I guess 'pretty pleased' is the right approach, but I'm left underwhelmed. Barnes developing into a Top 100 prospect is a big plus, and Tazawa helped the big club and looks poised to be an asset in the bullpen going forward. The Trade helped, adding some much needed depth near ML. Owens is encouraging, but has plenty more development to go.

The other side of my brain says we had one 'hit' and one 'promising' in the development process, and even they have some things to overcome next season. Finding bullpen guys is nice, but the focus should be on the rotation. And The Trade is great, but not proof that the team is back to drafting/developing good pitchers again. The rest of the 'pluses' are towards long men or taxi squad types and are unlikely to really matter. And the draft was completely underwhelming.

Maybe this is expecting too much, but I'd think a team with the Sox resources should be setting the bar higher. Not find a guy better than Barnes and 3 Barnes every year, but better. It was by no means a disaster season yet I'd think this type of year should merit a below expectations response.

What has me encouraged is a couple of things. First I think the Sox generally didn't get a lot of real bad seasons from top pitching prospects save Ranaudo. I think adding Webster and De La Rosa is a clear win for the system even if it doesn't say anything about the Sox developmental acumen. The draft had some nice gets with Light, Johnson and a guy I didn't mention because he only pitched five innings in Ty Buttrey.

I think the A levels are where the real excitement exists. That's the level where you have enough track record to get a feel for guys but enough room for development that the ceiling can be higher so it's easy to overrate. I may be guilty of that but I know heading into 2013 that Workman, Owens and Ramirez (who I'm irrationally high on) really excite me.

I didn't talk about it a lot but one important thing is the Sox are well suited to trade and I think that's important for this team. You've got three guys who can be centerpieces (Barnes, Webster, de la Rosa) and several guys (Hernandez, Workman, Owens, Britton, Ranaudo) who for varying reasons have value as a secondary piece. I'll be shocked if the Sox don't at least attempt to make a major deal this winter and I see a system that has the pieces to do that. Prior to The Trade the Sox would have been wary of a deal involving Barnes, now they can deal him and still feel like they have a front-line arm behind him (and you can substitute Webster/de la Rosa for Barnes in that sentence).

The draft had some nice gets with Light, Johnson and a guy I didn't mention because he only pitched five innings in Ty Buttrey.

Buttrey is the most interesting of the three, but that's not saying a ton. Light and especially Johnson were awful picks. Awful awful picks, even with the cap savings generated (Light's debut wasn't awful, but that's really all a college player in the NYPL can do -- not be awful; positive results just aren't reliable). I can't see at all how this group are nice gets. This was the worst Red Sox draft since I started following it, back in 2001. I will pull a 'zop/Cameron on myself and post that statement in every relevant thread if this draft turns out materially better than that. Turrible.

I think the A levels are where the real excitement exists. That's the level where you have enough track record to get a feel for guys but enough room for development that the ceiling can be higher so it's easy to overrate. I may be guilty of that but I know heading into 2013 that Workman, Owens and Ramirez (who I'm irrationally high on) really excite me.

Reasons for optimism are good. However, most every org has a handful of Owens, Workman, and Ramirez types. Maybe ours will pan out, but recent track record suggests not. Saying this group is better than Generic Team A's similar group is just fanboyism. I'm not saying you're doing that, but relative to other teams this group isn't 'plus'.

I didn't talk about it a lot but one important thing is the Sox are well suited to trade and I think that's important for this team. You've got three guys who can be centerpieces (Barnes, Webster, de la Rosa) and several guys (Hernandez, Workman, Owens, Britton, Ranaudo) who for varying reasons have value as a secondary piece. I'll be shocked if the Sox don't at least attempt to make a major deal this winter and I see a system that has the pieces to do that. Prior to The Trade the Sox would have been wary of a deal involving Barnes, now they can deal him and still feel like they have a front-line arm behind him (and you can substitute Webster/de la Rosa for Barnes in that sentence).

That's a good point. Maybe semantics, but I see the Hernandez, etc group as a second piece for a solid player, but not a stud (taking salary/contract into account). If it's a stud, they're looking at 2 from the first group or equivalent hitters. Useful they are, though.

I disagree with you on the draft while acknowledging that my following of college baseball is very limited. Everything I read regarding Light, Johnson and Buttrey in general was pretty positive. Light was probably drafted a bit higher but Johnson was drafted pretty much on point and Buttrey was an excellent value pick based on the pre-draft reports.

And while not related to the pitchers I was and still am pretty high on the Marrero pick. Reading the ST draft thread it looks like I was higher than most here.

J.P. Wendelken – The name sounds like he should be running a turn of the century general store

Sounds to me like he should be frantically waving guys around third to be thrown out at the plate by fifteen feet. Followed by some feuding with Adam Dunn in the media, perhaps.

Top Twenty for the New York-Penn League today from the gang at Baseball America. A couple of Sox on the list;

#7 - Deven Marrero - "He showed off a solid all-around tools package in his pro debut, with his defense remaining his calling card."
#17 - Pat Light - "His ability to throw strikes with power stuff gives him the chance to be a back-end starter or late-inning reliever."

Also they make mention of Brian Johnson among a group of three players who didn't qualify for the list due to limited time.

John Sickels has a preliminary top 50 pitchers and top 50 hitters list out. Subject to change but the Sox have three pitchers on the list;

#18 - Matt Barnes
#40 - Allen Webster
#49 - Henry Owens