Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
10. Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville (Ga.) HS
Frazier has the best bat speed among high school hitters in this class and developing power, but less chance to stay in center than Meadows, his Georgia neighbor.
11. Bobby Wahl, RHP, Ole Miss
The polished right-hander led SEC underclassmen in strikeouts this spring with above-average fasbtall/breaking ball combo.
12. Trevor Williams, RHP, Arizona State
Williams will take over Friday nights from Brady Rogers in Tempe, working with a mid-90s fastball, but needs to show he can miss more bats.
13. A.J. Vanegas, RHP, Stanford
One of several wild-card college arms in this year's draft, Vanegas has shown mid-90s velocity in relief and should work with an above-average fastball as a starter along with a good delivery and the ability to spin a curveball.
14. Oscar Mercado, SS, Gaither HS (Tampa)
Mercado's one of the few true shortstops in this draft class, which is very weak up the middle, and has an excellent chance to be an above-average to plus defender there, with the bat speed for contact but not power.
ESPN | Early top 30 ranking for 2013 draft class
The Red Sox loss yesterday pushes them into a tie for the 9th worst record with San Diego (h/t Chris Hatfield). Considering this season just seems to get more depressing with each day, I thought I'd try to take a positive spin on it and look at who we might be looking at in next June's draft with what looks to be a top-10 pick.
Yes, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Of this block of players from Keith Law (it's an Insider piece, sorry), I like the sounds of Wahl and Mercado. We could always use pitching, and I tend to like strikeout pitchers.
As for Mercado, long-time Ted's Army readers might be surprised as I spend every other post professing my love for Jose Iglesias. And while I think Jose should absolutely be the shortstop in 2013 (and be given a chance), I think it's about time we spend more of our focus on the old-school "building up the middle" strategy.
It's working right now for Baltimore. They invested draft picks and resources (both in trade and money) in Matt Wieters, JJ Hardy, and Adam Jones to build their core for this surprising team they've put together. So if Iglesias doesn't work out (which is very possible; he's struggling tremendously at the plate despite essentially no pressure this year, at 0-16 in the bigs), it wouldn't be a bad idea to have somebody behind him coming up the ranks. (And yes, I've heard of Xander Bogaerts, and no, he's not a long-term shortstop.)
On page 2, Dustin Pedroia hits a milestone.
The second baseman has a 14-game hitting streak. During that stretch, Pedroia is hitting .386 (22-for-57) with 10 runs scored, seven doubles, two homers and eight RBI.
Dating back to Aug. 5, nearly a month ago, Pedroia sports a major-league best .381 average with 14 doubles, 21 runs scored and 16 RBI. He's lifted his average for the season to .290.
His first hit -- a double in the first that led to the first (and only) Red Sox run of the afternoon -- was the 1,000th of his career, becoming the 31st player in franchise history to reach that
milestone.
CSNNE | Pedroia records 1,000th career hit in loss to Mariners
Congrats to Pedey. It was a tough start to the year, but he's turning it around now that he's, presumably, closer to 100% healthy. Here's hoping this continues next year when the games mean a little more.
ESPNBoston | Mariners deal reeling Red Sox 7th straight loss | Sox get closer, but still find way to lose | Bobby Valentine, John Henry meet | Atchison solid in rehab stint | Herald | Valentine still alive, but signs say not for long | Rookies drop the ball | Road debacle continues | Henry won't endorse Valentine beyond this season | Globe | The gang's all here | No change: Red Sox fall again to Mariners | Buchholz's effort goes to waste | CSNNE | Fourth inning gets best of Buchholz in otherwise solid outing | Road-killed: Sox drop seventh straight after 4-1 loss to M's | Atchison goes 1-2-3 in first rehab appearance with PawSox
