Bruce_Blixton

No doubt. Fond memories of all those guys, Lil' Hurt will always have a special place in my heart.

Everyone's jumping on you for this but I was thinking the same thing about inheriting that position. Lillibridge, Saladino, Mendick, Remillard, half of this year's roster. The only thing working against him is that his last name is a little too bland.

Tony La Russa admits he's not the decision maker but he was referring to his bowels.

Initially when he was drafted, I tabbed Burke as an athletic, glove-first 4th OF type in the mold of Adam Engel, but after his performance this year in the minors and the AFL I'm starting to think he might eventually become an everyday player.

I'm confused why Veras gets slept on by the minor league analysts. Seems like a 20 year-old batting clean-up in AA should cause people to take notice, but he's still ranked #22(?!) in our top 30. I can't think of a player outside of Montgomery, Schultz, Quero, Ramos and maybe Mena that I'd rank ahead of him right now.

Can we bring some of the Dominican scouts stateside? Seems like they actually know what they're looking at.

He's scheduled to start in Birmingham today, maybe he'll hop on a charter flight to Cleveland after they pull him.

I know it's way too premature for player comps but Veras' current trajectory is reminding me of El Caballo. Third baseman converting to OF, good raw power and looks like a developing hit tool. Really excited to track his progress this year.

Looks like it was an immaculate inning for Vera too, pretty auspicious start to the kid's pro career.

Dalquist over Kelley and Thompson is pretty surprising, also we have a dearth of LHP in the system.

Are we sure it's actually Elijah Tatis out there and not Enoy Jimenez wearing Elijah's jersey?

I would really like this draft, prep catchers are definitely high risk but as was noted it looks like he has the athletic profile to move to a different position down the road. Maybe a little like Craig Biggio? Regardless I hope the Sox employ a strategy like this one this year, targeting high upside HS talent in the first couple of rounds. Maybe they can work out an underslot bonus in round 1 and spread it around the next few rounds like San Diego and Cleveland have done the past couple of years.

I'm excited to see how the kids from PR develop, especially Torres. Really like hearing about his defensive ability and athleticism. D.J. Gladney sounds like a big boom-or-bust type prospect, the power is legit though. My interest is piqued by Sammy Peralta, great K/9 this year and seemed to lock in at the tail end of the season. Maybe he figured something out? Cameron Simmons could be a great buy-low guy, maybe he can have the same trajectory as Jason Coats. Highly regarded college prospect still coming back from a major injury. Not sure if he's signable but Logan Glass sounds very interesting.

80 grade clock in the background.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox groom him into an "opener" role, I feel like he could dominate one time through the lineup.

Not a high school player but Timmy was about as raw as a high school player when he was drafted, I think he's a good example of when the Sox successfully scouted and developed a player. I understand the inclination to draft high-floor/lower-ceiling guys to provide a solid foundation in our system but if that tactic is constantly repeated you'll eventually end up with a solid but ultimately mediocre farm system. At some point they'll have to take some chances on their development staff to truly get some game-changers in out system again.

I doubt they go with a prep player this early given their recent track record of drafting signable HS players around round 6 or 7 (Michalczewski, Zangari and Curbelo come to mind) so I think we see a run on some college pitching in the next couple of rounds. Some pretty good names still left too, Pilkington is interesting, Dylan Coleman from Missouri State and Kyle Bradish from NMSU wouldn't be bad either.

Great write-up, didn't realize he had such a fiery demeanor on the field and was so dedicated in the offseason. He's my personal favorite of the top draft prospects and think he has the highest upside of any hitter in the draft this year. Definitely a long shot that the Sox take him but getting him at #4 underslot and splurging on another prep player that falls into the second round would be my ideal scenario.

I'm starting to think that the Sox development staff have Clarkin working on something mechanically, there's no way that he is this bad given his track record in the minors to this point. Add in the fact that Montgomery has 5 SBs on him tonight and it just seems like he's focused on the pitching aspects exclusively.

I seem to remember quite a few posters high on Jesus Luzardo too when discussing potential trades with the Nationals last year.

This, but unironically.

To get away from the #4 pick discussion a little bit, I thought I'd highlight some middle round college prospects that might be interesting (since the Sox have historically targeted these types of guys in rounds 4-10): LHP Starters: Adam Scott, Sr. - Wofford University: 6-3 Lefty has put up impressive numbers this year, albeit against lesser competition. He's currently sporting 11.63 K/9 rate while only walking 1.5 batters per nine innings. Given our dearth of LHPs in the system, seems like a decent cheap flier to take. Tarik Skubal, Redshirt Jr. - Seattle U.: Drafted last year in the 29th round, Skubal is on most scouts' radar and for good reason. Has carried a 10+ K/9 ratio each of the past two seasons, but command is a concern as his BB/9 has ballooned to nearly 7 this year. The control issues might scare away some teams but since correcting those issues has been a strength of our development staff I think he'd be a good player to target in the later rounds. RHP Starters: Miller Hogan, Jr. - St. Louis Univ.: Has been dominant this year with a 10.84 K/9, a miniscule 1.2 BB/9 and an eye-popping 9.00 K/BB ratio. Was drafted in the 32nd round last year by the Brewers, so might have to reach a little earlier for him but his command and control might make it worth it. Kyle Bradish, Jr. - NMSU: 6-4 righty with good size and stats, since the Sox have drafted players from this program in the past I would imagine he's on their radar. Has a very impressive 12.5 K/9 on the season but control issues are present as evidenced by his 5.7 BB/9. Seems to fit the profile of a typical Sox small-school pitcher pick, big frame and aggressive approach to hitters. Noah Song, Jr. - Navy: Might be a tough sign due to being a Junior with another year of eligibility left and his Navy commitment but should be mentioned as a potential draft candidate. Absolutely dominating the Patriot League this year with a 1.65 ERA to go along with a gaudy 12.4 K/9 ratio, walks are a bit of an issue (4.2 BB/9) but you would have to imagine that he has a great mental approach on the mound to go along with projectable size and stuff. Nick Sandlin, Jr. - Southern Miss: Not a typical Sox-type player as he's undersized at only 5-11 but you can't argue with his track record. His first year as a starter after being the Southern Mississippi closer for the last two years. Has been dominating a fairly decent conference to the tune of a 1.15 ERA to go along with a 13.1 K/9 rate and nearly non-existent 1.15 BB/9. His size will most likely sour a lot of teams on him but it isn't unheard of for a smaller pitcher to succeed. Also his past experience as a closer could help him transition to a reliever should starting not work out, reminds me of Ian Hamilton's trajectory. Infielders: Isaiah Pasteur, Jr. - George Washington: Should be an easy sign since he's already 22 years-old after transferring to GWU from Indiana after the 2016 and missing a year. Wasn't very impressive while at IU but had a breakout season this year against admittedly lesser competition. Has top-end speed nabbing 30 SBs while only being caught 3 times, has also shown developing power with 10 HRs this year. Not a terrible SO% at ~19% and a respectable 10% BB%, has a very respectable .973 fielding percentage manning the hot corner. Chase Chambers, Sr. - Tennessee Tech: First baseman with power and very good plate discipline, fits the profile of the type of hitter the Sox has been targeting in the past couple of years. Walks more than he strikes out (15.5% BB% vs. 8.5% K%) while still carrying a lot of game power as he's hit 31 HRs over the past two seasons. Definitely a first baseman only due to his size (6-1 245lbs.), reminds me a lot of Matt Adams when he was coming out of Slippery Rock in 2009.

This is very true and guys like Kolek and Aiken prove your point but with this year's draft I feel like the highest upside at the top of the draft is with the prep pitchers. Not really sold on Madrigal, Bohm or Swaggerty. I think Madrigal would have to max out his skillset to be successful in the majors and even then he most likely profiles as a light-hitting second baseman with average speed. If he was more like Trea Turner I'd be all for it but I think he'll be league average at best. Unless Bohm works extremely hard on his fielding a la Ryan Zimmerman I feel like he'll inevitably move to first and power-hitting first baseman can be found in the later rounds. We've all been over Swaggerty's limitations so I won't bemoan that anymore.

I'd be good with a prep pitcher at #4, Liberatore is interesting but I also really like Kumar Rocker. Great size and stuff, just seems like he'll be a durable workhorse in the mold of Sabathia.

Agree with you on the positional players at the top of the draft, they all seem to have glaring flaws to their game that I just don't trust the development staff to rectify. I know this is out of the realm of possibility but ideally they would draft a prep player like Kelenic with an underslot deal and splurge on a player that drops to the top of the second. (e.g. Kelenic at #4 and throw a bunch of cash at Hankins if he's still around at #46, very unlikely but would be amazing)