Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and the Boston Red Sox have doubled and tripled down on the shortstop position in recent MLB drafts.
The first-round selection of Mikey Romero on Sunday night marked the second straight year Boston nabbed a high schooler at the position. Romero, who was drafted No. 24 overall, came one year after Boston used the No. 4 overall pick on Marcelo Mayer. Boston now has drafted a high-school infielder with its first-round pick in three straight years dating back to Nick Yorke in 2020.
And to further depict their mindset, the Red Sox followed up Romero by selecting Cutter Coffey, another high-school shortstop from California, with their second-round pick Sunday. All told, Boston used each of its first three picks on high schoolers.
“I was thinking to myself after we chose Cutter that all of you (the media) and all the Red Sox fans and everyone were thinking we only take high-school infielders,” Red Sox director of amateur scouting Paul Toboni told reporters late Sunday night, per MLB.com.
Mayer and Romero, who are close friends after playing travel baseball together, clearly don’t mind.
It’s pretty clear the main objective from Bloom and company, though, is to acquire as much talent as possible. The specific position each player plays, as it tends to be in drafts across all major sports, comes secondary. And the reality is that so many high school shortstops are at that position because that’s where the best player plays in high school. It doesn’t necessarily project their long-term position as their adaptability showcases itself down the road.
“That’s the great thing about these shortstops,” Toboni said. “They both, without a doubt in my mind, could be really good shortstops. But I think in a vacuum, if you ask either of them to hop over to second or hop over to third, they’d probably do it pretty seamlessly.
“Once again, I think part of the reason why we don’t take a ton of DH’s is because it’s tough to get a DH to play shortstop, but it’s easy to get a shortstop to play other positions — or, easier.”
Mayer, given where he was drafted and the potential he continues to showcase, might very well grow to be Boston’s shortstop of the future. Romero has been lauded as one of the 2022 draft’s best shortstops, too, all while having the arm to provide range. Coffey, on the other hand, might very well be able to develop into a second or third baseman.
The Red Sox, as it seems, aren’t overly worried about that as the organization looks to build depth and talent.
