he has nails shoved in his brain (.590 OPS last 10 games).

WP - Jeff Nelson (1-1)
LP - Heathcliff Slocumb (0-2)
SV - N/A
HR - Tim Naehring (4)

April 24
Red Sox (13-7) @ Yankees (9-10)
Red Sox 4 - Yankees 5

Another frustrating game. We really should've beaten their starter up, but instead he handled us pretty well for seven innings, holding us to four runs. Bernie Williams did a number on us, going 2-4 with three RBI's. Pat Kelly also hit an inside the park homer. Troy O'Leary had a two run single, and Wil Cordero went 3-4.

WP - Scott Kamieniecki (2-1)
LP - Steve Ontiveros (0-1)
SV - John Wetteland (4)
HR - N/A

April 25
Red Sox (13-8) @ Yankees (10-10)
Red Sox 1 - Yankees 5

Well that was beyond embarassing. Wakefield allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings, and our whole offense was Nomar, who went 2-3 with a walk and drove in our only run in the top of the ninth. Bernie Williams kept crushing us, too, going 2-4 with 3 RBI's.

WP - David Cone (2-2)
LP - Time Wakefield (2-1)
SV - N/A
HR - N/A

Thoughts: The Yankees pretty much took us out behind the wood shed in these three games and pulled themselves back above .500, as well as shrinking our lead from 3 1/2 games to 1 1/2 games. Bernie Williams crushed our pitching all series, going 5-12 with a homer and seven RBI's in the three games. On a happier note Nomar is sporting a 15 game hitting streak and is leading the team in a variety of offensive categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, RBI's, steals, and runs.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

RED SOX MAKE SOME ROSTER CHANGES

We changed up the roster a bit today. Specifically, we switched from an 11 man bullpen to a 13 man bullpen. The call-ups were Rich Garces (77/84) and Hideki Okajima (75/82), in place of Dwayne Hosey and Phil Clark. Both Okajima and Garces will take the middle relief spots in the 'pen, with Stan Belinda (74) and Steve Ontiveros (74) moving into long relief. The move can be explained as such: I never use my bench, I always seem to be low on arms outta the 'pen, and the bullpen has been faltering lately.

In other news, with the month nearing it's ending point I'm planning on doing a little two part series talking about prospects currently in the farm, and then a look at where we plan on going in the draft. Just letting you know . Also after the month is up and I do my monthly wrap-up, I'm gonna be looking for some feedback on how I've been doing, what you like/dislike, what you think of the formatting, that kinda thing. You can give it to me now, but I was gonna wait till after the month so I can get my monthly report out too.

[Alloutwar]

Viva el Guapo! Dios Mio! el Guapo est el hombre de los man-boobages.

I like your flow and how you're going. One piece of advice - if you're not going with storyline, but more a game recap/serious dynasty, then the more detail you can furnish - screenshots, monthly/compiled stats (use Miz's Box Score Parser), the better. I know when reading dynasties (even my own) it can get tedious to look through game recap, after game recap, after game recap...

Breaking it up with a special story (like the injury above, roster move above, or a Rocket screenshot/resigning notice) is a real help to the reader. Different fonts/colors or headings, like you've used are good. If you could delineate where your games break a bit more clearly, either with another <return> or the ***** or _______ approach, that may help. It's not a biggie since you split posts by series anyhoo. Also - maybe an around-the-league, or posting standings is always a help.

One last tip - always double check, and tRIPLE-check everything. You have a pitcher up there named Time Wakefield. He may be timeless, true!

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Viva el Guapo! Dios Mio! el Guapo est el hombre de los man-boobages.

I like your flow and how you're going. One piece of advice - if you're not going with storyline, but more a game recap/serious dynasty, then the more detail you can furnish - screenshots, monthly/compiled stats (use Miz's Box Score Parser), the better. I know when reading dynasties (even my own) it can get tedious to look through game recap, after game recap, after game recap...

Breaking it up with a special story (like the injury above, roster move above, or a Rocket screenshot/resigning notice) is a real help to the reader. Different fonts/colors or headings, like you've used are good. If you could delineate where your games break a bit more clearly, either with another <return> or the ***** or _______ approach, that may help. It's not a biggie since you split posts by series anyhoo. Also - maybe an around-the-league, or posting standings is always a help.

One last tip - always double check, and tRIPLE-check everything. You have a pitcher up there named Time Wakefield. He may be timeless, true!

Thanks for the constructive criticism. And just to address your points, I am planning on using a bit more in the way of screenshots and things like that soon (especially because I recently downloaded that freeware screenshot thing CatKnight posted in the Dynasty Help thread). I am a little reluctant to use things like Miz's box score parser because I don't want to bog each update down with a million numbers, and/or make each series update so much work that this becomes a chore for me to keep up with. I'll try to split the games up a little more to make it easier on the eyes, and maybe include a little more color in each post. Also the around-the-league and standings is gonna be in every monthly update, but I think I'll also start throwing in that kinda thing at random here and there between updates. Good catch with the Wakefield thing , normally I'm better about that kind of thing, but I've been slacking a bit lately. Thanks again for the criticism!

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

April 27
Red Sox (13-9) @ Orioles (11-10)
Red Sox 8 - Orioles 3

Clemens seems to be back to his normal self since getting paid. He went 6 2/3 and only gave up three runs on five hits, while striking out eight, in this start. Hideki Okajima also made his first career appearance, going 1 1/3 innings without allowing a hit, a walk, or a run, and striking out one. Mike Greenwell and Tim Naehring were the big guys on offense, as both drove in eight runs, with Greenwell also smacking a dinger.

WP - Roger Clemens (4-1)
LP - Sidney Ponson (2-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Mike Greenwell (5)

April 28
Red Sox (14-9) @ Orioles (11-11)
Red Sox 2 - Orioles 8

Bret Saberhagen pitched like he was throwing with his left arm in this game, only going 2 1/3 innings and allowing six earned runs. It also didn't help any that just about everyone who made it on base safely got left there. We somehow managed to only score two runs, despite collecting eight hits and four walks on offense. I can't say I have high hopes for the rubber game in this series with Jamie Moyer, but who knows, maybe he can pull something out of his ass.

WP - Kent Mercker (2-1)
LP - Bret Saberhagen (1-2)
SV - N/A
HR - John Valentin (2)

April 29
Red Sox (14-10) @ Orioles (12-11)
Red Sox 6 - Orioles 7

Easily the most frustrating game of the season so far. Jamie Moyer was going great into the seventh inning, with us leading 6-2, before allowing a bases loaded triple to Roberto Alomar to bring them within one. Before it was all said and done they managed to get a run out of Mike Maddux and Hideki Okajima each and put five runs on the board between the 7th and 9th innings to win the game. Alomar also fell a homer short of the cycle, while Nomar extended his hitting streak.

WP - Roger McDowell (2-1)
LP - Hideki Okajima (0-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Mike Stanley (5), Nomar Garciaparra (4)

Thoughts: The team is really struggling right now. Although I suppose it is somewhat expected, the chances of us being able to play .650 ball all season were slim to none, especially with our defensive deficiencies and below-average pitching staff. Regardless, with the first month of the season in the books it's getting time to address our problems, be it through trade, free agency, or otherwise. There's a good chance of the line-up getting shaken up a bit, and the pitching staff is DEFINITELY gonna get shaken up somehow very, very soon.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

LEAGUE UPDATE - APRIL

AMERICAN LEAGUE

STANDINGS

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

PITCHING LEADERS

NATIONAL LEAGUE

STANDINGS

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

PITCHING LEADERS

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS - APRIL

NOTABLE SIGNINGS/RE-SIGNINGS

MILESTONES

For those who want to see it, McDowell's line from the no-hitter and the game recap of the no-hitter:

       CLEVELAND   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     J. McDowell  9.0  0  1  0  0  0  4 110   2.91

Milwaukee Brewers at Cleveland Indians
April 20, 1996

TOP OF THE FIRST
Jack McDowell takes the mound for the Indians.
Chuck Carr flied out to center field. <--->
Fernando Vina flied out to center. <--->
Jeff Cirillo grounded to the pitcher. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the first, the game is tied at 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST
Steve Sparks takes the mound for the Brewers.
Kenny Lofton walked. <--1>
Kenny Lofton was caught stealing second. <--->
Omar Vizquel grounded to second. <--->
Albert Belle doubled down the left field line. <-2->
Manny Ramirez doubled in the right field gap, scoring a run. <-2->
Jim Thome walked. <-21>
Eddie Murray flied out to left. <-21>
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the first, Cleveland leads 1 to 0.

TOP OF THE SECOND
Greg Vaughn popped up to second. <--->
Dave Nilsson flied out to left. <--->
John Jaha grounded to second. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the second, Milwaukee trails 1 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND
Brian Giles walked. <--1>
Carlos Baerga singled into the right field corner, advancing the runner to third. <3-1>
Tony Pena grounded to second, scoring a run. <--1>
Kenny Lofton singled back through the middle. <-21>
Omar Vizquel grounded to the pitcher, forcing the runner at second. <3-1>
Albert Belle flied out to center. <3-1>
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the second, Cleveland leads 2 to 0.

TOP OF THE THIRD
Jose Valentin grounded to second. <--->
Kevin Seitzer struck out. <--->
Mike Matheny walked. <--1>
Chuck Carr struck out. <--1>
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the third, Milwaukee trails 2 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD
Manny Ramirez walked. <--1>
Jim Thome walked. <-21>
Eddie Murray grounded to the pitcher, forcing the runner at second. <3-1>
Brian Giles singled to center field, scoring a run. <3-1>
Carlos Baerga grounded to the third baseman for a double play (5-4-3). <3-->
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the third, Cleveland leads 3 to 0.

TOP OF THE FOURTH
Fernando Vina flied out to right. <--->
Jeff Cirillo popped up to second. <--->
Greg Vaughn popped up to second. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the fourth, Milwaukee trails 3 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Tony Pena flied out to right field. <--->
Kenny Lofton flied out to right. <--->
Omar Vizquel lined out to the second baseman. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the fourth, Cleveland leads 3 to 0.

TOP OF THE FIFTH
Dave Nilsson popped up to second. <--->
John Jaha grounded to first. <--->
Jose Valentin struck out. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the fifth, Milwaukee trails 3 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
Albert Belle singled down the right field line. <--1>
Manny Ramirez flied out to center. <--1>
Jim Thome grounded to short for a double play (6-4-3). <--->
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the fifth, Cleveland leads 3 to 0.

TOP OF THE SIXTH
Kevin Seitzer grounded to second. <--->
Mike Matheny grounded to first. <--->
Chuck Carr flied out to left field. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the sixth, Milwaukee trails 3 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH
Eddie Murray flied out to center. <--->
Brian Giles grounded to short. <--->
Carlos Baerga flied out to left field. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the sixth, Cleveland leads 3 to 0.

TOP OF THE SEVENTH
Fernando Vina lined out to right field. <--->
Jeff Cirillo lined out to third. <--->
Greg Vaughn lined out to second. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the seventh, Milwaukee trails 3 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH
Tony Pena struck out. <--->
Kenny Lofton singled to left. <--1>
Omar Vizquel walked. <-21>
Albert Belle struck out. <-21>
Manny Ramirez struck out. <-21>
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the seventh, Cleveland leads 3 to 0.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Dave Nilsson struck out. <--->
John Jaha flied out to center. <--->
Jose Valentin popped up foul down the third base line. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, Milwaukee trails 3 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
Graeme Lloyd came in to pitch for the Brewers. <--->
Jim Thome struck out. <--->
Eddie Murray grounded to short. <--->
Brian Giles struck out. <--->
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the eighth, Cleveland leads 3 to 0.

TOP OF THE NINTH
Kevin Seitzer flied out to center. <--->
Mike Matheny grounded to first base. <--->
Chuck Carr flied out to right. <--->

INDIANS WIN: 3-0

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

SPIDERMAN AND ROCKET UPDATE - APRIL

SS/DH Nomar Garciaparra (79/92), 22 years old



Nomar is off to a fantastic start in his first season in the bigs! He's really been one of the guys to carry the team throughout the first month of the season. He's leading the team in batting average (as well as the league), slugging percent, OPS, steals, runs, he's second by .003 points in OBP and second in RBI's by one. He's looking like a good MVP candidate at this early stage of the season, and an early favorite for AL Rookie of the Year.

SP Roger Clemens (95), 33 years old



Clemens was very good in his six starts this month. He's also looking like a good candidate for the Cy Young Award this early in the season. He's leading the AL in wins and strikeouts, he's ninth in ERA, and third in innings pitched. He's also the only starting pitcher on my team with an ERA under 5.00, which means we need him to keep it up and hold the pitching staff together until we figure out what we're gonna do with the rest of the staff.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

TEAM UPDATE - APRIL

BATTING LINEUP

Overall the lineup is doing pretty well. However there are certain members of the lineup that need to pick it up, or else they're gonna find themselves on the bench, traded, or demoted. Namely these players would be John Valentin, Troy O'Leary, and Jose Canseco. Hopefully those three start performing like they're capable of, and everyone that's ripping the cover off the ball continues to do so.

PITCHING STAFF

Everyone in the starting rotation but Clemens has pitched like complete horsesh!t so far this season. The bullpen has actually been really good, and way, way better than I anticipated them ever being. Hopefully we can get a little regression toward the mean out of the rest of the starting rotation so I don't have to ship everyone out and/or bring up a bunch of unproven kids.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Lot to catch up on! Here we go...

1) NOMAH!!!!
2) You're still playing Nomar as the DH even with Valentin flirting with .200? You're a braver man than I.
3) Canseco out for 12 days? Thank god he's taking steriods, he might've been out a month!
4) I like the transition to the 'arms-race' style bullpen. You can get away with it early in the year, but when people need days off in July and August, you might want to consider reverting to a 11 or 12-man 'pen.
5) A few of your monthly update screens are missing (including Roger's), but it was a nice game McDowell pitched for his no-no. Shame he had to walk the #9 hitter, though!
6) Love the colors; makes everything easier to read
7) Looking forward to the farm review/draft strategy session. I'm very interested to see where you go with your selections.

Alright, I think that's enough for now. Keep up the good work, as always!

Oh, and Go Sox!

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Lot to catch up on! Here we go...

1) NOMAH!!!!
2) You're still playing Nomar as the DH even with Valentin flirting with .200? You're a braver man than I.
3) Canseco out for 12 days? Thank god he's taking steriods, he might've been out a month!
4) I like the transition to the 'arms-race' style bullpen. You can get away with it early in the year, but when people need days off in July and August, you might want to consider reverting to a 11 or 12-man 'pen.
5) A few of your monthly update screens are missing (including Roger's), but it was a nice game McDowell pitched for his no-no. Shame he had to walk the #9 hitter, though!
6) Love the colors; makes everything easier to read
7) Looking forward to the farm review/draft strategy session. I'm very interested to see where you go with your selections.

Alright, I think that's enough for now. Keep up the good work, as always!

Oh, and Go Sox!

1. He's killing it!
2. Nomar is horrendous defensively, and so is Wil Cordero. The line-up is definitely gonna get shaken up at some point soon though.
3. I can't tell if that injury is helping or hurting us, lol.
4. Right now we've got 13 in the 'pen so I think we're set .
5. Yeah, I just noticed that. They were up when I first posted everything and for some reason they disappeared, but I don't know why . I'm working on fixing it now though.
6. Yeah, I'm gonna add a little more color into the updates moving forward.
7. Once you see how ugly my farm looks it'll probably be easy to see where I plan on going, lol.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Okay, the missing pictures should be fixed and all up there now. They are for me anyways.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

May 1
Tigers (9-15) @ Red Sox (14-11)
Tigers 8 - Red Sox 6

Oh. My. God. I can't believe that game. We were up 6-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, and Tom Gordon gave up FIVE RUNS in the ninth inning to blow it for us, wasting a fantastic start by Butch Henry in the process! We managed to put men on the corners in the bottom of the inning, but couldn't do anything with it. On the brightside Valentin may possibly be remembering how to hit a baseball, after going 2-5 with a homer in this game. Nomar also extended his hitting streak to 19 games.

WP - Brian Williams (1-2)
LP - Tom Gordon (0-1)
SV - Gregg Olson (3)
HR - Mo Vaughn (5), John Valentin (3)

May 2
Tigers (10-15) @ Red Sox (14-12)
Tigers 3 - Red Sox 6

We almost wasted a beautiful start by Clemens (7 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 ER, 5 K), but fortunately we managed to put six runs on the board in the final two innings to win it. Valentin really seems to be putting it together (finally), as he collected his second consecutive multi-hit game, going 2-4 with a walk, two runs, a homer, and two RBI's.

WP - Roger Clemens (5-1)
LP - Jeff Weaver (1-2)
SV - Tom Gordon (3)
HR - John Valentin (4)

May 3
Tigers (10-16) @ Red Sox (15-12)
Tigers 4 - Red Sox 2

Seriously, this is just getting ridiculous. It's tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth and they have the bottom of their order coming up, so I'm thinking we're going to extras, and then this happens:

TOP OF THE NINTH
Mike Maddux came in to pitch for the Red Sox. <--->
Tony Clark grounded to first. <--->
Bobby Higginson popped up foul down the first base line. <--->
Mark Parent singled to left field. <--1>
Kevin Koslofski doubled down the right field line, scoring a run. <-2->
Shannon Penn singled to short right-center, scoring a run. <--1>
Chad Curtis flied out to right field. <--1>
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the ninth, Detroit leads 4 to 2.

It was an epic pitcher's duel, though. As both starters went eight innings and only gave up two runs. Also, Nomar's hitting streak came to an end at 20 games .

WP - Jose Lima (3-1)
LP - Mike Maddux (2-1)
SV - Gregg Olson (4)
HR - Mike Stanley (6)

Thoughts: Next up we've got the creampuffs known as the Kansas City Royals. But we really need to right the ship against them, as we've got series against the Angels, Mariners, and Yankees coming up in the next couple weeks. Fortunately (maybe?) Canseco comes back from injury in a couple days, and John Valentin is hitting like he's capable of.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

PART I - THE FARM

Many people (myself included) believe that the best way to build a successful baseball team is through the draft and the farm system. And with that being so the future of the Red Sox may be a bleak one, as we lack a large number of elite prospects. However, that being said, right now I'm going to go over what we do have for elite prospects.

SP Jeff Suppan (79/94), 21 years old

Jeff is easily the #1 prospect in our farm system at the time, rated at 79/94. He sports fantastic control and movement, especially at a young age, and it should develop to an elite level if he reaches anything close to his full potential. His power isn't quite as good as his control and movement, but it's still quite good for a 21 year old. As far as his pitches go, his sinker is already a major league quality pitch, and his curve and change should continue to develop and become solid, if not better, pitches, while his fastball should become a good solid pitch as well. There's a really good chance of him coming up very soon and starting for the major league team, especially if guys like Moyer and Saberhagen continue to struggle.

RF Trot Nixon (75/88), 22 years old

Trot is the #1 hitting prospect in the Red Sox farm system, and by quite a wide margin at 75/88. He's really already a major league bat and if Jose Canseco (or any other outfielder) gets traded at some point this season (or I get fed up with them sucking), he'll be the one to get the call-up to the bigs. His contact is a little low, as is his speed. But he more than makes up for it with his good power stroke and plate discipline. As of now he's barely an average defender, but I expect that to improve and for him to become a Gold Glove caliber outfielder. Health may be a slight concern with him, but hopefully not.

2B Freddy Sanchez (68/89), 18 years old

Although his peak grades out a little higher than Trot's, I don't expect him to actually be better or more valuable than Nixon. He still should be very good, though. His best attribute is easily his contact, followed by his fielding ability, with everything else kind of clumped together after that. It's still a little early to tell exactly how he's gonna develop, but the .850 OPS at rookie ball says good things, in my opinion. Health will likely be a concern, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

SP Tomokazu Ohka (63/88), 20 years old

Very good control with Ohka. His power and movement should also develop nicely. All four of his pitches are very close in terms of quality, his fastball and curveball are the best of the four however. Health is a big, big concern with this guy, though. I'm not sure I believe he's gonna stay healthy enough to get the playing time he needs to develop, but hopefully he does because he could be a really valuable piece of the Red Sox pitching staff in the future.

SP Jin Ho Cho (57/85), 20 years old

Although the ratings will tell you that Ohka has a better future than Cho, I personally believe Cho has a better chance of being successful (especially due to Ohka's health concerns). His control and power are both quite good, and his movement isn't that far behind them. One drawback he does have, however, is that he's only going out there with two pitches, a fastball and a curveball. Both are quite good (especially the curve), but if he's not getting one over on any particular day it would be really easy to just sit on the other and tee off. Health doesn't appear to be a concern with Cho (certainly not as much as it is with Ohka). I really look forward to seeing how he develops.

1B Morgan Burkhart (65/86), 24 years old

Although the peak tells you this guy will be good, I really don't think he will be. He's 24 years old and he still has yet to make it past AA, not to mention he is an enormous health risk. He does have some potential offensively, with good contact, power, and eye vitals, but the chances of him improving much at his age are slim to none in my opinion. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong and he's just a late bloomer.

1B Andy Dominique (65/86), 20 years old

Now this guy might be something. He's already just as good as Burkhart, and four years younger. He's also an injury risk, so a lot depends on that, but if he can stay healthy he could be quite good. His contact and eye are both borderline major league quality already, and if his power develops he should be an excellent player. He's a butcher with the glove, but we do play in the AL and there's always possibility for improvement moving forward.


So there they are. The elite prospects in the Red Sox farm system. It might be a stretch to call some of them elite, particularly the last three, but that's what we've got to work with. That being said, the elite prospects we do have are quite good, but they're not enough, I think. Clearly that means this upcoming draft is going to be a big one for us. And in the next post of this series I'll be detailing where we're looking at going and what we're looking at doing in the draft.

Also some honorable mentions go to:

1B/3B/DH Shea Hillenbrand (65/79), 20 years old
CF Michael Coleman (65/84), 20 years old
C Steve Lomansey (65/81), 18 years old
1B Juan Diaz (67/81), 22 years old
C Jason Varitek (70/83), 24 years old
SP Aaron Sele (75/81), 25 years old
SP Ken Grundt (63/82), 26 years old
SP Paxton Crawford (63/82), 18 years old
RP Sun-Woo Kim (63/82), 18 years old
SP Brian Rose (62/80), 20 years old
RP Brian Barkley (54/81), 20 years old
RP Jamie Brown (54/81), 19 years old