Before I get started on Boston Red Sox uber-prospect Xander Bogaerts, a big hat tip to @aquanarc for posting the tweet below and proving he is much better at using Baseball Reference than I.

Seriously though, this is pretty select company if you think about it for a minute. Within the next week or so, Adrian Beltre should hit his 300th career home run and Mike Stanton appears to be be a perennial 40 home run bomber by next season whom I consider to have a legitimate shot at the all-time home run record before all is said and done.

Even Kevin Goldstein is getting in on the action and I’d be willing to bet Bogaerts lands in his top-100 next spring.

Roll over to rotohardball.com and give “Introducing Xander Bogaerts!” a read. Your dynasty league team will be better for it!

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Boston Red Sox first base prospect Miles Head has come from out of nowhere to post a .330/.397/.591 line across two levels landing the young slugger in high-A Salem as a 20-year old. From scouting him in person, and talking to contacts about Head, it’s safe to say none of us know exactly what to make of his scorching first half and whether his performance should silence the questions about his overall tools and skill set we all seem to have.

• Listed height/weight of 6-foot-0, 215 lbs. might be a little on the light side
• Stocky; Scouts would consider him a “bad body prospect”
• Lacked athleticism; Struggled to scoop throws at his shoe tops; Feet tied up on foul balls
• Strong young hitter; Showed considerable opposite field power in game action
• Made excellent adjustments at the plate; K’d 1st AB on FB up; Pitcher tried same in 2nd AB; Head hit long HR to LCF
• Hit 1st pitch 2B off of RF fence; Scouts split on whether he has opposite field skill or is just late on fastballs
• Small hitch in the back of his swing causes slight uppercut swing
• Love the front elbow tucks pre-swing; Used same mechanism to elbow tucked and hands inside the ball in college
• Generates natural lift; Uses plenty of pull hand to generate power
• Not afraid to work deep counts; Does look for fastballs to attack
• Well below average defense; Projects as DH or liability at 1B
• Speed is non-existent

In all honestly, Head’s ascent as a prospect is one of the most surprising things I’ve witnessed this season. Prospect junkies who work from stats alone are going to assume Head is a star in the making, but I personally prefer teammates Brandon Jacobs and Xander Bogaerts as prospects. Going forward, Head is going to have to excel offensively at every level to shake questions about his height, build and poor defense. For me, his overall skill set plays like a poor man’s Matt LaPorta. And while the Indians first baseman mashed his way through both the Milwaukee and Cleveland systems, LaPorta has struggled mightily as a big leaguer and continues to look more like a fringe starter than player a team can count on to consistently produce at first base.

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The July 4th holiday weekend signals the start of a summer dynasty league draft in a league I participate in. Having taken over the franchise about this time last year, we find ourselves in the midst of a rebuild and working to add talent.

In this particular format, college players are eligible to be drafted so just about all of the major college talents are already taken. This leaves a draft pool full of high school talents and minor league prospects who are unowned.

Round 2, Pick 5: Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston Red Sox

Chris Mellen of SoxProspects.com mentioned Bogaerts in passing during a conversation making him a prospect of interest last weekend in Greenville. And while Mellen hinted at Bogaerts’ baseball ability, he had good reason to push him much harder than he actually did.

In game action, Bogaerts showed that glimpse of something really special when he took a hanging slider 430 or so feet just to the left of straightaway centerfield off of Texas Rangers prospect Roman Mendez. In all honesty, 18-year old prospects in full season A baseball are not supposed to do that. And even though he’s striking out far too often right now, he shows uncanny contact skills and the strikeouts I witnessed were more his learning the strike zone than being overpowered by an opposing pitcher.

Knowing we had no shot at Bubba Starling who went #2 overall, Bell/Bogaerts were 1-2 on our draft board from the start. Having landed both, we feel the rest of the draft is gravy.

A friend who traveled to Greenville with me wrote about his experiences from the weekend including a bunch of quotes from yours truly. It’s definitely worth a read.

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To say I’m excited to watch Rangers shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar would be a bit of an understatement. In the three years Scouting the Sally has been in existence, I have yet to see a premium shortstop prospect who produced on both sides of the ball. Add the opportunity to travel to Greenville for a pair and I’m in hog heaven.

For the next couple of days, I plan to live at the ballpark so I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting. Since Friday and Saturday will be my only two chances to scout Hickory Crawdads hitters including Profar, Kellin Deglan, Tomas Tellis, Christian Villanueva and Jake Skole, batting and infield practice will play a key role in assessing talent.

As for pitching, Hickory is likely to throw Cody Buckel and Roman Mendez, two of the staff’s better prospects. And while I’ll wind up missing Luke Jackson, I certainly can’t complain about seeing two, 20 or under pitching prospects with helium.

In all honesty, Hickory is an example of what the South Atlantic League SHOULD be. Including a pair of players on the 7-day disabled list, 14 players on the roster have birth dates of 1990 or later. I’ve seen a number of teams this year with a player or two worth watching, but the Crawdads truly boast a prospect-laden roster.

As for Greenville my primary focus will be 18-year old shorstop Xander Bogaerts. I’ve heard great things about him and really want to blow the lid off of his prospect status if there’s something there.

Additionally, I’ll be taking a second look at second baseman Sean Coyle, outfielder Brandon Jacobs and third baseman David Renfroe. Based on age alone, I’m also interested in seeing what 19-year old outfielder Henry Ramos has to offer.

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Each season, I can’t help but be a bit giddy when Greenville rolls in for a set as they always seem to have at least a half dozen Boston Red Sox prospects worth scouting. 2011 is no different as the Drive feature a number of former high school and college picks I’m excited to see.

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2010 2nd round pick Brandon Workman is likely to throw Friday night after a first start which saw him rack up the pitch count early and exited after just two innings.

on the infield, shortstop Sean Coyle has already taken 9 free passes and has an OPS of .915 early on. At 19, he’s the youngest prospect on the Drive I’ll be scouting this weekend.

Over slot 2009 pick Miles Head will man first base and is also off to an excellent start with a pair of home runs and a .993 OPS. Head celebrates his 20th birthday in about a month.

Third baseman David Renfroe received a 1.4 million bonus as a two sport standout who had signed to play both baseball and football at Ole Miss. Renfroe has struggled mightily as a pro with a career minor league average under the Mendoza Line.

Looking to the outfield, 2010 first round pick Bryce Brentz is out to a .452/.469/.1.275 start as he looks to rebound from a 2010 where he posted a .598 OPS after being drafted. At 22, he’s certainly not young for the league, but Brentz hopes to use the “Sally” as a springboard to Salem.

Finally, Brandon Jacobs is off to a fantastic start with three home runs and a 1.219 OPS in the early going. Another over slot signing coaxed away from the gridiron, I’m interested to see how his tools translate to the baseball field.

Like most Greenville squads, this team might not have the elite talent I was able to see last week, but the roster is talented enough to keep me writing for months. Unfortunately, Anthony Ranaudo won’t be in the mix.

Check out the rest of the Greenville Drive roster courtesy of MLBDepthCharts.com.

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Boston Red Sox farmhand Ronald Bermudez started with a bang, but ended with a fizzle in the “Sally” finishing with a .281/.342/.457 line at the level. A late season promotion to high-A Salem saw his numbers plummet, albeit a small sample size.

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The first time I scouted Bermudez, I liked the natural loft in his swing and thought he could swing it a bit. Of course a left fielder with limited athleticism has to rake and I just don’t see Bermudez as that kind of prospect. For now, I’d consider Bermudez more of an organizational type with limited upside due to his all-around skill set and trouble adjusting to offspeed pitches. The Red Sox have many better outfield options in the system.

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Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Manuel Rivera dominated the GCL in his stateside debut by posting a 2.14 FIP with 50 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched during the 2009 season.

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2010 marked Rivera’s first in full season baseball and an assignment to Greenville proved more challenging. A 3.64 FIP and BB/PA below 4% is solid, but he gave up more hits than innings pitched, surrendered less ground balls, and struck out less than 20% of batters faced. A mixed bag indeed, but what about his stuff?

Rivera worked consistently at 85-87 MPH with his fastball with enough effort for me to wonder if there’s more velocity there. The “funk” in his delivery will make him deceptive, but I wonder if the pause and lack of fluidity negatively affects his velocity.

His best breaking ball was a changeup he threw for strikes with promising arm action and some fade. His curveball was fringe and had varying release points.

Overall, I left underwhelmed and feeling he was more of an organizational guy who dominated short season competition due to “deception and junk” and does not have the arsenal to fool upper level competition.

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Boston Red Sox 2010 first round draft pick Kolbrin Vitek finished the season with Greenville providing me with a rare September look at a top draft pick from the current year’s draft crop. After watching a few at bats, I was left wondering exactly why Vitek was such a high pick in the first place?

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• Listed height/weight of 6-foot-2, 195 pounds seemed on the light side
• Muscular build; Shoulders reminiscent of a football player
• Shoulders appeared muscular to the point of being stiff; Caused swing to appear rigid
• Load and swing were separate parts of his swing mechanics; Lacked fluidity
• Significant length in the back of his swing; above average bat whip through the strike zone
• Hitch led to difficulty hitting pitches above his waist; Best swings were on balls at the knees
• Quite a bit of swing-and-miss for a high average, high contact hitter
• Appeared at designated hitter
• Greenville was weak defensively at the corners; Does this speak to his defensive ability, or lack thereof?
• Gut feeling leaves Vitek a classic tweener

Entering 2011, I’m not sure where Vitek fits into Boston’s organizational plans. He will probably start the year in High-A since he’s entering his age-22 season and achieved a moderate amount of success after signing, but where will he play?

I’ve seen corner prospects with legitimate power and Vitek did not strike me as that. Add his apparent difficulty playing defense and what’s left is a poor defender with the offensive skill set of a second baseman relegated to a corner.

How does that play at the big league level? When I struggle to find an answer or visualize a scenario, I have no choice but to question whether Vitek will make it at all.

In all honesty, my initial reaction to Vitek left me wondering what I missed so I ran his name by a scouting contact who had watched him play as well. His response, “I didn’t see it. I don’t understand how he was a first rounder.”

Thumbnail from toofarsports.blogspot.com

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Boston Red Sox third base prospect Michael Almanzar struggled mightily through his first 700 or so at bats in the South Atlantic League. Then last August, something seamed to click. Over the final month plus of the 2010 season, Almanzar batted .301 with five home runs (half of his full season total). Is this a sign of things to come for the 20-year old? In scouting Almanzar a little earlier in the season, I noticed little growth from the prospect I saw in 2009.

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• Body language comes off as lackadaisical at times
• Listed height/weight of 6-foot-3, 190 pounds looked about right
• Still very long and lean; Less athletic than his body type would indicate
• Room to add additional size; May not be an easy task due to body type
• Explosive hands; Still has plenty of power projection
• Long load & swing; Needs to shorten his considerably to take advantage of his hands
• Too much extra movement pre-pitch; Pull hand-heavy swing
• Impatient hitter; Swung at anything within arm’s length of home plate
• Steady diet of breaking balls gave him fits
• Fringe average arm in the field; Long release
• Good reflexes; Minimal range in the field; Step-and-a-dive guy
• Profiles best at 1B, but 3B not out of the question…yet
• Slow runner; Probably base-clogger at physical maturity

Almanzar’s struggles are a bit reminiscent of those faced by Oscar Tejeda prior to his 2010 breakout campaign. They are different types of players, but both had long swings and loads which made their mechanics difficult to repeat. In Tejeda’s case, he made adjustments which allowed him to tap into his tools. Hopefully Almanzar will learn from Tejeda’s development and emulate that. At 20, he still has plenty of time to regain his status as a prospect with helium in the organization. However, Almanzar is unlikely to surpass double-A without considerable refinement.

Thumbnail from minorleaguebaseball.com

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Boston Red Sox pitcher Kendal Volz spent the entire 2010 season in Greenville where he posted a very impressive 6.71 K/BB rate. However, at 22, he was old for the South Atlantic League as an overslot college signing who was expected shred through younger competition. Unfortunately for Volz, 127 hits allowed in 116 1/3 IP is anything but “shredding” as his impressive ratios were somewhat offset by the fact he was so hittable.

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• Durable frame; Strong through his core; Athletic for a pitcher
• Good arm action; Looks like he should throw harder
• Landing on stiff front leg worrisome; affects follow through
• 88-91 MPH fastball
• Threw for strikes; Little movement on the pitch
• Upper 70′s curveball
• Sharp at times; Could be his best weapon
• Low 80′s slider
• Sharp, but little downward tilt

I had the opportunity to speak to Volz for a minute as I left the stadium after seeing him on his post-start run.  He seemed like a great kid and a hard worker, but I can’t help but wonder what the Boston Red Sox saw to warrant a $550,000 signing bonus?  With 2011 being his age-23 season, Volz needs to start off strong and finish the year in AA to really put himself on the map.  I believe there may be some untapped velocity left based on his size and arm action, but his landing on what appears to be an abnormally stiff front leg makes it appear as if he’s working against himself.

For now, he’s more of a fringe prospect than guy I see as a big league contributor.  However, if he can iron out his mechanical kinks, add a little velocity, and continue to tighten a curveball which has considerable potential, I can see him becoming a legitimate bullpen arm.

Thumbnail from examiner.com

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