Red Sox in good shape for draft
Now that Rod Barajas has signed with the Mets, the order of the June draft can be determined.
Here is what the Red Sox have in the early rounds:
First round
No. 20 (From the Braves, compensation for Billy Wagner)
Supplemental first round
No. 36 (Compensation for Jason Bay)
No. 38 (Compensation for Billy Wagner)
Second round
No. 57 (From the Mets, compensation for Jason Bay)
Third round
No. 110 (Their own pick)
Fourth round
No. 143 (Their own pick)
The Sox lost their first-round pick (No. 29) to the Angels for John Lackey and their second-round choice (No. 80) to the Blue Jays for Marco Scutaro.
Props to Theo Epstein. He traded two low-level prospects (Chris Carter and Eddie Lora) to the Mets and in return got 15 appearances from Billy Wagner (during which he had an ERA+ of 237) and two of the first 57 picks in the draft.
That is robbery.
If the Red Sox use their financial might well, they can do some significant damage in the draft as they can afford to risk a pick on a high-ceiling high school kid or two in the early rounds.
The Blue Jays will control the draft, however. They have 10 of the first 126 picks.