Red Sox Lose Notable Pitching Prospect To White Sox In Rule 5 Draft

The Boston Red Sox didn’t come away unscathed from Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft at the winter meetings.

The Red Sox lost one of their top pitching prospects when the Chicago White Sox selected left-hander Shane Drohan with the No. 4 overall pick. Drohan was ranked as the No. 3 pitching prospect and No. 19 overall prospect in Boston’s farm system by MLB Pipeline.

After being a relative unknown, Drohan made a tremendous amount of noise in the minor leagues last season after getting off to a scorching start on the mound with Double-A Portland. He went 5-0 in his first six starts with a 1.32 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, .161 batting average against and 36 strikeouts in 34 innings.

That type of production earned the 24-year-old a promotion to Triple-A Worcester, where he ultimately struggled across 19 starts. He posted just a 5-7 record with a bloated 6.47 ERA. His command was off, too, issuing 63 walks in 89 innings while also surrendering 19 home runs.

Perhaps the rough performances from Drohan at that level made Boston sour on him as the Red Sox decided to leave him unprotected last month. Drohan will now need to be on Chicago’s active roster for the entirety of the 2024 season, and if that doesn’t happen, he could rejoin the Red Sox.

Drohan wasn’t the only pitcher the Red Sox had swiped from them in the Rule 5 Draft. Two picks after the White Sox swooped in on Drohan, the St. Louis Cardinals selected right-hander Ryan Fernandez. The 25-year-old reliever had a similar path as Drohan, dominating with Portland in 2023 before fizzling out with Worcester.

Fernandez posted a 2-1 record with one save and a 1.77 ERA in 14 appearances out of the bullpen for the Sea Dogs before registering a 6.16 ERA and a .302 batting average against in 26 showings with the WooSox.

The Red Sox also had pitchers Jose Ramirez (White Sox), Railin Perez (Astros), Ryan Miller (Angels) and Brock Bell (Reds) chosen in the Rule 5 Draft along with infielders Johnfrank Salazar (Cardinals) and Ryan Fitzgerald (Royals) as well as outfielder Alexis Hernandez (Blue Jays).

The Red Sox did select catcher Mitchell Gasper from the Yankees in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft.