2011 Red Sox Minor Leagues, The player development machine

[Offbase]

This seemed like a good way to kick off the coming minor league season:

New coaching assignments for 2011

The Red Sox have named Arnie Beyeler, their former Double A manager, the manager of Triple A Pawtucket.

In addition, the Red Sox have made one new assignment in the 2011 field staff alignment, hiring Paul Abbott as the pitching coach at short-season Single A Lowell.

Beyeler spent the last four years at the helm of Double A Portland, and previously managed in the Sox farm system at Lowell from 2000-01 and at Single A Augusta in 2002.

His pitching coach will be Rich Sauveur. A hitting coach has not been named.

Here are the other assignments:

Portland (Double A, Eastern League)

Manager: Kevin Boles — Moves to Portland after managing last season at Single A Salem and serving in the same capacity with Single A Greenville from 2008-09.
Pitching coach: Bob Kipper
Hitting coach: Dave Joppie
Athletic trainer: Paul Buchheit

Salem (Single A, Carolina League)

Manager: Bruce Crabbe — Skippered at Lowell in 2010.
Pitching coach: Kevin Walker — Was Greenville’s pitching coach in 2010 and filled the same position with Lowell in 2009 in his professional coaching debut.
Hitting coach: Alex Ochoa — Was a special assistant in the Red Sox' baseball operations department last season. Began his pro coaching career in 2009 as Boston’s coaching staff assistant.
Athletic trainer: Brandon Henry

Greenville (Single A, South Atlantic League)

Manager: Billy McMillon
Pitching coach: Dick Such — Was Salem’s pitching coach from 2009-10.
Hitting coach: Luis Lopez
Athletic trainer: David Herrera

Lowell (Short A, New York-Penn League)

Manager: Carlos Febles — Makes his managerial debut with the Spinners, for whom he served as a coach in 2007. He was Salem’s hitting coach from 2009-10 and held the same role for Single A Lancaster in 2008.
Pitching coach: Paul Abbott — Making his affiliated coaching debut. He spent the past two seasons with the independent Golden League’s Orange County Flyers, serving as manager in 2010 and as pitching coach in 2009, and was also an assistant coach at Fullerton (Calif.) Junior College. A righthanded pitcher, he played professional ball from 1985-2005 and spent parts of 11 seasons in the major leagues with the Twins (1990-92), Indians (1993), Mariners (1998-2002), Royals (2003), Devil Rays (2004), and Phillies (2004).
Hitting coach: TBA
Athletic trainer: Elizondo Mauricio

Gulf Coast (Rookie, Gulf Coast League)

Manager: George Lombard — Makes his managerial debut in 2011 after spending 2010 as hitting coach for Lowell.
Coach: Dave Tomlin — Managed the GCL Red Sox from 2006-2010.
Pitching coach: Walter Miranda
Hitting coach: U.L. Washington

[Free Agent Blogger]

Over the next few weeks I will try to post the various analyst services' Red Sox rankings. As I do, I will attempt to give you my opinion of the various methods of the analysts. In looking at the lists it's important to know exactly what the analyst is ranking.

The first list is the perfect example of why that is important. It is in obvious conflict with most lists but viewed in the context of the author's orientation makes perfect sense.

John Sickel's is a well respected National minor leagues analyst. Here is his Red Sox Top 20. John's orientation is heavily tools slanted with prospects pretty much ranked according to the tools they have at their disposal, plus curve or plus power, for example. The letter rankings at the linked page generally have a little more of an accomplishment factor than the actual list but are still nonetheless heavily tools oriented, much more so than most lists. As such, it is somewhat of a ceilings list.

1) Anthony Ranaudo
2) Drake Britton
3) Jose Iglesias
4) Josh Reddick
5) Stolmy Pimentel
6) Garin Cecchini
7) Oscar Tejeda
8) Brandon Workman
9) Ryan Lavarnway
10) Kolbrin Vitek
11) Chris Balcom-Miller
12) Felix Doubront
13) Michael Bowden
14) Will Middlebrooks
15) Yamaico Navarro
16) Luis Exposito
17) Lars Anderson
18) Kyle Weiland
19) Sean Coyle
20) Henry Ramos

For those of you familiar with both Stolmy Pimentel and Felix Doubront, his comparative ranking of those two pitchers will give you an idea of the magnitude of the tools weighting. Those that follow Portland baseball will soon see why the disparity between Navarro and Tejeda when Navarro is clearly much closer to the majors than Tejeda.

Note: Ryan Kalish is no longer a prospect since he is no longer rookie eligible at the majors, this will be true for most services.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/12/27/...spects-for-2011

His comments on each player are worth a read. Here is his system summary which I believe is pretty much spot on:

The Adrian Gonzalez trade ripped the top off this system, leaving no current B+ or A- prospects, although both Ranaudo and Britton can get to that level in 2011 if all goes well. Iglesias will be a regular due to his glove eventually, although if you are looking in pure fantasy terms his value won't be that great. Reddick looks destined to become trade bait to me unless a rash of injuries hits in spring training. It wouldn't surprise me to see the same thing happen to Lavarnway, although he is a favorite of Red Sox fans. Cecchini, Workman, Vitek, and Balcom-Miller are all B- types with a good chance to raise their grades.

All told, the system has thinned out but there is raw material percolating that could make it look much better a year from now. The Sox have shown they will invest loads of money in the farm system, and I don't doubt their ability to recharge quickly.

[Free Agent Blogger]

Here is Jim Callis Top 10. Jim is executive Director of Baseball America and the Red Sox are one of the teams he specializes in. Note that the list was made on Nov. 3, prior to the Gonzalez trade. Jim is also a well respected National Minor League Analyst with loads of scouting and internal major league connections. As such, his lists are probably as close to actual Red Sox internal views as anybody's.

Jim's lists are somewhat more typical in that proximity to ceiling are more heavily weighted than the actual ceiling itself. As such, he focuses more on skills than tools. On the other hand, the lists are prepared once a year and include a large dose of 2011 projection. To some extent they are how he feels the baseball world will view them at the end of next season.

TOP 10:
1. Casey Kelly, rhp
2. Jose Iglesias, ss
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1b
4. Anthony Ranaudo, rhp
5. Drake Britton, lhp
6. Reymond Fuentes, of
7. Josh Reddick, of
8. Felix Doubront, lhp
9. Stolmy Pimentel, rhp
10. Garin Cecchini, 3b

NOTE: Based on chat comments the likely top 10 not including Kelly, Rizzo & Fuentes would likely have:
8. Anderson 1b
9. Tejeda 2b
10. Vitek 3b
with Middlebrooks and Navarro close behind.

He also stated that if eligible, Kalish would have ranked 5th. That our system strength is our depth, that he will have a difficult time eliminating players from the top 30 and that in terms of ceiling, our 11-30 will be unrivaled in baseball.

BEST TOOLS:
Best Hitter for Average Garin Cecchini
Best Power Hitter Anthony Rizzo
Best Strike-Zone Discipline Che-Hsuan Lin
Fastest Baserunner Felix Sanchez
Best Athlete Reymond Fuentes
Best Fastball Drake Britton
Best Curveball Casey Kelly
Best Slider Alex Wilson
Best Changeup Stolmy Pimentel
Best Control Chris Balcom-Miller
Best Defensive Catcher Tim Federowicz
Best Defensive Infielder Jose Iglesias
Best Infield Arm Will Middlebrooks
Best Defensive Outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin
Best Outfield Arm Che-Hsuan Lin

LARGEST BONUSES IN HISTORY (refers only to the bonus portion of the signed agreements):
Jose Iglesias, 2009 $6,250,000
Casey Kelly, 2008 $3,000,000
Anthony Ranaudo, 2010 $2,550,000
Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2006 $2,000,000
Ryan Westmoreland, 2008 $2,000,000

SYSTEM SUMMARY:

Little went as planned for the Red Sox in 2010. Before the season started, general manager Theo Epstein referred to it as a "bridge period," meaning the team would try to balance contending in the present with building for the future. Boston focused on upgrading via run prevention, spending $120.5 million on free agents Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron, John Lackey and Marco Scutaro to bolster its defense and rotation.

Neverthless, the Red Sox dropped from third in the American League in runs allowed in 2009 to 11th last season. The defense was erratic, as was the pitching. Lackey, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka combined for 29 wins at a cost of $38 million, and the middle-relief corps set more fires than it put out.

Boston's offense was considered its potential weak link, yet ranked second in the majors in scoring despite injuries that sidelined Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury for most of the year, and Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis for much of the second half.

The loss of Pedroia and Youkilis, the Red Sox's heart and soul, ultimately sank a team that had 19 players spend time on the disabled list. Despite a franchise-record Opening Day payroll of $168.1 million—the second-highest in baseball—Boston missed out on the postseason for just the second time in eight years.

There were disappointments in the minor leagues as well. Led by outfielder Ryan Westmoreland and righthander Casey Kelly, the Red Sox system was rated the fifth-best in baseball by Baseball America entering 2010. But Westmoreland was sidelined after brain surgery in March, while Kelly struggled with his command as a 20-year-old in Double-A.

Boston's next-best hitting prospects coming into the year, outfielder Josh Reddick and first baseman Lars Anderson, battled inconsistency in Triple-A. Its next-best pitching prospect, Junichi Tazawa, had Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season.

For all the things that went wrong, however, the Red Sox still won 89 games while playing in baseball's toughest division. More than $50 million is coming off the payroll for 2011, allowing for plenty of opportunity to reinforce the big league club.

Things are far from bleak down on the farm either. Three of the Red Sox' top five minor league affiliates had the youngest rosters in their leagues, and low Class A Greenville was the second-youngest, partially explaining why some of their best prospects didn't put up pretty numbers. Some did, such as first baseman Anthony Rizzo (25 homers, 100 RBIs) and lefties Drake Britton (2.97 ERA, 78 strikeouts in 76 innings) and Felix Doubront (8-3, 2.81 in the minors before pitching well in Boston).

The Red Sox still have one of the deepest farm systems in the game, in large part because they're as aggressive as any club in the draft. They spent a club-record $10.7 million on bonuses in 2010, the fourth-highest total in baseball history, including seven-figure deals for righthander Anthony Ranaudo, third basemen Kolbrin Vitek and Garin Cecchini, and second baseman Sean Coyle.

As frustrating as 2010 may have been, Boston's future remains bright. The last time the Red Sox missed the playoffs, in an injury-riddled 2006, they came back and won the World Series the following year.

Baseball America- Jim Callis

[Free Agent Blogger]

If Beltre signs with a team that has an unprotected first round pick like the Rangers, our 2011 draft will compare favorably to 2005 both in terms of draft order and draft expenditures.

In 2005, we used 2 first round and 3 sandwich round picks to draft Ellsbury, Hansen, Buccholz, Lowrie and Bowden.

[Free Agent Blogger]

Here's Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com's list (pre-trade). It's interesting in that he's reportedly said live on MLB.com that his lists are based solely on professional scouting reports and opinions of other key managers with no input of his own views. I have no link since it came from a spreadsheet that is subscription only. It's as close to a collective, subjective accumulation of opinions as you will find. No stats or actual performance.

One thing to note, Mayo specializes himself in draft rankings so, his contacts are likely to be dominated by amateur scouting personnel.


1. Ranaudo
2. Rizzo
3. Iglesias
4. Kelly
5. Cecchini
6. Navarro
7. Workman
8. Fuentes
9. Vitek
10. Reddick

[Offbase]

FAB posted this in the Free Agent thread, so I'm copying the content here for comment:

"The Red Sox annual Rookie Development Program begins January 10th and goes 2 weeks. This year's participants so far:

1. Stolmy Pimentel-P
2. Will Middlebrooks-3B
3. Tim Federowicz-C
4. Robert Coello-P
5. Stephen Fife-P
6. Jason Rice-P
7. Alex Wilson-P
8. Ryan Lavarnway-C
9. Oscar Tejada-2B
10. Juan Carlos Linares-OF
11. Clevelan Santeliz-P

Could be a chance to grab a few autographs for those so inclined, before they get expensive. "

This list is usually a pretty good indication of who's likely to get called up sooner rather than later and I'm glad to see Linares and Lavarnway included.

They may end up as trade pieces, but they're players with a "fun factor". Fans will like them if they do make an appearance. I'll even go so far as to predict that if either does get a chance he'll help the team win a game or two.

[Free Agent Blogger]

Due to the meaning behind the list, I'm going to have to pay more attention to Santeliz. It's definitely a list of prospects with a clear chance to see Boston in the next year or so. Also keep in mind though that previous attendees don't make the list so you don't see players like Kalish, Reddick and Anderson there, they've already been.

What it is in general is a chance for the players to get used to major league life. There will also be a lot of Sox regulars there as well, Tek always shows up. The entire coaching staff and management team will make presentations and the players will get major league style press conferences and fan interaction at various functions and, they will be introduced to the Jimmy Fund.

[Free Agent Blogger]

Looking at Santeliz' SoxProspects bio, Minor League Baseball Analyst (which pretty much matches his bio in terms of stuff) and his fangraphs stats, we might have a serious middle innings reliever here. Look at his dominant AA 2009 and his less than stellar AAA 2010 and you will see that pretty much all of his peripherals stayed the same except HR/9.

Minor League Baseball Analyst pretty much thinks his BB/9 could be significantly reduced by smoothing out his mechanics and repeating the arm slot better. His FB is rated plus and his slider above average. Maybe the Sox scouting feels the same that he's relatively easily fixable..

Along with better control will come higher K/9 with more swing and miss strikes. That sounds like a dominant middle reliever and borderline setup man to me.

By the way, until he made this list, I really hadn't taken anything but a cursory look at him, his 2010 numbers made me think this was a stuff against the wall typical minor league filler kind of signing. His making the list tells me he is thought of as far more than that.

[Free Agent Blogger]

Here's a nice Gammons story on Brandon Jacobs in our lower minor leagues. We have a lot of depth with high potential, low probability guys. It only takes a few to be what they can be, Brandon could be one of those few. Athleticism certainly isn't a question here.

Gammons on Jacobs

By the way, the Sox do draft an inordinate amount of two sport stars but that's partly due to having the money to sign them away from scholarships and other sports. In the Gonzo trade, not only was Kelly a potential football star but Fuentes could have been a soccer star.

It also seems like, as a group, they tend to rise fast. Casey Kelly and Ryan Kalish are prime examples but Westmoreland also played football and Will Middlebrooks might be our regular 3B by 2013. This article could also just as easily been about Kendrick Perkins as well (no not that Kendrick).

[Free Agent Blogger]

Other MiLB coaching staff additions:


Chili Davis hired as hitting coach at Pawtucket while Rich Gedman is the Lowell hitting coach.

Also of note, Andy Fox is the new MiL infield coordinator.

Tom Allison joining the scouting staff as a crosschecker is also a notable addition.




Per jsinger121 and David Laurila (a National writer) at SoxProspects

Note: A crosschecker's primary job is to be the final judge on amateur scouting reports. Mr. Allison will have a major impact on the upcoming draft.