When the players and coaching staff of the Boston Red Sox woke up this morning and saw the sports page with the MLB standings, they probably didn’t like what they saw. And that’s the fact that the New York Yankees are back into a tie for first place with them in the AL East after the Yanks won last night.
That’s what happens though when you lose your last two games to one of the worst teams in the American League. But as far as the standings go, the Red Sox can only control what they do. It’s not like we need to worry about a playoff spot right now anyways since the Red Sox and Yankees enjoy a nine-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card standings.
While the Red Sox were enjoying their rainy day off on Monday, Theo Epstein and his amateur scouting department were very busy trying to negotiate last minute deals with their unsigned draft picks from the 2011 MLB Draft. In the end, they ended up signing eight more draft picks before the midnight deadline last night.
They are RHP Matt Barnes, C Blake Swihart, LHP Henry Owens, OF Jackie Bradley Jr, RHP Noe Ramirez, SS Mookie Betts, LHP Cody Kukuk and RHP Matt Spalding. OF Senquez Golson decided to play football and baseball at Ole Miss instead of taking the Red Sox money.
There’s been no announcement on whether or not any of those signees will play for one of the affiliates for the rest of the season. My best guess is that all of them will be present for Instructional League when that starts up due to the late nature of their signings.
All told, the Red Sox were able to sign 29 of their draft picks including signing 16 picks from the first 15 rounds.
Now the Red Sox began a tough 14-game, 13 day stretch that begins this afternoon with a three-game, two day set with the Rays. They’ll play a day/night doubleheader today and a single afternoon game tomorrow.
We’ll be back in a while with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and more for game one this afternoon. But for now enjoy the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Breaking down the Sox’ $8.775 million draft splurge [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Red Sox have Lackey’s back [Boston Globe]
Draft picks played beat the clock [Boston Globe]
3’s company for MVP [Boston Herald]
Dustin Pedroia: No 2nd thoughts [Boston Herald]
Just the stats [Boston Herald]
Next stop, Hub [Boston Herald]
True value [Boston Herald]
First of all, this pick is tough [Boston Herald]
Red Sox sign top four draft picks [CSN New England]
Nation STATion: Clearing up feelings on the Sox [CSN New England]
Lackey or Bedard? No. 3 spot open [CSN New England]
The dog days have arrived [ESPN Boston]
A look at what some of the Red Sox trade deadline targets have done [Full Count]
Red Sox, Phillies Fans Must Embrace Teams’ Strengths, Not Obsess Over Weaknesses [NESN.com]
Week in review [Nuggetpalooza]
First-round pick Vitek thriving at the plate, battling in the field [Projo Sox Blog]
ALDS short series looms scary for Sox [Projo Sox Blog]
Boston puts its prospects to the test early [Providence Journal]
Inbox: Is long-term deal viable for Ellsbury? [RedSox.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
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Photo credit: Reuters Pictures
