[Swami077]

December 23, 1990
Boston’s 1991 roster continued to take shape this week. There were no Red Sox players selected in Thursday’s Rule 5 draft. However, there were 12 total players selected, with the Red Sox claiming 3 players themselves. In the first round, they selected 1B Reggie Jefferson from the Cincinnati Reds’ organization. The 22 year old has not played above AA thus far, but has hit 17 or 18 home runs in each of the last 3 seasons between High A and AA. If the Red Sox are committed to hanging onto Jefferson, that could spell trouble for Carlos Quintana or Kevin Romine’s roster spots heading into next season.

With their next two selections, Boston picked a pair of pitchers. 21 year old Ricky Bones spent last year at AAA in the Padres’ organization. He shows low-90s velocity to go along with a solid curveball and splitter. Their third and final selection was Pat Hentgen of the Blue Jays. Hentgen split last season between AA and AAA. The 22 year old has Major League ready stuff, but has show an inability to consistently throw strikes.

In preparation for the draft, the Red Sox made a flurry of housekeeping roster moves this week. Pitchers Mike Dalton, Blaine Beatty, Jeff Plympton and Daryl Irvine, as well as outfielder Rick Lancellotti were all designated for assignment and removed from the 40 man roster. Only Plympton was claimed, as he is now a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. All others were reassigned to AAA Pawtucket. The Red Sox used the open 40 man roster spots to protect five players from the Rule 5 draft; pitchers Dave Burba, Ken Ryan and Nate Minchey, catchers Todd Pratt and Paul Williams, and top prospect outfielder Moises Alou.

The Red Sox also made an addition to the team through the waiver process this week, adding outfielder Geronimo Berroa from Atlanta. The 25 year old Berroa spent all of last season with the Braves’ AAA affiliate in Richmond. It’s expected that he will receive an invite to Boston’s spring training in Fort Myers.

President of Baseball Operations Jack Brady continues to work on getting his amateur draft class signed, with the biggest news this week coming when top pick Manny Ramirez agreed to terms with the club. The Red Sox ultimately catered to Ramirez’s demand, giving him a record signing bonus of $1,850,000. While only 18 years old, Ramirez is expected to move very quickly through Boston’s farm system. There remain 18 draftees unsigned for the Red Sox, but it’s good news is that each of their top 10 picks have agreed to contracts with the organization.

Around the league, there were some significant developments this week. 3B Tim Wallach, one of this year’s premier free agents, agreed to a 5 year, $16.4 million contract with the Houston Astros. Wallach, 33, had spent his entire career in Montreal. He is a 5 time All-Star coming off a season in which he batted .307 with 15 home runs and 110 RBI.

35 year old 1B Jack Clark, formerly of the San Diego Padres, agreed to a 3 year, $7.9 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has been one of the game’s top power hitters over the last several years, and is coming off a 30 home run season in San Diego.

There were two teams who did well to keep their own players. After testing the free agent waters, long time Cardinals’ outfielder Willie McGee elected to stay in St. Louis, signing a two year contract. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays were able to retain CF Brett Butler on a 4 year, $6.9 million deal. Butler provided a spark for Toronto atop their order after coming over in a trade from San Francisco in July.

With the holidays coming up this week, news will likely slow around the league. However, there continue to be several big name free agents out there. With the amateur draft having passed, the compensation tied to top free agent pitchers Jose Rijo and Jack Morris defers to next year. It will be interesting to see if that lures more teams into the bidding for their services.