Prime Pickin's: The Red Sox 2013 Draft

The Guru
Contributing Writer



The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is Thursday. This year the Red Sox have one of the top spots with the number seven selection overall.

Amiel Sawdaye, the director of amateur scouting for the Red Sox, will try to take advantage of the prime drafting position. Although he has no interest in getting that high a pick gain any time soon.

"I always say, 'If we're picking seventh again, we're probably not going to be here,'" Sawdaye said. "You have to be honest with yourself. If the Red Sox are picking seventh, there's going to be a lot of scrutiny on what we've done as an organization."

ESPN senior baseball analyst Keith Law has released his mock draft. Law predicts that North Carolina third baseman Colin Moran will go to The Houston Astros with the number one pick and Theo Epstein's Cubs will choose Mark Appel, the right handed pitcher out of Stanford, at number two.

What does Law think the Red Sox will do with the seventh pick in this year’s draft? Law says the Sox will choose Arkansas right-hander Ryne Stanek.

Stanek was a potential top-five pick heading into the spring, but Law says inconsistency has dropped him out of the top five. Stanek went 9-2 with a 1.40 ERA in 15 starts this season. Law says Stanek’s ceiling in the majors is that of a #2 starter.

Scoutingbook.com says, “Stanek is a college right hander who looks very nearly MLB ready, at least as a wipeout reliever. Blessed with easy heat from a textbook projectable pitcher's body, Ryne mixes in a plus slider that would play in the bigs tomorrow.”

However, Stanek may not be the Red Sox choice come draft day.

MLB.com Draft expert Jonathan Mayo has the Sox taking outfielder Clint Frazier in his mock draft. The Logansville, Georgia High School product has a well-regarded power bat and plus speed.

The Bleacher Report's Mike Chiari also has the Sox taking Frazier, "It only took the Red Sox one season to get back on track, but they have a high pick to show for it and will use it on a high-upside outfielder in Frazier."

Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington will certainly have options. Other potential players on the Sox draft board are Austin Meadows (OF), Hunter Renfroe (OF), D.J. Peterson (3B), Alex Gonzalez (RHP), or Kohl Stewart (RHP).

Cherington said, "Preparation hasn't been that different in that we are spending more time on the pool of players most likely to be available to us. Our scouts have worked tirelessly since January to get as many looks as possible at the candidates and to answer any questions that need to be asked."

The Red Sox have not had a pick this high since they drafted outfielder Trot Nixon with the seventh overall pick in 1993. In 1994, with the eleventh overall pick, the Sox selected Nomar Garciaparra.

Another possible name to watch for: Mike Yastrzemski. The Vanderbilt outfielder is of course the grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski. Sorry Mike, number 8 is not available.

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