SB Nation - Jose Capellan

Minor League Update -- 12/14/09

Ben Buchanan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:52:25 -0000

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez: .296/.375/.467

-Numbers are on the rise again.

Dominican Winter League

Fabio Castro is the first in a string of recent acquisitions playing in the Winter Leagues. It's been a while since he's pitched, so he may be done. Managed a 2.47 ERA in 44 innings, striking out 36 and allowing 16 walks. Certainly not a bad resume.

Jose Capellan: .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K – 3.75 ERA, 10:24 K:BB, 1.83 WHIP

-It's amazing how low his ERA is giving up a walk per inning...

Mexican Pacific League

Another newbie in Minor League FA Darnell McDonald, but he hasn't played since November 1^st. .854 OPS on the season, which is pretty much in line with his AAA-lifer status at age 31. Entirely a depth move.

Robert Coello: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 3 K – 3.29 ERA, 46:24 K:BB, 1.28 WHIP

Puerto Rican Winter League

The new guy here is Angel Sanchez, a 26-year-old defensive specialist SS with no bat.

Aaron Bates: 5-14, 2B, 3B, 5 K – .315/.373/.481

Reymond Fuentes: 1-3, K – .182/.250/.227

-I'm honestly sort of surprised the Sox are playing him here. It seems like it's just a good opportunity to ruin confidence.

Angel Sanchez: 7-15, 2B, K, SB, CS – .324/.385/.412

-Based on his lifetime numbers, this is the best you're gonna see him at.

Sydney Winter League

Boss Moanaroa: 3-5, 3B – .417/.500/.611

Moko Moanaroa: 1-3, 2 BB, 2B – .294/.429/.382

Venezuelan Winter League

More new faces here in free agent signing Edwin Moreno and waiver acquisition Ramon Ramirez. Moreno hasn't pitched in 3 weeks or so. 3.12 ERA, 16:6 K:BB, 1.27 WHIP in 17.1 innings.

Yeiper Castillo: .1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K – 3.86 ERA, 7:10 K:BB, 1.63 WHIP

Ramon Ramirez: 5 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 7 K – 7.02 ERA, 15:5 K:BB, 1.74 WHIP

-A less-than-stellar introduction.

Plenty of Movement in the Minors

While the Red Sox' front office has been largely quiet as far as major league moves are concerned, Baseball America says they've been plenty active on the minor league front. Over the last few weeks, the Sox have re-signed reliever Fernando Cabrera and shortstop Gil Velazquez, and added relievers Bob McCrory and Edwin Moreno, shortstop Angel Sanchez, and outfielder Darnell McDonald. As is usually the case with free-agent signings, these all appear to be depth moves with only a few guys having any chance to impact the big league club at all.

To counter the additions, the Red Sox released reliever Jason Blackey, outfielders Jered Stanley and Sean Danielson, and catcher John Otness.

Rookie Program Invitees Anounced

WEEI has the Red Sox' list of players attending this year's rookie program. The program is half-baseball, half-life, with players learning how to cope with the various issues that come up with working in the MLB. The program is typically reserved for those players the Red Sox expect to see in the majors within the next year or two.

A few things of note. Ryne Miller sneaks in as sort of an organizational sleeper pick after throwing around 100 good innings between Salem and Portland last year, posting a 2.76 ERA with a 97:31 K:BB ratio. Not bad for an undrafted free agent who had an ERA over 5 in '08. The invitation of Casey Kelly speaks to Theo's prediction of his getting on the major league radar fairly soon. Jose Iglesias is attending (along with best bud Luis Exposito), probably as much to help with his cultural transition as professional.

Red Sox Lose Jimenez, Zerpa to Rule 5 Draft

Chris Province Traded for Boof Bonser

Minor League Update -- 12/7/09

Ben Buchanan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:10:14 -0000

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez: .280/.347/.440

-Numbers improving again.

Dominican Winter League

Jose Capellan: 0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K – 3.86 ERA, 8:21 K:BB, 1.76 WHIP

-Good god, it keeps getting worse!

Mexican Winter League

Robert Coello: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 6 K – 2.58 ERA, 43:21 K:BB, 1.16 WHIP

Puerto Rican Winter League

Aaron Bates: 6-17, 2 2B, 2 BB, 3 K -- .314/.385/.457

Ken Roque: 1-4, 2 K – .273/.273/.273

Venezuelan Winter League

Yeiper Castillo: .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 3.18 ERA, 6:8 K:BB, 1.50 WHIP

Leandro Marin: .1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 10.80 ERA, 4:3 K:BB, 2.40 WHIP

Casey Kelly Chooses Pitching

Jason McLeod Heads to San Diego

Red Sox Resign Kason Gabbard

Kason Gabbard is rejoining the Sox' minor league system per NESN's Neil Keefe. Gabbard suffered through a truly horrendous year where he could not find the strike zone, allowing 54 walks in just over 50 innings in the minors. Gabbard once seemed like a legitimate back-of-the-rotation starter, which is presumably what the Sox will be trying to get him back to.

Hey, if David Murphy doesn't get much better, the Gagne trade doesn't look quite as awful.

Minor League Update -- 11/23/09

Ben Buchanan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:17:48 -0000

First, a weekly reminder to join in on voting for the OTM Top Prospects list here.

Arizona Fall League

Luis Exposito: 3-7, 2B, BB, 2 K -- .314/.364/.431

-A solid showing for Luis Exposito, if not quite as good as he did in Portland. Expo kept his strikeouts down and earned as many walks as he did in AA in about half as many ABs. Not a big step forward, but also not a step back.

Jose Iglesias: 1-8, 3 K -- .275/.324/.420, 3/3 SB

-Iglesias ends on a down note, but once again the story is that he wasn't completely overwhelmed in the small sample size (73 plate appearances) against higher-level minor league competition. This showing may have cleared the way for Iglesias to start in AA next year, which would be nice if only to keep him with buddy/interpreter Exposito. Also of note is the 2 home runs, which hopefully indicate some unpredicted power potential.

Ryan Kalish: 3-11, 2B, BB, 4 K -- .301/.384/.384, 6/7 SB

-While Kalish didn't exactly carry his hot streak from late in the year over to the AFL, he put on another good OBP performance. The power was a bit lacking, but this is coming on the tail end of a year in which he hit 18 home runs during the regular season—far more than he ever had before. Kalish also put on a good show on the basepaths, as he has done in years past (for instance, stealing 12 bases in 13 attempts in the 2008 winter leagues while getting under 100 plate appearances).

Casey Kelly: 0-12, 6 K -- .171/.261/.244, 1/1 SB

-Kelly keeps moving towards full time pitching. While the level of competition was predictably way over his head, he struck out in nearly half of his at bats, which is a bit too much no matter how advanced the opposition. This performance may have cleared the way to full-time pitching in 2010.

Randor Bierd: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – 6.04 ERA, 17:12 K:BB, 1.47 WHIP

-An uninspiring performance by an uninspiring pitcher.

Richie Lentz: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 HR, 1 BB, 3 K – 4.11 ERA, 16:3 K:BB, 1.04 WHIP

-Lentz ended the year very poorly, giving up 6 ER over his last 2 appearances to squander a great start to the AFL. But the huge improvement in K:BB shouldn't be overlooked, and if nothing else maybe this will help him be ignored in the Rule 5 Draft.

Chris Province: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 3.46 ERA, 9:5 K:BB, 1.08 WHIP

-Not too bad for Province, if not as good as his year in Portland. Would have liked to have seen some K:BB improvement.

Dustin Richardson: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – 5.40 ERA, 18:10 K:BB, 1.97 WHIP

-Certainly not as good as his regular season performance, which brought Richardson back into the picture as a prospect. Should still get a shot for a bullpen spot during spring training, though.

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez: .255/.360/.394

-The CWL does not have the best record keepers in the world, let it be known.

Dominican Winter League

Neither Navarro nor Wagner have played in a long while. I'm guessing their years are over.

Jose Capellan: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 4 K – 3.86 ERA, 8:19 K:BB, 1.67 WHIP

-Well, if ever there's been an example of unsustainable results, it's Capellan. Even if he has a 3.86 ERA, this has been an awful winter league for him. 8 strikeouts to 19 walks? Awful!

Mexican Winter League

Robert Coello: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 2.70 ERA, 30:16 K:BB, 1.35 WHIP

-This is Coello's first real chance against competition that's close to being age appropriate since he became a pitcher, and he's actually done a pretty good job of it. This last outing sort of sucked, but still, something to be said for the righty getting his first shot at starting (he's gone 5 or more innings 4 times so far).

Puerto Rican Winter League

Reymond Fuentes: 1-5, 2 K -- .200/.200/.200

-I can't imagine this is going to be a good stint for Fuentes. He played in the GCL last year and is playing in the same league as Jimenez and Bates. I don't exactly know what level this league is supposed to be at, but it's certainly over his head.

Jorge Jimenez: 2-3, 2B, BB -- .400/.538/.800

Ken Roque: 2-6 -- .333/.333/.33

-Roque very quietly put up a .317/.400/.520 line in his 3^rd year in the GCL, finally breaking through into the A-levels where he put up 32 nice ABs in Lowell without looking too overwhelmed. Roque falls into that "sleeper middle infielder" crowd with guys like Derrik Gibson.

Andrew Dobies: 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K – 13.50 ERA, 2:0 K:BB, 3.00 WHIP

-After missing 2008 due to injuries, Dobies put up a fair 2009 in Portland. This, so far, has not been an extension of that...

Sydney Winter League

Boss Moanaroa: 0-3, BB, K -- .393/.485/.571

Moko Moanaroa: 2-4 -- .308/.419/.385

Venezuelan Winter League

Yeiper Castillo: .2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 5.14 ERA, 5:6 K:BB, 2.00 WHIP

Leandro Marin: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 2.25 ERA, 4:1 K:BB, 1.25 WHIP

40-Man Roster Finalized, Rule 5 Draft

MLB teams had to finalize their 40-man rosters on Friday, leaving some tough decisions for teams as to which minor leaguers to protect. For the Red Sox, Jose Iglesias, Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa, Dustin Richardson, Mark Wagner, Aaron Bates, and Dusty Brown comprise the Minor League contingent. The most notable unprotected players available in the upcoming draft are Kris Johnson and Richie Lentz.

All Assumptions-Are-Dangerous Minor League Free Agent Team

Jeff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:07:19 -0000

Dave at Fangraphs passed along a link to this year's crop of minor league free agents. A popular thing to do with this information is pick out a handful of guys that would make interesting and potentially worthwhile pick-ups. This is not that. This is a full team made up of guys who, years ago, were supposed to go on to do some big big things, only to end up on the fall 2009 list of mlFA's. Consider this just another reminder that you should never ever ever take a prospect's future for granted.*

C: JR House
1B: Ryan Shealy
2B: Josh Barfield
SS: Antonio Perez
3B: Dallas McPherson
LF: Wes Bankston
CF: Joe Borchard
RF: John-Ford Griffin
DH: Josh Phelps

BENCH-C: JD Closser (does Ben Davis still count?)
BENCH-INF: Eric Duncan
BENCH-OF: Dave Krynzel
BENCH-UTIL: Donnie Murphy

SP: Jerome Williams
SP: Greg Miller
SP: Kenny Baugh
SP: Humberto Sanchez
SP: Bobby Brownlie

RP: Jose Capellan
RP: Wes Littleton
RP: Casey Fossum
RP: John Van Benschoten
RP: Chad Orvella
RP: Clint Everts
RP: Andrew Brown

If there were a 26th spot, I'd give it to Dee Brown, but it would just be so damn easy to include him that I had to find an alternative. Also among the free agents are formerly established Major Leaguers like Chris Capuano and Chad Cordero, along with the astonishingly driven Jolbert Cabrera. Jolbert just wants to win. Come on, Yankees. Take the plunge. Win one for Jolbert.

If there were a 27th spot, I'd give it to Mark McGonigle, because, really? McGonigle?

* never take any player's future for granted

Minor League Update -- 11/09/09

Ben Buchanan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:34:06 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Remember Javier Lopez? Turns out he's a free agent.

Browse more photos »

The Over The Monster top prospects list should start being compiled fairly soon. We'll be using reader voting again, with a slightly different format which should make it so that "write ins" aren't necessary.

Arizona Fall League

Luis Exposito: 3-8, 2B -- .286/.324/.429

-Expo's numbers just keep on improving since the bad start.

Jose Iglesias: 2-8, HR, K -- .222/.286/.378

-Again some pop out of Iglesias. His bat is clearly a work in progress, and he needs to work on plate patience BIG TIME (4 out of 5 at bats last game were 1-pitch at bats. The other was a strikeout. Though he did record RBIs on 3 of 5, so it's worth considering that it might have been somewhat situational.)

Ryan Kalish: 4-9, 2B, 2 BB, K -- .292/.368/.333

-After putting on a surprising power performance during the regular season, it's all but disappeared for Kalish in the fall. I wouldn't worry too much about it, though. It could be fatigue, it could be what he's working on, but he's shown he can smack 20+ out. His emergence as a patient hitter who's gonna get on base a lot is much more important.

Casey Kelly: 0-4, BB, K

-Whoo!

Randor Bierd: 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 K – 5.60 ERA, 12:9 K:BB, 1.19 WHIP

-A poor fall can't be a good sign for Bierd's flickering career.

Richie Lentz: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – 0.77 ERA, 13:2 K:BB, .77 WHIP

-Lentz is putting on quite the show after getting pounded in Portland this year. A dramatic improvement in control (33 BB in 36 IP to 2 in 12) can't hurt.

Chris Province: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – 3.12 ERA, 8:4 K:BB, 1.04 WHIP

Dustin Richardson: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K – 5.19 ERA, 13:7 K:BB, 1.85 WHIP

-Includes 1 IP, 2 H, 1 K in the Rising Stars game. That inning will not be included in season numbers.

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez: .261/.352/.391 in 46 ABs

Dominican Winter League

Mark Wagner: 1-8, K – .296/.390/.500

-Can't dominate every week.

Jose Capellan: 7.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 0 K – 3.71 ERA, 4:10 K:BB, 1.53 WHIP

-The ERA isn't horrible. But the peripherals...Oh the peripherals.

Sydney Winter League

The brothers Moanaroa and Mitch Dening have been hanging out in Aussie.

Mitch Dening: .500/.600/1.500 in 4 ABs

Boss Moanaroa: .357/.500/.429 in 14 ABs

-Still want to see the power.

Moko Moanaroa: .250/.357/.250

Venezuelan Winter League

Yeiper Castillo: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K – 1.80 ERA, 4:4 K:BB, 1.40 WHIP

Felix Doubront: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K – 2.84 ERA, 2:0 K:BB, .95 WHIP

Leandro Marin: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K – 3.38 ERA, 4:0 K:BB, 1.13 WHIP

List of Red Sox Minor League Free Agents

Edit: I have been correctly called out by poster Chebornek for not crediting SoxProspects.com for having gotten my information for this list from them. It was an oversight, and certainly in no way malicious. SoxProspects.com is a fantastic site and I encourage any and all of Over the Monster's readers to visit it--they're honestly a better resource than I am.

Technically, some of these names aren't minor leaguers, but it's worth noting them separate from the obvious big name guys.

Zach Borowiak

Robert Coello

Nick Green

Derrick Loop

Dave McKae

Iggy Suarez

Good luck to all the free agents in finding somewhere to play—whether back with Boston or elsewhere.

(Javier Lopez is a pretty surprising name, if you ask me.)

Minor League Update -- 10/25/2009

Ben Buchanan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:02:40 -0000

All eyes are on flamethrowing lefty Aroldis Chapman...But should they be? via infieldfly.files.wordpress.com

View full size photo »

Not a ton on the slate this week. The standard lines, of course, but not much more.

Minor Lines (Since last week, and on the season)

Arizona Fall League

Luis Exposito: 2-8, HR, K -- .200/.250/.400

Jose Iglesias: 3-15, BB, 2 K, 2 SB – .300/.417/.500

-A lot closer to the offense we expected out of him starting out.

Ryan Kalish: 6-17, 2B, BB, 6 K, SB -- .296/.323/.333

-Good to see him start to get some offense going. Bad to see him with so many Ks.

Casey Kelly: 0-7, BB, 4 K, SB -- .111/.333/.111

-A deliciously bad week for the young pitcher. PITCHER I SAY!

Richie Lentz: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 1.50 ERA, 6:1 K:BB, .83 WHIP

Chris Province: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K – 6.23 ERA, 3:3 K:BB, 1.4 WHIP

Dustin Richardson: 2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 0 BB, 4 K – 1.69 ERA, 9:1 K:BB, 1.37 WHIP

Dominican Winter League

Yamaico Navarro: 0-9, 3 K -- .125/.125/.250

-Not a pretty week for Navarro.

Mark Wagner: 5-11, 2 HR, 3 BB, 6 K -- .375/.450/.750

-And if the offense isn't enough, he's caught 4 of 8 base stealers. Ick at the strikeouts though.

Jose Capellan: 9.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K – 2.79 ERA, 4:5 K:BB, 1.25 WHIP

Venezuelan Winter League

Jose Alvarez: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – 0.00 ERA, 4:2 K:BB, .88 WHIP

Yeiper Castillo: .2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K – 13.50 ERA, 0:0 K:BB, 3.00 WHIP

Leandro Marin: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA, 2:0 K:BB, 0.00 WHIP

Aroldis Chapman to talk with Sox on Wednesday

Not even sure if this qualifies as Minor League info, but since he's not in the majors yet I'm gonna assume. Anyways, the Sox have unsurprisingly shown interest in the hard-throwing lefty, and Chapman is scheduled to meet with the Sox in Boston on Wednesday after meeting with several GMs in New York last week.

Personally, I don't feel Chapman's velocity offsets his high price tag and questionable control, but depending on who you ask, he's the best available pitching talent this offseason.

Yusei Kikuchi to stay in Japan

That's one storyline that ended fairly quickly. This isn't really a big deal for any team out there—he was going to be a questionable A-level acquisition at best. Perhaps someone missed out on a big bargain, but just as likely that they missed out on a bust.

Minor League Update -- 10/18/2009

Ben Buchanan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:50:49 -0000

I swear I had found a good picture of Jose Iglesias somewhere recently. But today all I could find was this, and I'm sure not putting that up on the front page.

Fall & Winter Leagues Underway

Four of the six winter leagues are now underway, with the Sox sending players to three of them. The Arizona Fall League is by far the most impressive group—as it does tend to be the premiere league—including names like Ryan Kalish, Casey Kelly (SS), Jose Iglesias, Luis Exposito, and Dustin Richardson.

The Venezuelan Winter League team is headlined by Felix Doubront, who is joined by a number of young pitchers all bearing huge "work in progress" stickers.

The Dominican Winter League Sox contingent is small, but with some good talent, as Stolmy Pimentel, Mark Wagner, Yamaico Navarro, and Oscar Tejeda are all set to play. They are joined by Jose Capellan, who has been on a long downward trend with the Sox since coming out strong in his trip from the DSL to Lowell.

Early Returns

The Sox' Arizona Fall League team, the Mesa Solar Sox (which they share with the Angels, Cubs, Marlins, and Twins) is off to a rocky start, going 2-3 in their first 5 games. Let's start with the bad for the Sox Prospects on the team: Kalish and Exposito are not exactly lighting the world on fire, going 2-10 and 1-7 respectively, each with a walk and 4 strikeouts.

Now for the good. The pitching has been pretty impressive. Two Sox starters-turned-relievers, Chris Province and Dustin Richardson, had seemingly turned around their careers with the transition last year, putting up ERAs of 2.60 and 2.71 respectively. Richardson even managed to see some time with the major league team, pitching 3.1 scoreless innings. Their success has carried over to the first few games, with Province throwing 2 hitless innings giving up only a walk while striking out 2. Richardson has been equally if not more impressive, with 3.1 scoreless innings giving up a hit and a walk while striking out 5. Richie Lentz has been slightly less impressive, giving up 1 run in 4 innings on 3 hits, but hasn't walked anyone and has recorded 5 strikeouts.

While one of the Sox' top offensive prospects in Ryan Kalish hasn't been hitting, the team is getting some offense from unusual places. Most remarkable has been Jose Iglesias' first few plate appearances, during which he's gone 3-5 with 2 walks, a double, and a home run. He's even hit the ball fairly hard in making his outs. For a guy who's not supposed to have any bat, this is an encouraging, if small, start. Casey Kelly, much to everyone's chagrin, has also not failed in the one game he's seen action in, going 1-2 with 2 walks and a strikeout.

In the Venezeulan league, Felix Doubront gave up 4 hits in 2 innings, allowing 1 run to score while striking out 2. Jose Alvarez, a lefty reliever who has struggled at higher levels, has pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 3.

Little to report in the Dominican Winter League. Yamaico Navarro is 2-7 with a strikeout and a stolen base, while Mark Wagner is 1-5 with a strikeout.

Sox Sign Top Independent Prospect

Reynaldo Rodriguez, the Rookie of the Year in the Golden Baseball League and Baseball America's #1 Independent League prospect, was signed by the Sox on Wednesday to a minor league deal. After struggling in the Yankees' system at the GCL level and missing the 2008 season due to injury, Rodriguez was released and, after earning MVP honors in the Colombian Winter League (.378/.468/.558 in 172 ABs), Rodriguez earned rookie of the year honors in the Golden Baseball League by putting up a line of .335/.380/.486.

The 23-year-old is a great defensive first baseman with limited home run pop, but with a large frame that projects to add more. He has a bit of speed—especially for a first baseman—and doesn't strike out much. Rodriguez will hope to follow in the footsteps of 26-year-old Daniel Nava, who has been tearing his way through the Sox system since being signed by the Sox out of the Golden League, where he put up an OPS of 1.100 in 256 at bats.

Sox to Meet with Japanese LHP Yusei Kikuchi

Kikuchi, 18 years old, is fresh out of high school and faces the tough decision of whether to stay in Japan and enter the draft, or go to America and enter a MLB system. It's quite likely that, were he to come to America, the Sox would hold a distinct advantage over the other major league teams given the presence of Daisuke Matsuzaka—though that's not to say the other teams are devoid of certain influential talent.

Kikuchi's fastball sits around 90, topping out at 95, and he has a good looking slider. Throws—believe it or not—an Eephus pitch—and is developing a curveball. At 18, Kikuchi can be expected to add some velocity as he progresses.

The Chunichi Dragons have announced their intentions to draft Kikuchi regardless of whether or not he has decided to leave Japan.