MLB Draft Snapshot: What Chaim Bloom Is Working With In First Draft With Red Sox
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Welcome to Boston, Chaim Bloom. Please rebuild the Red Sox farm system and make it as robust as the one you just left in Tampa.
Here's the catch, though, Chaim. Your first MLB Draft as Boston's Chief Baseball Officer is only going to be five rounds -- down from the usual 527 rounds -- due to that whole pandemic thing gripping the country. And also, you won't have a second-round pick after some video replay guy went rogue and ran a replay cabal just a few feet from the dugout without any knowledge from higher-ups.
Easy peasy, right?
Having just four picks instead of the usual 40 makes rebuilding Boston's 20th-ranked farm system a tad bit difficult for Bloom and company, at least in 2020. The MLB has chopped this year's draft due to the pandemic, plus the fact that there probably won't be any minor league seasons (or MLB season, for that matter), meaning there's no place for these draft picks to play. It's not ideal for teams in rebuild mode at the moment, but it's what they have to work with. And with many college players deciding to return for their senior seasons, that should make the pool of talent in the 2021 MLB Draft much, much deeper.
But our vision is set to 2020 right now, and the picks will start going off the board on Wednesday night. Here's what Bloom and the Red Sox are working with at the shortened 2020 MLB Draft.
When Is The Draft?
The first-round of the 2020 MLB Draft is Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. It will air live on both ESPN and MLB Network, since they don't have anything else to show at the moment. It will consist of 37 picks, which includes the first round and the Competitive Balance Round A.
The Detroit Tigers have the top overall selection, while the Red Sox make their first pick at No. 17.
Rounds 2-5 will be held on Thursday, June 11, starting at 5 p.m. MLB Network will continue to air the event live, while ESPN's coverage will switch over to ESPN 2. Teams will draft 137 players on Thursday, and 160 total in 2020.
Teams will have until August 1 to sign drafted players, pushed back from the initial July 10 deadline.
When Do The Red Sox Pick?
Here are Boston's four selections:
No. 17 (first round)
No. 89 (third round)
No. 118 (fourth round)
No. 148 (fifth round)
The Red Sox lost their second-round pick as part of the video replay scandal with the 2018 team. They are one of six teams with only four selections, a group that also includes the Houston Astros, whomst lost their first-round pick as punishment for their sign-stealing scandal. The New York Yankees have the fewest picks of any team with just three, losing two selections (in the second and fifth round) after signing free agent Garrit Cole.
The San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals each lead the pack with seven selections this year.
What Are Boston's Needs?
Though their system ranks 20th in all of baseball, the Red Sox do have a handful of promising prospects down on the farm. Bloom began his rebuild with the Mookie Betts trade, landing infielder Jeter Downs (currently ranked Boston's No. 1 prospect) and catcher/second baseman Connor Wong (ranked No. 16 in the Boston system) from the Dodgers, a pretty good haul even though it cost him the face of the Red Sox franchise (the Sox also got outfielder Alex Verdugo in the swap). But that is what Bloom was tasked with doing when he signed on, a major part of the bridge the team told him to build to 2021.
First baseman Triston Casas (drafted 26th overall in 2018) is a lefty hitter with some pop, and along with third baseman Bobby Dalbec (a fourth-round pick in 2016), could be in the majors in the very near future. With Downs, Casas and Dalbec -- along with Xander Bogaerts set at shortstop for the long-term -- Boston appears to be set with infield talent.
As for pitching, righties Bryan Mata, Noah Song and Tanner Hoak are the most intriguing young arms that Boston is currently grooming.
But there are a lot of holes to fill for Bloom, and not many picks to do it in 2020. Here are the most glaring needs in the system:
Outfielder: You may have heard that Mookie Betts is no longer a member of the team. He is a Dodger now, though he may never actually play for the Dodgers. But he is no longer a Red Sox outfielder, and that's what matters most. Add in Jackie Bradley Jr.'s impending free agency, and the Red Sox could use a promising young outfielder in their system. They may be able to get one at No. 17 in UCLA's Garrett Mitchell or Pete Crow-Armstrong, a power-hitting lefty out of California's Harvard-Westlake School who is committed to Vanderbilt.
Pitching: The Red Sox have a handful of promising pitching prospects, but there is no such thing as too many quality arms in a farm system. Starting pitcher is one of the most difficult positions to develop for any team, and the Red Sox haven't really done so since Clay Buchholz in 2007. So don't be surprised if Bloom goes with the highest-upside pitcher available at No. 17.
If he chooses to go that route, Mick Abel -- a righty out of Jesuit High in Oregon -- has been attached to the team in several mock drafts. Miami righty Chris McMahon and Tennessee southpaw Garrett Crochet have also been linked to the Red Sox with their first pick.
Catcher: The Red Sox have a lot of work to do behind the plate, with catcher the team's weakest position in the system. Wong is the only catcher ranked in Boston's top 30 prospects at the moment. They also have 24-year-old Jhonny Pereda, whom the acquired from the Cubs in March, but he has only made it to the Double-A level so far.
