SB Nation - Rubby De La Rosa

Checking up on the Red Sox' young arms

Matt_Collins — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:00:12 -0000

Even after last night's 13-inning loss to Baltimore, the Red Sox find themselves with a 41-27 record, which puts them in first place int he AL East, and also ties them with Oakland for the best record in the American League. Considering that most had them pinned as a .500 team before the season began, this has been a highly successful season. To make things even better, the franchise also finds itself with the most stacked farm system it has had since at least 2007.

One of the oldest adages about baseball is that a team can never have too much pitching, and this is an area in which the organization can boast some real depth. They have plenty of promising young arms in their system, many of which are in the higher levels and are close to making an impact. Whether they end up helping out the Red Sox at some point or being part of a trade, the minor-league pitchers are likely to be a big part of the team's future. With all of that being said, let's check in on some of the most promising arms in the system.

Rubby De La Rosa

The first guy to look at is Rubby De La Rosa, who was acquired as a part of the Nick Punto trade last August. After missing most of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery late in 2011, he has been eased into the 2013 season. As a result, he has thrown just 38-1/3 innings in 11 starts at AAA Pawtucket this season.

Since he first reached the high levels of the minors in 2010, control has been the biggest problem facing the hard-throwing righty. That has continued this year, as he's walked 4.7 batters per nine innings. His strikeouts have still been up though, with De La Rosa K-ing a shade under a batter an inning. Still, his walks combined with an uncharacteristically high home run rate have led to a 4.63 FIP. The good news is that he's outperforming his peripherals with a 3.29 ERA. He's also been getting better and stronger as the season has gone on, and he's up to five innings a start. With Alfredo Aceves pitching well in his recent spot-starts, there hasn't been a big need to push De La Rosa any harder than they have, but his debut with the big-league club is likely coming sooner rather than later.

Allen Webster

Here we have the second highly-regarded pitcher coming back in last year's trade with the Dodgers. Much like De La Rosa, Webster's biggest issue is with his command, and he is also seeing those issues pop back up again this season. In his minor league career, he has regularly walked at least 3.5 batters per nine, with no change in that regard in 2013. In 45-1/3 innings over nine starts with Pawtucket, he has walked 4.2 batters per nine, while striking out an impressive 9.9. Also like De La Rosa, he has given up more home runs than he is accustomed to, but is also outperforming his 4.70 FIP with a 3.38 ERA.

Unlike De La Rosa, though, we have already seen Webster make a couple of spot-starts in Boston. In his first, he showed all of his potential, holding Kansas City to three runs (two earned) in six innings, striking out five and walking just one. A couple weeks later, though, he completely flopped in Minnesota by allowing the Twins to score eight runs over just an inning and a third, giving up two home runs, walking three and striking out just two. He's still flashing his potential in Pawtucket, but it'd be nice to see him harness that control before seeing him back in Boston this season.

Photo Courtesy of Jim Rogash

Matt Barnes

Perhaps the most exciting arm in the system coming into the season, Barnes has spent the first couple of months of the year in AA Portland. The UConn product who was drafted in the first round of the 2011 draft dazzled in his first professional season, posting a 0.34 ERA in five starts with Greenville before putting up a 3.58 ERA and 3.15 FIP with high-A Salem.

Many of the prospect gurus had Barnes as the top pitcher in the organization, and he was expected to take a big step forward in 2013. However, as many prospects do, he has struggled a bit taking the step forward from A-ball to AA. His peripherals still look solid with a 64/19 K/BB ratio, but he's been hit hard to the tune of a .374 BABIP and seven home runs. The BABIP can't all be put on him -- minor-league teams obviously are worse on defense than a major-league team would be -- but he has some adjustments to make. The jump to AA is the second-hardest a prospect has to make, after the jump to MLB, so it's much too early to panic about Barnes. For him to take the next step, he'll have to work on some of his secondary stuff and avoid some of the hard-contact.

Anthony Ranaudo

Another high draft pick, Ranaudo was picked 39th overall by the Red Sox in 2010 after sliding due to a fractured elbow in college. In his first professional season he showed the potential he flashed when he was at his best at LSU, but he faltered in a big way in 2012. Last year the big right-hander had a 1:1 strikeout to walk ratio at AA, walking 6.5 batters per nine innings. He fell so far off the radar that the 2013 season started with Ranaudo being off most people's radars as far as prospects went.

So far, though, he has jumped back into everyone's conscience. Going into last night, he had a 2.43 ERA in his second year in Portland, backed up by an equally impressive 2.85 FIP. He had struck out 27 percent of the batters he faced while walked just eight. Then last night, all he did was tie a Portland Sea Dogs record with 13 strikeouts, while walking just one batter in seven innings. In a re-ranking of the Red Sox minor-league system, one would have to think Ranaudo would make the biggest jump up the list. After his teammate and unanimous top prospect Xander Bogaerts was promoted to Pawtucket yesterday afternoon, it's not crazy to think Ranaudo could be the next to make that jump.

The Red Sox have a luxury that most teams can't boast: four highly exciting arms in the upper minors. Between De La Rosa, Webster, Barnes, and Ranaudo, history says that at least one of them will bust, and likely two will. However, at the moment they all are continuing to show their promise and there's little reason to doubt any of them right now. If Ben Cherington decides to make a move for a major player (Cliff Lee?) at the trade deadline this year, he could use one of these arms and still be confident that he has three more strong prospects close to making an impact at the highest level. Even without taking into consideration guys like Clay Buchholz and Felix Doubront already on the major-league roster, or younger prospects like Henry Owens or Trey Ball, Boston has a lot to be excited about with the future of their pitching.

Video: PawSox pitcher Rubby De La Rosa strikes out 7

Marc Normandin — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:00:08 -0000

Rubby De La Rosa isn't a prospect anymore thanks to 60-2/3 major-league innings with the Dodgers back in 2011, but Tommy John surgery that ended that campaign and delayed the start of the next one has him back in the minors again regardless. The 24-year-old is beginning to get a feel for starting once more, though, and it's showing.

On Sunday, De La Rosa struck out seven Syracuse batters, and MiLB.com has footage of that for your enjoyment:

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De La Rosa began the season poorly, limited to two-inning stints while he began working his arm back into starter's shape. Since his first three-inning appearance on April 23, however, he's thrown 28-2/3 innings with 31 strikeouts against 14 walks, and managed his longest outing of the year last time out.

The Red Sox are going to need a temporary doubleheader call-up on June 18, thanks to a makeup of April 12's postponed game against the Rays -- if De La Rosa keeps pitching like this, he might end up getting the call this time instead of Allen Webster, who handled those duties in the previous doubleheader. De La Rosa is currently in line to start on the 18th for the PawSox, assuming their five-man rotation stays on its current trajectory.

Red Sox prospect Rubby De La Rosa scratched from start

Marc Normandin — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:02:21 -0000

Rubby De La Rosa was slated to start today for the Pawtucket Red Sox against Indianapolis, but instead, he'll be held out for precautionary reasons. De La Rosa "tweaked" a muscle in his side, according to the PawSox Twitter feed, and the Red Sox obviously don't want to push the issue with their young hurler, who has already seen his development time cut into thanks to Tommy John surgery and subsequent recovery.

It doesn't sound like a serious injury, and given they're going to give him time to rest rather than push him to start today, they can likely keep it from becoming anything more than a tweak. That's good news for De La Rosa and the Sox, as he was just starting to lengthen his outings as he worked back towards a typical starter's workload, in the hopes of having him ready as starting pitching depth for Boston by the summer. This might throw that schedule off slightly, but so long as nothing else comes of this muscle tweak, he shouldn't be off-target by much, if at all.

De La Rosa had just been coming around statistically, with his ERA dropping to 3.65 thanks to shutting out opponents completely since his final appearance of April, four starts ago.

Lefty Chris Hernandez will start in De La Rosa's place against Andy Oliver. Hernandez last started on April 26, but has been in a bullpen role since then. He's still throwing plenty of innings, though, as he's made appearances on May , 6, 11, and 16, and accumulated 16 frames in that stretch. He's also bumped his strikeout-to-walk ratio to an even two, and is inducing grounders at his pre-Pawtucket rates as well.

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Update 12:36 pm: Alex Speier reports, more specifically, that the "tweak" in Rubby De La Rosa's side was an intercostal strain, and that the right-hander is already feeling a bit better the day after.

Is Anthony Ranaudo a top prospect again?

Marc Normandin — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:30:04 -0000

With all the buzz following Matt Barnes, Allen Webster, and Rubby De La Rosa, it's no surprise that Anthony Ranaudo has been somewhat lost in the shuffle. He struggled for a time at the end of 2011, and, thanks to injuries, was never able to get right in 2012 after an aggressive promotion to Double-A by the Red Sox. He's back in Portland once more, though, and while it's just a handful of starts, he looks much more like the steal of the 2010 draft that the Red Sox hoped he would than he ever has.

Anthony Ranaudo was the top pitching prospect in the 2010 draft when the college season began, but things changed for him in a hurry. Elbow problems after his first start of the year caused him to miss a month -- a more significant length of time in the NCAA than in the pros -- and he was a shadow of himself upon his return. The Red Sox used one of their supplemental first-round selections to make Ranaudo the #39 pick in the draft despite the issues, because that's about the only way Boston was able to get top-10 level ceilings with their typical late first-round draft slots -- the same mindset led them to Jackie Bradley Jr. a year later. When Ranaudo dominated the Cape Cod League that summer, Boston looked pretty smart for selecting the 6-foot-7 hurler as late as they had.

Expectations were very high for the young right-hander, as Baseball America made clear with their report on Ranaudo entering 2011 before he had ever thrown a professional inning, ranking him the #67 prospect in all of baseball:

Assuming Ranaudo's elbow problems are behind him, Boston may have stolen a frontline starter with the 39th overall pick. He'll make his pro debut at high Class A Salem and could reach the majors by the end of 2012.

The end of 2012 has come and gone, and Ranaudo remains in the minors thanks to injuries that derailed nearly his entire season. Granted, even if he had remained healthy, a September call-up would have been a faster-than-expected pace for most, but this just goes to show you what kind of arm some prospect analysts believe he has.

His initial campaign in 2011 was a mixed bag. He pitched well at Low-A Greenville, striking out just under 10 batters per nine with over three times as many punch outs as free passes, but you would have maybe liked a little more from a college arm in Low-A, too -- remember, Matt Barnes flat-out dominated the same league a year later. Things slowed down even further a bit after his promotion to High-A Salem. There, Ranaudo struck out 7.4 batters per nine, saw his velocity slip a bit as he hit a wall mid-season, and posted a 4.33 ERA in his 81 innings.

Baseball America still felt he could be a number three starter in the majors, and pushed his timetable back one year to 2013. That was before he made just nine starts and pitched 37 innings for Double-A Portland due to injury, rendering 2013 an impossibility as that time would be needed in the minors to play catch-up on his development. When he did take the mound, he didn't have much to show, as he walked as many as he struck out (with too many of the former and not enough of the latter). Baseball America explains:

Some club officials thought his problems were as much mental as physical. Before Ranaudo got hurt, he was throwing 93-96 mph in short stints and showing a better curveball than he had previously as a pro. Both can be plus pitches, and he complements them with a solid changeup. When he's on, he repeats his delivery, uses his tall frame to leverage pitches down in the strike zone and works both sides of the plate.

He spent the off-season in winter ball, and while that was interrupted by a groin issue, he's back at Double-A Portland for a second go of things to see if he can capture the above quoted text and use it in game form after a year without. So far, so good: the results are much improved, and we're being reminded that a healthy Ranaudo is a prospect with a lot of potential. In his five starts and 27 innings, Ranaudo has punched out 30 batters, walked just six, limited opponents to one homer, and owns an ERA of 1.00. On Thursday, without his best strikeout stuff at his disposal, he still whiffed four in 5-1/3 innings and held his opponent to one run, four hits, and a lone walk.

It's just 27 innings, but if last year's 37 could be held against him as a prospect, this year's start should be to his credit. He still has a long way to go, considering that the primary issues with him in the past have been health and mechanical consistency -- he'll need to get through his first full professional season without either coming up before anyone can exhale on those matters.

He might not be back, but with the sudden plethora of starting pitching prospect depth in Boston's system, his success isn't as necessary as it once was, either. That's what makes the appeal of a return to form that much more intriguing, though: if Ranaudo can get back to where he was supposed to be all along, and he joins the likes of Barnes, Webster, and De La Rosa as the future of the Red Sox rotation, then whatever crowded rotation problems arise will be welcome ones.

Even if he can't hack it as a starter, but instead ends up in the relief role that many less enthusiastic prospect analysts felt could be in his future, it's not as much of a problem as it would have been for Boston at the time they selected him in the draft. If Ranaudo can just continue to stay healthy and develop himself into a big-league pitcher, everything else will fall into place. This season is just a start, but for the first time in awhile, it's one in the right direction.

Pawtucket Red Sox update: Jackie Bradley Jr., Rubby De La Rosa, Bryce Brentz

Marc Normandin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:00:16 -0000

Jackie Bradley Jr., CF

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	PA	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2013	23	Pawtucket	IL	AAA	26	1	0	0	1	1	4	4	.318	.423	.364	.787
3 Seasons					641	44	4	10	25	12	95	101	.311	.423	.468	.891

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2013.

Bradley didn't do so hot in his first taste of the majors -- shocker there, given he skipped Triple-A entirely after roughly a year of professional baseball in order to get to the bigs for Opening Day. He's back where he belongs in a world where David Ortiz is healthy and in Boston, though, and now that the environment is right, so too is Bradley's production. It's been just 26 plate appearances, but now that major-league pitchers aren't busting a 23-year-old lefty inside at-bat after at-bat, he can once again make contact and draw walks.

The power isn't there yet, but again, it's 26 plate appearances: this isn't any less surprising than if he had come down and smacked a couple of homers, skewing things in the opposite direction. Plus, Bradley's time at High-A Salem -- and his ridiculous spring -- have probably muddled the picture of what it is we should actually be expecting from him. Bradley is, in all likelihood, going to end up pretty close to his Double-A line from 2012 of .271/.373/.437. That's enough contact to do something with, and more than enough walks to balance out that he'll have some pop, but likely nothing approaching the .526 slugging he put up while in High-A. It should be noted, too, that his slugging was inflated by a .359 batting average -- his Isolated Power from that stretch was .167, just one point higher than that of his Double-A ISO. It's good to see the underlying production persist despite a massive drop in batting average.

If that's who Bradley will become, that's a pretty useful outfielder thanks to the on-base percentage and ability to hit some doubles, but what will make him a great center fielder rather than a decent one is his defense. If he's getting on base at a .360-.370 clip, hitting doubles, and playing Gold Glove-caliber D in center, he's probably got a couple of all-star seasons in him when the power shows up a little more than usual. Just, as his April in Boston reminded us, not quite yet.

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Rubby De La Rosa, RHP

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	ERA	GS	IP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2013	24	Pawtucket	IL	AAA	9.31	4	9.2	45	1.655	7.4	2.8	7.4	7.4	1.00
7 Seasons					3.12	43	242.2	1032	1.261	7.2	0.3	4.1	9.1	2.21

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2013.

De La Rosa has only thrown 9-2/3 innings in four starts because he's on a program to limit his workload as he rebuilds his arm strength. If he wasn't on a strict regimen, though, it's hard to think he would have seen much more work than he is given he's walking everyone and allowing homers at an alarming rate. It's early, though, and it's not even 10 innings. He's got some things to work through, but that's why he's in Triple-A and not the majors.

More: Allen Webster, Rubby De La Rosa highlight PawSox rotation

As the season progresses, his walk rate is going to be important, though. Command and control will determine whether De La Rosa's ultimate role is in the bullpen tossing high-leverage frames, or if it's in the middle of a future Boston rotation. He's just 24, and has even less development time behind him than that age suggest given he lost a season and change to Tommy John surgery, so there's still plenty of time to answer that all-important question.

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Bryce Brentz, RF

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	PA	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2013	24	Pawtucket	IL	AAA	78	5	1	2	0	0	6	18	.254	.321	.437	.757
4 Seasons					1393	74	10	54	15	12	108	345	.275	.335	.477	.812

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2013.

Brentz is doing better than the last time he was in Pawtucket, but he's not doing very much to impress as of yet. He's struck out 18 times already, or 23 percent of the time, and has walked in just under eight percent of his plate appearances. Neither is bad, but they aren't deserving of a pat on the back, either. You probably could have guessed that from the ho-hum batting line he's put up to this point.

That's not mean to disparage, Brentz, by the way. He's making progress, it's just maybe not as fast as some envisioned after his ridiculous 2011 season. But 2012 was much the same as you should expect 2013 to be, in that he'll have moments of clarity where baseballs that meet his bat never land again, and other, more infuriating moments bridging the glorious ones where he punches out constantly and rarely sees even first base. He's hitting .194 with nine strikeouts in his last 10 games, so you can guess which end of the spectrum he's currently visiting.

What's going to be key for him is to continue to narrow that gap between his strikeout and walk rates, keep putting the ball in play, and hit with enough consistent authority to make him appear to be something besides just a dangerous, lefty-mashing platoon player. His future role has not been decided yet, but what he does this season at Triple-A will go a long way towards determining what that ultimately becomes.

Allen Webster, Rubby De La Rosa highlight PawSox rotation

Marc Normandin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:39:20 -0000

The Red Sox, for once, seem loaded with pitching depth. Not just in terms of prospects, but when discussing arms that could impact the 2013 season in the rotation, either as spot starters or by wresting the job from someone else, as well. This fact is evident when you get a look at their rotation at Triple-A Pawtucket, as it contains a top prospect, a former top prospect, and a couple of intriguing arms that might be major-league caliber.

Steven Wright

Wright is the Opening Day starter for the PawSox, but don't let that confuse you -- while possessing a potentially useful future, he's not the ace of this staff. However, there is plenty to like about him. Namely, the fact he throws a faster-than-usual knuckleball.

It's very difficult to project a knuckler, both the pitch and the pitcher, as it's more results-based than any other offering. Wright might be the first line of defense in the minors, and that could mean disaster in a spot start, or a game in which he baffles the opposition due to the nature of his primary pitch. You just don't know until he's out there, but in the meantime, he'll work on his craft at Pawtucket, putting more innings into his overall career experience with the pitch that could keep his career going.

Allen Webster

If you can only get to one PawSox game in 2013, you're going to want to go to one started by Allen Webster. He flashes multiple major-league-caliber plus pitches, and while he hasn't had command over them in the past -- leading to numbers that belie the nature of his stuff -- the Red Sox have worked with him on his mechanics in his short time in the organization.

Webster was the jewel of the August trade with the Dodgers that shipped out Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, and $250 million in future contracts. That's not meant to imply that he's going to be more valuable than all of the good Boston can do with their freed up budget and roster spaces -- it's hard to find any pitcher who can be that good. But Webster could very well be remembered better in Boston than the trade itself down the road if his development goes the way the Red Sox think it can.

Chris Hernandez

Hernandez isn't a prospect in the same way Webster is. He's much closer to Wright, in that it's unclear just how good he's going to be, if at all, but there are reasons to push him until he shows you he can be pushed no further. Anthony Ranaudo and Brandon Workman get all the press, but Hernandez, taken in the same 2010 draft by the Red Sox, is the first of the bunch to make it to Triple-A. This will be his second go-round at the level, too, as he tossed 42 frames and started seven games there in 2012.

Hernandez owns a 3.23 ERA in the minors over 275 innings, and while his 5.6 strikeouts per nine and 1.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio do not impress, he's a lefty that gets his outs on the ground. In 2011, he induced twice as many ground outs as air outs, and in 2012, continued that trend at Double-A Portland with a 1.7 GO/AO. Pawtucket didn't go quite as well in that regard, but if the 24-year-old can keep the ball low in the zone and out of dangerous places for his pitches to be, he can continue to succeed at the Triple-A level.

Hernandez is likely a reliever in the long-term, but there are far worse fates for seventh-round draft picks than ground ball-centric southpaw out of the pen.

Photo credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

Terry Doyle

Doyle, at 27, is the old man of the staff. He pitched in Japan and for the White Sox' Triple-A affiliate in 2012, and Boston scooped him up as a minor-league free agent this off-season. He was drafted out of Boston College back in 2008 by those same White Sox, in the 37th round. While Doyle isn't exactly pushing his way into the majors, like Hernandez, he has continued to succeed as he's moved up the ladder. Not failing yet counts for a lot, and eventually means a chance to succeed on the big stage.

Doyle, like Hernandez, has mostly kept the ball on the ground, but the big right-hander has also missed quite a few more bats over the years than his southpaw rotation mate. He's not going to be what his numbers suggest in the majors, but a career in the majors as a reliever or emergency starter isn't out of the question. He throws four pitches, including but not limited to a fastball with some sink and a tight slider, and he also works fast. Some sink and a quick approach might seem like little things, but they can mean a lot to guys on the bubble like Doyle.

If nothing else, he represents better in-case-of-emergency options than the Red Sox have been tossing out there the last few years, and that in and of itself is a positive. Even if it's one you hope they never have to put into practice.

Graham Godfrey and Rubby De La Rosa

This is where things get a little odd. De La Rosa, as a pitcher with a prospect record as promising as Webster's, is going to be in the 2013 rotation. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery while still with the Dodgers back in 2011, and given his youth (24) and fewer than 300 professional innings, it's understandable that the Red Sox want to work him back in slowly.

Read More: Rubby De La Rosa's 2013 workload

That's where Graham Godfrey comes in, as he'll pair with De La Rosa at the season's start. De La Rosa will be on a strict innings limit as he builds himself back into a regular starter workload, and Godfrey will get a chance to pick up the other innings after Rubby reaches the night's goal. Godfrey himself isn't that intriguing of a pitcher, but he has pitched in the majors before; as essentially the sixth starter and something like the 13th or 14th option to start in Boston, he's not such a bad fit.

As for De La Rosa, when he's back to form, we're talking about a pitcher with a career 2.86 ERA and over a strikeout per inning in the minors, as well as a 100 ERA+ earned in 13 major-league games (10 starts) in 2011 as a 20-year-old. A 20-year-old in need of Tommy John, mind you. There is a potentially special arm here, and if he can get back on track developmentally, the Red Sox will be glad they didn't push too hard.

Yasiel Puig wins 2013 Mulvey Award

Eric Stephen — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:38:50 -0000

In a decision that surprised nobody, Dodgers rookie outfielder Yasiel Puig was named the Jim and Dearie Mulvey Award winner on Saturday, given annually to the top rookie in Dodgers camp. The honor is voted on by Dodgers coaches.

More: Eovaldi wins 2012 Mulvey Rubby/Sands win 2011 Mulvey

Puig has had a blistering spring training, hitting .517/.500/.828 with three home runs, five doubles, two triples, and four stolen bases. Puig was optioned to Double-A Chattanooga on Tuesday.

The past four winners of the award were all traded at some point during the 2012 season: Nathan Eovaldi (2012), Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands (2011), and Josh Lindblom (2010). Mike Piazza (1992-1993) is the only two-time winner of the award.

There have been six Mulvey Award winners to also win Rookie of the Year, though not all in the same season: Ted Sizemore (1969), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Eric Karros (1991 Mulvey, 1992 ROY), Piazza (1992-1993 Mulvey, 1993 ROY), Raul Mondesi (1994), and Todd Hollandsworth (1996).

Farrell: Red Sox looking for starting pitching depth

Marc Normandin — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:14:05 -0000

The Red Sox have more starting pitching depth than they've had in quite a few years, thanks to the presence of Franklin Morales, Allen Webster, Steven Wright, and Rubby De La Rosa, among others. The thing is, Wright is unpredictable as a knuckler, Webster hasn't pitched at Triple-A yet, Tommy John recipient De La Rosa is going to slowly work his way to a fuller workload, and Morales is starting the year on the disabled list. Therefore, it's not a huge surprise to see manager John Farrell say the Red Sox could add an arm before the season begins.

Don't expect anyone of major significance -- the hope in that regard for 2012 sits with Webster, a rejuvenated De La Rosa, and a healthy Morales. The Sox will be checking to see if anyone they can use is cut by teams without the room to roster them, though, as camp size thins out in the next 10 days or so. This player will probably be someone they can stash in the minors -- otherwise, it's hard to see where they fit on an already full roster -- possibly with an opt-out clause a la Aaron Cook in 2012. Just, this time, with the hope that they won't ever see nearly as much action, or any at all.

While the pitcher in question, should Boston acquire one, not be someone to be excited about, it's still good to see the front office on the prowl and going over the potential issue with Farrell. It's also likely an indication that, even if there is room for Alfredo Aceves on the roster, they might not be planning to use him as even an emergency starter. Consider that another positive, as he and his command just haven't looked that good -- albeit in limited duty -- as a big-league starter.

Spring Training 2013 Red Sox Notes: Carl Crawford, Craig Breslow, World Baseball Classic

Marc Normandin — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:56:55 -0000

Carl Crawford was a significant part of the Nick Punto trade, as he and the five years, $102.5 million left on his deal were sent to the Dodgers. Along with just the cost, Crawford's recovery from Tommy John surgery, performed in late August, also went for the ride. Sadly for the Dodgers, they're getting an instant reminder of the complications that can arise from the procedure, as Crawford has been shut down and is expected to miss a week, with Opening Day now in question.

You have to feel for Crawford, who at this point is now two seasons removed from his poor 2011 campaign, and was only able to play in 31 contests last year -- maybe you don't think he'll ever be productive again, but he hasn't even had the opportunity to try and fail at that yet. There is a very good chance Crawford comes back healthy eventually and produces as he was expected to back when he signed his seven-year pact with Boston originally, but this is a reminder of why it's a good thing it's no longer Boston's question to answer. And that's without considering everything else the Red Sox were able to send west, as well as what was brought back east. Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa say hi.

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As for news involving players who Boston traded for last season, Craig Breslow is yet to throw this spring due to shoulder weakness. However, the left-handed reliever is expected to begin a throwing program on Saturday, giving him roughly a month to get ready for the Sox' first game of the year on April 1. Breslow supposedly only needs to make eight-to-10 appearances to be ready to go for the season, and with a couple of Red Sox arms over in the World Baseball Classic, maybe the opportunities will open up enough to get him there in time.

Breslow is an important piece in the Boston bullpen, as the extension he signed earlier this off-season shows. He, along with Andrew Miller and Franklin Morales, are the lefties for the bullpen. However, Miller might not even make the team given just seven spots exist in the pen, and Morales could end up starting in-season if there are injuries in the rotation. That makes Breslow a key piece, and one the Red Sox will take their time with this spring. It's too far out to know or even guess as to whether or not Breslow might need a disabled list trip to begin the year, but if it comes to that, the Sox would surely go down that route to protect his shoulder.

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The award for world's longest infographic goes to the MLBPA, which sent over this "nine inning" graphic displaying everything you need to know (and probably some things you didn't) about the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Just click to embiggen, or check it out at the World Baseball Classic site.

via web.worldbaseballclassic.com

Bradley Ankrom's Top 100 Features Five Red Sox Prospects

Marc Normandin — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:00:12 -0000

Bradley Ankrom, who authored Over the Monster's top 15 prospects list earlier this off-season, has released his top 100 prospects list at his site, twentyeighty. Ankrom broke things up not only by top 100 overall, but by position and team, too, making it easy to find the five Red Sox farmhands included among the top 100 in the minors.

If you read Ankrom's top 15 Sox' prospects list, you should have no problem figuring out who the top five are here. If not, though:

14. Xander Bogaerts, SS
39. Matt Barnes, RHP
45. Jackie Bradley, Jr., OF
52. Allen Webster, RHP
85. Blake Swihart, C

Context against the rest of the league is always a positive, since all you get with the team-based lists is where these players rank against their own internal competition. With that, Bogaerts could be the best for one expert, but only the #30 prospect or whatever when compared to the rest of the league. (Take Keith Law, for example, who loves Allen Webster more than most, but also dislikes Matt Barnes more than many, but the difference in valuation could not be drawn out within Boston's list alone.) With that in mind, it's good to see Ankrom likes Bogaerts a whole lot on a national scale, too, not just a local one.

As for the Red Sox prospects who aren't there, we bugged Ankrom to delve into more detail. Garin Cecchini, whom Ankrom ranked sixth in Boston's top 15, would sit in the "110-120 range." Cecchini was included in the initial list of names that needed to be pared down, and while he didn't make the cut, it doesn't seem as if he missed by all that much, either. As for non-prospect, but still minor-league pitcher, Rubby De La Rosa? Ankrom says De La Rosa would sit somewhere in the 60-80 range were he eligible, and he sees "a good number three starter if everything works out." If not, then De La Rosa is "another weapon in the back of the bullpen." Sounds like the Rubby we know and love.

You can read Ankrom answer questions about his top 100 at his blog, and follow him on Twitter at @BradleyAnkrom.

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