Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz: An in-depth breakdown
By Tracy Katzke
Our Farm System
As for those concerned about the depletion of our farm system by trading away our best pitching prospect, I would not be excessively concerned. According to ESPN’s Keith Law’s midseason top 50 MLB prospects, Benintendi, Moncada, and Devers are ranked as the third, fifth, and seventh-best overall prospects, respectively, in all of Major League Baseball.
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Some may contend that those are position players, and express apprehension about the lack of elite major league pitching prospects. Such an argument would be fallacious as the recent signing of Jason Groome, and the development of right-hander Michael Kopech, who, in an article written by ESPN Staff Writer Scott Lauber, was claimed to “have the best arm I’ve ever seen,” by a Red Sox official.
Kopech has earned such lofty commendation by recently delivering a pitch for Salem, the Red Sox Class-A affiliate, that registered a blistering 105 mph on two different radar guns.
Thus, in addition to possessing three of the top seven position prospects in all of baseball, our farm system remains stocked with elite arms.
Another point that deserves mention is that Espinoza is only 18 years old and likely three years away from attainment of the Major League experience; a lot can happen in that time. I wish the young man nothing but success, but how many arms deemed “elite” at that young age never make a single pitch in the Major Leagues?
My final piece of consolation regarding the loss of Espinoza is what one longtime baseball elevator offered up in this rhetorical question to ESPN’s Buster Olney, “When was the last time Dave Dombrowski traded a really good player”?
Next: Quantifying the Need