Well, Tony Granadillo is listed as a SS for some reason. That's odd.

Wasn't Travis Hughes the savior of the bullpen circa June 15?

But, yeah, I do agree that Granadillo looks like he has a non-zero shot at a major league career, and certainly will be a productive player at Portland and Pawtucket. Letting him go would be silly.

Wasn't Travis Hughes the savior of the bullpen circa June 15?

No silly, it was Breslow!

How is Granadillo a free agent?

Granadillo was signed out of Venezuela. He's 23 now, so if he played his first year in the VSL/DSL at 17, he'd be a minor league free agent. The numbers work.

Also, he was picked up in the minor league Rule 5 draft in 2005, so if I remember the rules correctly, he had to have 3-4 years of minor league service time to be eligible. So, yeah, the dates look right to me.

What is his status now? Can he be signed by anyone for any price? What's to stop a team from giving him a bonus that's similar to a first round pick? I'm confused and frightened (as usual).

What is his status now? Can he be signed by anyone for any price? What's to stop a team from giving him a bonus that's similar to a first round pick? I'm confused and frightened (as usual)

He is a free agent.

Yes, he can be signed by one.

Nothing is to stop them except he isn't good enough to justify that type of $$ committmenet. Or the Sox would have just added him to there 40man.

Doesn't he have a much better chance to be a average or better MLB player than most first round picks? This is a guy who hit well in A+ and hit well again at AA (in a very brief stint). He's 23 and he plays 2B and 3B.

Could this all have been avoided if they had put him on the 40-man? If so, that's a big mistake. Biiigggg mistake.

I couldn't find the link posting page and am short on time. I figured this would be a quicker place to post. Baseball Prospectus listed the their top ten Boston prospects. Full apologies if this already has been uploaded.

#1 : Clay Buchholz (SP)
#2 : Jacoby Ellsbury (OF)
#3 : Justin Masterson (SP)
#4 : Jed Lowrie (SS)
#5 : Ryan Kalish (OF)
#6 : Michael Bowden (SP)
#7 : Lars Anderson (1B)
#8 : Nick Hagadone (P)
#9 : Oscar Tejeda (SS)
#10: Josh Reddick (OF)

While we're splintering the minor-league thread in multiple directions, what's the word on the guy we just picked up as the PTBNL in the Pineiro trade?

sean danielson. he's 5-9, like a buck fifty soaking wet. he didn't really do anything until this past year in AA. he's 25. i'd be shocked if he's ever more then a 5th OF.

This is a guy who hit well in A+ and hit well again at AA (in a very brief stint).

I don't think 27 AB count for anything one way or the other... But yes, he hit well in A+. It is too bad that Lancaster has such an extreme park effect. Almost impossible to tell the difference between "good" and "average" while a hitter is there (since not all hitters benefit equally). A .900 OPS really isn't that impressive in that context.

He's 23 and he plays 2B and 3B.

No, he stands at second base and throws the ball away at third. Which I think is the rub... He's listed at 5'10" and anywhere from 165 to 206 lbs depending on the source. Usually means that he's progressed from the one weight to the other over the last six years. He is reputed to have weak range at second base (which is probably putting it kindly) and with 29 errors in 127 games at third base it seems likely that his glove won't play there either. I'm thinking he doesn't have the speed to play the outfield or the bat to play first base.

In what way is he better than Chris Carter (who you were correctly lambasting earlier for having no defensive value).

Travis Hughes should have had a look see last Sep.

Temple, what can you tell us?

Travis Hughes should have had a look see last Sep.
I agree. He has two solid major league pitches (FB/SL) and the performance was there last season (although he did allow a large number of unearned runs). He's got a good clubhouse rep to boot.

Granadillo thoughts:
* Somewhere in the lost Primer archives is a missive detailing my love of the Granadillo Rule 5 pick. I'm not unbiased when it comes to this guy.
* He was signed on 5/1/01 and played his first game in the VSL in '02. Depending on the nature of that initial contract, he's mlfa eligible after either '07 or '08 (apparently the former).
* I haven't written off his defense just yet. His range is a little short at second and he's been error prone at third, but I'm not aware of any tool shortage that would have caused this. He's definitely salvageable in that respect. FWIW, McKamey projected him as a potentially above average third baseman with the glove last offseason.
* He doesn't merit a 40 man spot just yet (which, yes, would have prevented him from being on this list). He's been a solid, but unspectacular hitter (his AROM MLE for '07 was .230/.287/.331) who plays second and third and has spent almost no time above A+ ball. He also lacks a dominant tool which would make him useful as, say, a September callup anytime soon. (stats - the Johnson City year was also spent in a great hitters environment)

No offense, but that guy sounds absolutely useless.

Well, he's still young and I wouldn't be shocked (though that's not a median outcome) if he eventually became a league average starter. He's just a few years away and that's if he takes a little better care of his body and his power develops. If subsequent mlfa eligibility weren't an issue, I'd rather have him as my starting AA 2B/3B than a majority of those who will have those jobs next year.

Granadillo played in the VSL in 2002 and the DSL in 2003, meaning he has 6 years of minor league ball, meaning he's a FA.

There's a lot of murmurs around the minor league world that he's trying to sign the biggest minor league free agent contract in the history of baseball. Something in the range of 1 year for $80,000.

In what way is he better than Chris Carter (who you were correctly lambasting earlier for having no defensive value).

I lambasted Carter as a current solution at 1B. I have no problem with having him on the 40.

What I've read about Granadillo's D is that he's better than you say as well.

From the BP ratings by Goldstein:

Year In Review: After finishing the previous year on such a strong note, the Red Sox surprised some by starting Buchholz off at Double-A this season, but he blew away hitters at two levels before throwing a no-hitter in his second big league start, and establishing himself as the top pitching prospect in the game.

Something in the range of 1 year for $80,000.

What's that? One-fiftieth what we spent on Project Pineiro? Can't see any harm in giving him that...

Glad to hear that his defense isn't a lost cause. It can be hard to get a handle on minor league defense, and some of the opinions thrown about are contradictory.

Any thoughts on the Red Sox 40-man roster? I believe that the recent changes to the Rule V draft delay the need to add prospects by a year, and we don't have THAT much in our upper minors, so there might be space? Saw that Dusty Brown was added last week.

Granadillo played in the VSL in 2002 and the DSL in 2003, meaning he has 6 years of minor league ball, meaning he's a FA.
Yeah, but 6 year free agency really means that their contract was renewed 6 times (most guys have played 6 1/2 years).

There's a lot of murmurs around the minor league world that he's trying to sign the biggest minor league free agent contract in the history of baseball. Something in the range of 1 year for $80,000.
Wait - there have been multiple minor league free agents with six figure contracts in the past - granted we're talking elite AAAA players in those cases that I'm aware of...

If I'm shelling out cash for Granadillo, I want to get him for more than 1 year.

Well, if he's improved enough - you then stick him on the 40.

It was just a joke.

What with my World Series hangover, I didn't notice that the Red Sox signed Baseball America's No. 1 independent leagues prospect. Hard to say if the guy will amount to much, but I thought it was interesting. It appears the Yankees signed the No. 2 guy.

Anyone catch the Yankees list of minor league FAs?

Chris Farley?

Anyone catch the Yankees list of minor league FAs?

Chris Farley?

Looks like next year he'll be playing his home games in a VAN down by the RIVER.

Looks like a certain large-font 2B was just signed to a minor-league deal with the Red Sox. Everybody happy? :-)

Oh, we got Kevin Cash back as well! Woo-hoo!!!!

Anyone catch the Yankees list of minor league FAs?

Chris Farley?

touching Farley tribute