AL East 2018 Draft Summary

In conjunction with the MLB Draft Deep Dive series that I've been rolling out over the last few weeks (see links below), the following is a down and dirty summary of the early 2018 draft results for the AL East.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY

PITCHING

Pitcher Breakdown
TBR: 20 Signed | 17 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 14 RHP | 6 LHP
NYY: 19 Signed | 18 C | 1 JC/CC | 18 RHP | 1 LHP

TOR: 18 Signed | 16 C | 1 JC/CC | 1 HS | 17 RHP | 1 LHP

BAL: 16 Signed | 10 C | 6 HS | 10 RHP | 6 LHP
BOS: 13 Signed | 10 C | 2 JC/CC | 1 NS | 10 RHP | 3 LHP

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
BOS: 2.83 ERA | 1.239 WHIP | 295.1 IP | 13 Active Pitchers

TBR: 3.07 ERA | 1.179 WHIP | 563.1 IP | 20 Active Pitchers

TOR: 3.22 ERA | 1.149 WHIP | 389 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
NYY: 3.85 ERA | 1.274 WHIP | 301.1 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
BAL: 3.97 ERA | 1.449 WHIP | 330.1 IP | 16 Active Pitchers

Position Player Breakdown
BAL: 16 Signed | 13 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 1B | 2B | 2 3B | 3 SS | 6 OF | 3 C
BOS: 15 Signed | 9 C | 6 HS | 1B | 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 6 OF | 2 C
NYY: 15 Signed | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 4 HS | 1B | 3 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 4 OF | 4 C
TBR: 15 Signed* | 10 C | 2 JC/CC | 3 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | SS | 6 OF* | 3 C
TOR: 14 Signed* | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 3 HS | 1B* | 2B | 3B | 3 SS | 4 OF | 4 C

*Add one to the totals to account for two-way players already counted in the pitching totals.

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
BOS: .266/.347/.374/.721 | 15 Active Players

TBR: .265/.368/.388/.756 | 16 Active Players

TOR: .245/.348/.371/.719 | 15 Active Players
NYY: .237/.335/.363/.698 | 15 Active Players
BAL: .219/.298/.322/.619 | 14 Active Players

MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
BOS: 5 Total (C RHP, HS 3B*, 2 HS 3B, HS OF)
BAL: 4 Total (C RHP*, HS RHP*, C SS*, C OF)
NYY: 4 Total (C RHP, JC/CC C, HS C*, HS OF)
TBR: 4 Total (C LHP*, HS LHP*, C 2B, HS OF)
TOR: 3 Total (HS RHP, HS SS/3B*, C OF)

*Top 10

AL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS

Tampa Bay signed the most pitchers from this group and got both quantity and quality in their initial results. The Rays' top pick, a high school lefty, had a particularly good debut as did their second round pick (a two-way player). But it was the middle of the pack that really impressed me and could portend good depth from this college-heavy group going forward. Only one player was promoted beyond Short Season A, but this group combined to pitch a lot of innings in their inaugural season and that should provide a good foundation. All of the remaining affiliates were college-heavy as well with the exception of the Orioles who signed six high school pitchers. Most of the high school players pitched well and performed as expected in rookie league. However, only two of the college players (both with good numbers) had much of a track record at the Short Season A level and none were promoted above that level. And four of the college players pitched 13.1 innings or fewer. It's hard to get much of a feel for the class, but my initial impressions are ambivalent. Three of the Yankees draft picks didn't play at all and ten of their college picks didn't play beyond rookie league. The top three picks performed well at Short Season A, but most of the rest of the class gets an incomplete until they actually put up a few innings and show some success at a higher level. The Blue Jays class doesn't look quite as strong as Tampa, but it does appear to have some nice depth with several lower round pitchers performing nicely. Their top pick, a high school right-hander, only pitched two innings and two other players did not appear in 2018. Boston had the smallest pitching class, but had one of only two players to advance beyond Short Season A out of the entire group. RHP Durbin Feltman made 11 relief appearances at Advanced A in 2018 and appears to be on the fast track for the Sox. Beyond Feltman, it was more of a mixed bag, but there were definitely a couple of bright spots in that mix. However, it is definitely Tampa Bay that stands out in the initial results.

AL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS


The Red Sox probably have the most interesting group of position players from the 2018 draft. Four of their high school picks appear on their Top 30 prospect list (although the top two only appeared in two games each in 2018) and several of their college players had very strong starts as well. If even a couple of these high school prospects pan out, this could turn out to be a very strong group for Boston. None of the college players were hidden away in rookie ball and two of them were promoted to full season teams. The Yankees also have some interesting younger players at the top of their class who performed as could be expected (and received much more playing time than the Red Sox top players). Further down in the draft, the results are mixed, but there are a few bright spots peppered throughout the group. Tampa Bay and Toronto also picked high school players as their top position player picks. Toronto's SS/3B Jordan Groshans got off to the best start of any of the top high school players out of this group, but there doesn't appear to be much depth in the Blue Jays class based on the early results despite a couple of very nice debuts among the lower picks. On the other hand, Tampa Bay's high school picks didn't exactly wow me in their inaugural seasons, but they had several college players up and down the ranks who showed good promise. The Orioles had two players who didn't appear in 2018 and seven more who batted under the composite group batting average of .219. Not exactly inspiring. Only three players batted over .250 and one of those three was a college player appearing in low rookie league. So once again, not inspiring. Boston does inspire me with their early results, just edging out the Rays as the most interesting group to watch.

Baltimore Orioles Draft Review
Boston Red Sox Draft Review
New York Yankees Draft Review
Tampa Bay Rays Draft Review
Toronto Blue Jays Draft Review

MLB Draft Deep Dive: Boston Red Sox

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

BOSTON RED SOX

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 946 | Signed 540 | Pitchers Signed 263 | Position Players Signed 277
Total WAR 433.9
Total Players to MLB 94

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 5 to MLB | WAR 16.1 | High WAR 12.6, OF Adam Everett, 1st rd
1999 | 4 to MLB | WAR 7.9 | High WAR 8.3, OF Lew Ford, 12th rd
2000 | 6 to MLB | WAR 19.2 | High WAR 15.9, SS Freddy Sanchez, 11th rd
2001 | 2 to MLB | WAR 41.0 | High WAR 32.6, 3B Kevin Youkilis, 8th rd
2002 | 3 to MLB | WAR 48.0 | High WAR 43.8, LHP Jon Lester, 2nd rd
2003 | 4 to MLB | WAR 36.2 | High WAR 23.5, RHP Jonathan Papelbon, 4th rd
2004 | 4 to MLB | WAR 54.5 | High WAR 52.1, SS Dustin Pedroia, 2nd rd
2005 | 6 to MLB | WAR 65.4 | High WAR 31.1, OF Jacoby Ellsbury, 1st rd
2006 | 9 to MLB | WAR 39.3 | High WAR 24.0, OF Josh Reddick, 17th rd
2007 | 6 to MLB | WAR 36.6 | High WAR 28.8, 1B Anthony Rizzo, 6th rd
2008 | 9 to MLB | WAR (2.9) | High WAR 1.0, C Christian Vazquez, 9th rd
2009 | 6 to MLB | WAR 5.5 | High WAR 5.6, RHP Alex Wilson, 2nd rd
2010 | 5 to MLB | WAR (1.5) | High WAR 0.1, RHP Brandon Workman, 2nd rd
2011 | 8 to MLB | WAR 61.1 | High WAR 35.2, SS Mookie Betts, 5th rd
2012 | 9 to MLB | WAR 1.4 | High WAR 1.6, LHP Brian Johnson, 1st rd
2013 | 2 to MLB | WAR (0.6) | High WAR 0.0, RHP Kyle Martin, 9th rd
2014 | 3 to MLB | WAR (0.8) | High WAR 0.1, RHP Michael Kopech, 1st rd
2015 | 3 to MLB | WAR 7.5 | High WAR 7.0, OF Andrew Benintendi, 1st rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The highest WAR to date goes to 2B Dustin Pedroia (2004, 2nd round, 52.1 WAR) with 2005 representing the high total WAR. Out of the Red Sox 2005 Draft class, three players contributed double-digit WAR: OF Jacoby Ellsbury (1st round, 31.1 WAR), RHP Clay Buchholz (1st round, 18.0 WAR) and SS Jed Lowrie (1st round, 17.6 WAR). Ellsbury played for the Red Sox for seven seasons (earning a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and All-Star nod in 2011) before leaving via free agency after the 2013 season. Buchholz, a two-time All-Star, wore a Red Sox uniform for 10 seasons before being traded to Philadelphia in late 2016. Lowrie was with Boston for four seasons before being traded to Houston in 2011 (and his most productive years, overall, have been in Oakland). Pedroia, on the other hand, has never played for a team other than Boston. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2007 and AL MVP in 2008, has earned four Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger, has been named to the All-Star team four times and has earned World Series rings in 2007, 2013 and 2018, however, he was prohibited from playing in the Red Sox 2018 postseason due to injuries.

2018 DRAFT
40 Drafted | 28 Signed | 13 Pitchers | 15 Position Players
22 College | 19 Signed | 10 Pitchers | 9 Position Players
3 JC/CC | 2 Signed | 2 Pitchers | 0 Position Players
15 HS/NS | 7 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 6 Position Players

Notable: The Red Sox failed to sign two of their top 20 picks with the top holdout being 14th round HS 2B Nicholas Lucky.

PITCHERS
All of the 13 pitchers signed (10 RHP, 3 LHP) logged at least some playing time. One of the players was promoted beyond the Short Season A* level, to Advanced A. One of the pitchers debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Red Sox.

Top Prospects

RHP Durbin Feltman, 3rd round, Texas Christian University, A+
23.1 IP | 22 G / 0 GS | 1.93 ERA | 0.986 WHIP | 5 BB : 36 K | 4 Saves

Noteworthy Debut

RHP Kris Jackson, 28th round, Corbin College, SSA
26.1 IP | 19 G / 0 GS | 0.68 ERA | 1.101 WHIP | 5 BB : 29 K | 5 Saves

In total, the Boston 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 2.83 ERA and a 1.239 WHIP over 295.1 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All of the 15 position players signed (1B, 2B, 3 3B, 2 SS, 6 OF, 2 C) logged at least some playing time. Two players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (to Full Season A). Four players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Red Sox, one as a Top 10 prospect.

Top Prospects

🔟 3B Triston Casas (L/R), 1st round, American Heritage HS (FL), Rk
2 G | .000/.200/.000/.200 | 1 BB : 2 K

OF Nick Decker (L/L), 2nd round, Senaca HS (NJ), Rk
2 G | .250/.400/.500/.900 | 1 BB : 1 K

3B Nicholas Northcut (R/R), 11th round, William Mason HS (OH), SSA
47 G | .223/.303/.319/.622 | 16 BB : 55 K

3B Brandon Howlett (R/R), 21st round, George Jenkins HS (FL), SSA
44 G | .289/.402/.513/.915 | 28 BB : 41 K

🔟 Top 10 Prospect

Noteworthy Debut

OF Jarren Duran (L/R), 7th round, California State University Long Beach, A
67 G | .357/.394/.516/.910 | 16 BB : 48 K | 24 SB : 10 CS | 14 2B / 11 3B / 3 HR

In total, the Red Sox 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .266/.347/.374/.721 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of early January and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

PREVIOUSLY

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary

NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary

NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
NL West 2018 Draft Summary

AL EAST
Baltimore Orioles

COMING NEXT
New York Yankees