The Boston Red Sox selected high school infielder Mikey Romero with the No. 24 pick in Sunday’s MLB Draft, and ESPN’s draft analysts didn’t seem too surprised.
“We were surprised two years ago, their first draft under Chaim Bloom, when they took Nick Yorke in the first round,” Kiley McDaniel said, as seen on ESPN’s MLB Draft coverage. “People didn’t know what was going on there, and I said, ‘Oh! He’s a hit-first guy. That’s who Chaim took when he was with Tampa.’ That’s the kind of guy we’re looking at right now. This is the best example of that kind of guy in this draft.
“Is he shortstop, second baseman, third baseman? He’s had some arm issues, the arm strength will come and go, but I think he’ll be fine. He’ll definitely play in the infield. But the hit tool here is one of the best in the high school class. The issue is, he has a chance to hit 15-20 homers but there’s not a lot of power in the swing right now. He’s one of those cool, young opposite-field hitters.”
The Red Sox certainly like Romero as a player, as he’s the third consecutive high school infielder they’ve drafted in the first round. But ESPN’s Eduardo Pérez believes this could be the start of more moves by Boston.
“They’re going to try to develop as much as they can with this player, it’s a big belief in their farm system,” Pérez said. “I think this is a message, not only to Mikey Romero, but to the organization, about how they can develop this kid to either be a Boston Red Sox or at least be a piece to make the Boston Red Sox a better team.”
While there will be plenty of time to try and find out what Romero’s career will look like, the short-term reality is that the Red Sox will likely be able to sign him below slot value and use their leftover funds to make a splash in the second round with the No. 41 pick.
