Midseason Prospect Update: Red Sox

The Midseason Top 10 Prospect lists are compiled from conversations with front office officials and scouts from all 30 teams. Players who have exhausted prospect eligibility or were in the Major Leagues as of June 22 are not eligible. Draftees from the 2016 draft and July 2, 2016 signees are also not eligible.

SEE ALSO: Midseason Top 100

After ending three of the past four years in last place in the American League East, the Red Sox have returned to relevance in new team president Dave Dombrowski’s first year in charge.

2019 PROJECTED LINEUP

CF Jackie Bradley Jr.

RF Mookie Betts

DH Blake Swihart

No. 1 Starter David Price

No. 2 Starter Drew Pomeranz

No. 3 Starter Steven Wright

No. 4 Starter Rick Porcello

No. 5 Starter Michael Kopech

Closer Craig Kimbrel

Dombrowski has never been shy about trading prospects to fix problems with a big league roster. Boston is a team with clear flaws (rotation depth, bullpen) as it sits in the middle of a playoff race. It also had one of the best farm systems in the game thanks to a quartet of top prospects.

Now it’s a trio. Dombrowski traded away Anderson Espinoza, one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, to land Drew Pomeranz from the Padres.

In Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi, the Red Sox have the best one-two punch of prospects in the minors even after trading away Espinoza. Neither Moncada nor Benintendi is likely to play their current position for Boston anytime soon. Moncada has played second base exclusively so far in the minors even though current second baseman Dustin Pedroia is locked up through 2021. Benintendi has exclusively played center field although current center fielder Jackie Bradley, one of the breakout stars of 2016, is under team control through 2020.

As Mookie Betts‘ quick transition to the outfield showed, it’s not that the Red Sox can’t eventually move Benintendi to left field or Moncada to third base, but it’s also true that Boston doesn’t have many openings in the lineup in upcoming years.

DH David Ortiz is retiring and left field has been a rotating cast of part-timers. But otherwise every regular in the Red Sox lineup is under contract for 2017 and many will be under club control through 2019 and beyond.

Even after making its big move, the Red Sox still have the ammunition to make additional smaller moves.

MIDSEASON TOP 10

1. Yoan Moncada, 2b

At this time last year, Moncada had just started to shrug off a poor first half and was beginning to show one of the most dynamic power-speed combinations in the minors. A year later, he’s the top prospect in the game. Moncada is a switch-hitter who has a chance to hit for average with 15-plus home run power while getting on-base and stealing bases. It’s a profile the Red Sox have seen from Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.

2. Andrew Benintendi, of

It’s easy to doubt Benintendi because of his slight frame and short stature. But when scouts watch him produce day after day, drawing walks, hitting line drives to all fields while turning on fastballs when the opportunity presents itself, it becomes easy to see him for what he is–a premium athlete with exceptional baseball skills. He struggled to handle Double-A breaking balls in the first weeks after his promotion but very quickly he returned to mashing.

TRADED 3. Anderson Espinoza, rhp

Espinoza can just rear back and blow away Class A hitters with his fastball, but the Red Sox were challenging him to mix in his secondary offerings and pitch. It resulted in a first-half that mixed moments of brilliance with some big innings, but Espinoza had managed to hold his own in full-season ball as an 18-year-old. He was traded to San Diego for Drew Pomeranz and becomes the Padres’ top prospect.

3. Rafael Devers, 3b

Devers got too pull happy and power-hungry at times this spring, but by early June he started to get back to the middle-of-the-field/line drive approach that marries best with his swing. Devers has made steady improvement defensively.

4. Sam Travis, 1b

An ACL injury ended Travis’ season in late May, but Travis’ gap-heavy professional approach at the plate gives him a chance to settle in with the big league club next spring. Kyle Schwarber’s running mate at Indiana has been pushed aggressively and he’s handled every challenge so far.

5. Michael Kopech, rhp

Kopech missed the end of last season with an MLB-sanctioned 50-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He then missed the first half of this year when he broke his hand punching a teammate, returned for one game then missed more time with a calf injury. But few pitchers can throw 98-99 mph as easily as Kopech and his hard slider, which flashes plus, and changeup are improving.

6. Luis Alexander Basabe, of

Basabe has at times looked a little out of his depth against Sally League pitchers, but he also shows at-bats where he’s in complete control. He needs to get more consistent at the plate but his power is already popping up regularly.

7. Marco Hernandez, ss/2b

It’s hard to see how Hernandez will ever be anything more than a utility infielder with the Red Sox. There are simply too many middle infielders in the way of an everyday role. But as a lefthanded hitter with an average hit tool and an ability to legitimately play shortstop or second base, he should eventually start for someone, and Boston picked him up for Felix Dubront.

8. Michael Chavis, 3b

Last year Chavis was part of the Red Sox’s Murderer’s Row at low Class A Greenville that featured Moncada, Benintendi and Devers at the end of the year. While they moved on, he was sent back to the Drive to work on his pitch recognition and his approach. He’s doing a better job of staying short to the ball and realizing that there are hits in center field and right field, not just to his pull side.

9. Mauricio Dubon, 2b

Boston has traded away Javier Guerra and Wendell Rijo, and moved Mookie Betts to the outfield. And still, Boston has a middle-infield traffic jam which is backed up worse than Boston during the Big Dig. Dubon isn’t going to play for Boston but he should have value to someone as a useful trade acquisition.

10. Pat Light, rhp

Light’s fastball is special. He sits 96-98 mph and touches 100 that sets up his splitter. He tosses in a fringy slider as well. Light’s control isn’t ready for Boston as he’s shown in two rough outings with the big league club, but if he can improve his control to even fringe-average he has back-of-the-bullpen stuff.

RISING

Lefty Trey Ball has improved his breaking ball and was having his best season until a July swoon. The seventh overall pick in 2013 still has a career-best strikeout rate of 6.45/9 IP . . . Righty Jake Cosart’s upper 90s fastball gives him a chance to be a solid reliever. He’s dominated at low Class A Greenville . . . First baseman Josh Ockimey has power and patience, which give him a chance to be a future everyday regular, although he’s a long way away.

FALLING

Catcher Austin Rei should be too advanced for the South Atlantic League. Instead the 2015 third-round pick has struggled to hit for average or power in his first full season . . . Shortstop Deven Marrero’s glove is big league caliber. His bat is not. After struggling at the plate in a brief stint with Boston last year, he’s posted a .500 OPS with Triple-A Pawtucket this year.

HURTING

Lefthander Brian Johnson has missed two months as he deals with anxiety issues . . . First baseman Sam Travis tore his ACL in late May and will miss the rest of the season . . . Righty Michael Kopech missed April and May with a broken hand, returned for one start in June and went back on the disabled list with a calf injury.

GRADUATING

Righthander Heath Hembree made his big league debut in 2013. He made brief stops in the majors in 2014 and 2015 but it wasn’t until this year that he finally exhausted his prospect eligibility.

COMING ABOARD (Check Draft Database for all picks)
The Red Sox’s first five picks of the 2016 draft. (s-supplemental round)

1. Jason Groome, lhp, Barnegat (N.J.) HS. Groome fell because of bonus demands, but his combination of relatively easy plus velocity and plus curveball enticed the Red Sox’s to nab a player who was one of the best arm’s in the draft class. They got him signed, too.

2. C.J. Chatham, ss, Florida Atlantic. A tall, rangy shortstop with power potential, Chatham has a chance to stick at the position and a chance to hit for average power, a combo that made him the first college shortstop selected.

3. Shaun Anderson, rhp, Florida. Pitching almost anywhere else, Anderson would have been a weekend starter, but with a loaded Florida pitching staff Anderson was a moment-of-truth reliever. He could move quickly as a reliever but he has starting potential.

4. Bobby Dalbec, 3b, Arizona. Dalbec turned into Arizona’s ace on their trip to the College World Series finals, but the Red Sox are looking at him as a power hitter after he led the Cape Cod League in homers last summer.

5. Mike Shawaryn, rhp, Maryland. Shawaryn stumbled a little this spring but he recovered and has the fastball/slider combo to at least be a reliever and possibly a pro starter.