Today is the second day of the 2011 MLB Amateur (Rule IV) Draft, and, with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the early rounds of the draft, I found myself wondering if they really mattered that much more than the later rounds. After all, scouting is not an exact science, and you’d have to think an early pick would have just as much chance as flaming out as a lower pick. So I decided to take a look at the makeup of the current Red Sox, to see when their players were drafted.
Without much surprise, I discovered that the majority of the roster is made up of early picks. In fact, of the 33 players who have played for the Red Sox this season (only 25 of which were drafted), 18 of them were drafted in the fifth round of higher. That includes an impressive 10 former first round picks who have played for the Red Sox this season. The breakdown looks something like this:
First Round: Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek, Jacoby Ellsbury, Daniel Bard, Clay Buchholz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jed Lowrie, Michael Bowden
Second Round: John Lackey, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Carl Crawford
Fourth Round: Jonathan Papelbon, Rich Hill, Tommy Hottovy
Fifth Round: Bobby Jenks
Eighth Round: Kevin Youkilis, Tim Wakefield
15th Round: Drew Sutton
17th Round: Josh Reddick
18th Round: Mike Cameron
23rd Round: Matt Albers
34th Round: Dan Wheeler
Amateur Free Agents: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Marco Scutaro, Alfredo Aceves, Jose Iglesias, Franklin Morales, Felix Doubront, Dennys Reyes
It does seem, without a doubt, that earlier draft picks have a much better chance of making the Major Leagues than later picks, although the Red Sox show that some gems can be found in the later rounds. Mike Cameron, for example, has been an all-star outfielder over the course of his career, and he was taken in the 18th round. Josh Reddick has everyday potential, not too shabby for a 17th round pick. Kevin Youkilis and Tim Wakefield are both in the midst of extremely successful careers, both coming out of the 8th round. If you’re wondering about Ryan Kalish, the potential right fielder for the Red Sox next season, he was a 9th rounder.
So while it may be Matt Barnes and Blake Swihart that steal the headlines as far as Red Sox draftees go, don’t discount the chance that it might be one of the forgotten picks that eventually steals the spotlight.
