Before anybody gets too worked up over the players shipped out by the Red Sox in the Erik Bedard trade, it's worth noting that three of the five players might not have returned after the 2011 season anyway.
Outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang, catcher Tim Federowicz and right-handed pitcher Stephen Fife, whom Boston gave up Sunday along with right-hander Juan Rodriguez, would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the season and it's unlikely the Red Sox would have protected them, writes Mike Andrews of SoxProspects.com.
In other words, the Sox might have lost them and received just a few thousand dollars in return. Instead, the Sox helped turn those minor leaguers into a starting big league pitcher.
While Federowicz is said to have the highest ceiling for his talent, Chiang has had the most success at the plate this season at Double-A. Still, Chiang projects as a fourth outfielder and Federowicz as an "above-average major league backup catcher, with potential as a second division starter," writes Andrews.
Fife was drafted out of college, has a mix of four to five pitches with movement, induces ground balls and pounds the strike zone, according to Andrews, which make him a borderline middle-inning reliever.
Of the players the Red Sox parted with at the trade deadline, only utility player Yamaico Navarro was listed among the Red Sox' top 20 prospects by Minor League Ball or in the organization's top 10 prospects by Baseball America prior to this season. Navarro was No. 15 on Minor League Ball's list. Federowicz was the only one in the Bedard deal listed among "others of note" on that list, though he received the "Best Defensive Catcher" designation by BA.
The Rule 5 draft takes place every winter and is a way to prevent teams from hoarding minor league prospects. Once players who are not on their team's 40-man roster reach a certain age or service time, they are left unprotected for the Rule 5 draft, where any other team can draft them. The drafting team must pay the player's original team a small fee and keep the player on its major league roster for a full year.
With time, all the players traded Sunday may become major leaguers — Rodriguez, Andrews adds, could end up being anything from a complete bust or a big league closer — but there isn't a sure thing among the bunch.
