It’s been obvious throughout Chaim Bloom’s tenure that the Red Sox have made rebuilding their farm system a priority, sometimes much to the chagrin of fans who wish they would be a little more willing to part with one or two prospects in order to improve the team now.
That was the case at this year’s trade deadline, when Boston made a couple minor moves but did not part with any prospects of note and did not make any impact additions. The Red Sox have gone 2-5 over their last seven games post-deadline and are now five games out of a playoff spot, only adding to the fanbase’s frustration.
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show on Thursday for the Red Sox Front Office Report, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy bluntly confirmed what fans pretty much already knew: The front office simply wasn’t willing to trade away any of the organization’s top prospects. Listen to the full interview below.
“There are so many assets in our system that are desirable and that clubs want and are interested in. And just frankly, we're not willing to part with them,” Kennedy said. “We think we have the ability to compete and win this year, but we also have now – I think Fangraphs ranks us fourth in all of baseball in terms of our system.
“Just a couple of years ago, when Chaim came in, we were down at the bottom in terms of our minor league system. So, who knows how these prospects will all develop, but there were a lot of inquiries. We just didn't get to a place where we matched up on anyone that would have been a headline grabber for these final 50 games.”
Kennedy is right that Fangraphs now ranks their farm system fourth. They have multiple prospects highly ranked by pretty much every expert, including four in the top 50 on Keith Law’s midseason update – shortstop Marcelo Mayer at 3, outfielder Roman Anthony at 45, outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela at 48, and catcher Kyle Teel at 50, plus shortstop/second baseman Brainer Bonaci as an honorable mention.
That said, there’s still a middle ground between trading away one of those blue-chip prospects in a blockbuster move and trading away your 10th or 15th or 20th prospect in a deal that may not land you a star, but can still get you an impact player.
For example, the Phillies acquired starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen – who just threw a no-hitter Wednesday night – from the Tigers for a prospect who was ranked eighth in their system but outside the top 100 by Baseball America and outside Law’s top 60 as well.
When Chris Curtis pushed back on the “headline grabber” comment and asked why the front office was unwilling to part with any prospect in any deal to improve this year’s team, Kennedy reiterated the company line that they explored many possibilities to add but just couldn’t find a match.
“It’s a fair question,” Kennedy responded. “I just point back to what I said earlier about the willingness to part ways with certain players for players on other teams, we just didn't match up. We didn't think it was in the best interest of the organization to make certain moves, and can't go into specific situations because that would violate baseball rules.”
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