Off-Day News (6/21/21)

Knock on wood but life is good for the Boston Red Sox organization and their fans at the current moment. The Sox are in first place and their farm system has been rebuilt by Sox GM Chaim Bloom after it was blown to smithereens by previous GM Dave Dombrowski. All four of Boston's farm teams have a winning record and they have the 4th overall pick upcoming in the draft next month. The 4 best prospects are high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer, college pitchers Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker and catcher Henry Davis. The three teams in front of Boston are Pittsburgh, Texas and Detroit and the Sox are already set at shortstop and catcher. If the three teams ahead select both Rocker and Leiter, at least the best outfielder Colton Cowser out of Sam Houston state will still be on the board. Hopefully Bloom can select the next Boston superstar and not the next Trey Ball.....and that's no disrespect to you Trey, you know I love ya.

                                                       Bloom is all smiles...for now

The Worcester Red Sox are currently 28-14, 1.5 games behind Scranton (The Yankees top team) for first place in the AAA Northeast Division. Jarred Duran is the organization's third ranked prospect and he's hitting .286 with 12 home runs. Depending on injuries and incompetence, he could be up in Boston sooner rather than later. The rest of the offense are the guys Bloom got in trades or signings like Jonathan Arauz, Yairo Munoz, Franchy Cordero, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. Holdovers Josh Ockimey, Michael Chavis and Michael Gettys has this team primed for a run at the Governor's Cup this September. The pitching is a mixed bag as the WooSox employ a lot of the castoffs from the previous few Red Sox teams. Kyle Hart, Colten Brewer, Marcus Walden, Austin Brice, Matt Hall, Phillips Valdez, Brandon Brennan and the now departed Ryan Weber were joined by injured prospects Tanner Houck (now healthy) and Eduard Bazardo. The biggest surprise was 29 year old rule 5 pickup Kaleb Ort (from the Yankees) and Raynel Espinal. Time will tell if this team can make a post-season run down the road.

                                                Durran is on his way to Boston....we hope

The Portland Sea Dogs are currently 24-17, 3 games behind the Somerset Patriots (again the Yankees) for first place in the AA Northeast Division. They're led by top prospect Triston Casas, surprise prospect Joey Meneses (hitting .302), Jeisson Rosario (Mitch Moreland trade), Ronaldo Hernandez (Jeffrey Springs trade) and Johan Mieses (11 homers). Hudson Potts (also Moreland trade) has just got off the Injured List after not having played all year so time will tell if he can turn it around. The pitching is led by Josh Winckowski, the pitcher acquired in the Andrew Benintendi trade and Frank German (traded by the...you guessed it...Yankees). Brayan Bello was pitching very well for Greenville and he was recently promoted to Portland. Keep your eye on him and hope he doesn't get hurt like Connor Seabold, Thaddeus Ward and Bryan Mata.

                                                 "Made in the USA" Triston Casas

The Greenville Drive are currently 23-19, 5 games behind the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay's High A team) for first place in the Single A South Division. Their top hitters are Rule 5 pick (from Texas) Tyreque Reed (8 homers), Devlin Granberg (.326 batting average), Brandon Howlett (.299 average 6 home runs), Nick Sogard (Springs and Chris Mazza trade), Cameron Cannon and "Boss" Christian Koss (picked up in the Yoan Aybar trade). The pitching is led by Zach Bryant (Josh Osich trade), Jacob Wallace (Kevin Pillar trade), Grant Gambrell (Benintendi trade), former first round pick  Jay Groome and Chris Murphy. Its only the first month and a half and its only Single A but Bloom picking Reed out of a hat from Texas is just one of many moves he's made that have worked out so far.

                                                  Built like a tank, hitting like a howitzer

The Salem Red Sox are currently 23-19, 3 games behind the Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore's Low A Single A team) for first place in the Low A North division. The offense is led by 4th ranked prospect, 20 year old Gilberto Jimenez (.299 average), 25 year old Joe Davis (.330 average), 2019 first round pick Nick Yorke (.254 average), Jaxx Groshans and Will Dalton. The pitching includes Jordan DiValerio, Aldo Ramirez, Robert Kwiatkowski, Aaron Perry, Jorge Rodriguez and Cody Scroggins. Devon Roedahl is the team closer with 4 saves and Jeremy Wu-Yelland is leading the group with 37 strikeouts. The Sox low A teams like Greenville and Salem will be stocked with Bloom picks as the last remnants of the Dowmbrowski picks either graduate, get traded or get released. All in all the fact that all 4 teams are watchable and respectable is a testament to the hard work Bloom and his staff did to repair the damage left behind for them.

                                          Jimenez could be promoted to Greenville soon

On This Day in Basebawful History:

2000 - Sox defeat Yankees

2013 - Sox outslug Tigers

2016 - Sale outduels Buchholz, White Sox beats Red Sox

2017 - Royals rally past Red Sox

2018 - Sox beat Twins for win number 50

2019 - Sox walkoff Jays in 10 innings

Tomorrow night the Sox are back in action in an important series against the Tampa Bay Rays in a battle for first place. Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4, 6.21) takes on the "opener" Andrew Kittredge of the Rays. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Tropicana Field.