Sox rank first in their class

Further evidence that the Red Sox' commitment to drafting and developing their own players is not just eyewash, as Jimy Williams would say, comes this week in Baseball America, the trade publication that pronounced that the Sox had the best amateur draft of the 30 major league teams this June.

"After depleting their system through call-ups and trades, the Red Sox took a big step toward restocking it with this draft," Baseball America wrote. "They addressed their biggest shortcoming (home run power) while also adding athletes and power arms."

Scouting director Jason McLeod, who was trained in the Padres organization at the same time Theo Epstein was apprenticing there, has overseen two drafts since becoming director of amateur scouting, replacing David Chadd, who was hired by the Tigers. His '05 draft was ranked second by Baseball America.

"Our ownership has done a great job allowing us the resources to make the most of the draft," Epstein said yesterday. "Jason has put a system in place that allows us to be aggressive. He and the scouts deserve a lot of credit for their hard work and scouting judgment.

"There were lots of plus tools, big bodies, and advanced approaches in Instructional League. More than in the past, there were numerous guys you could dream about making a real impact at the big-league level."

McLeod said yesterday that while it's "definitely nice" to get the recognition, the Sox have a mandate -- and the money -- from majority owner John W. Henry to do well in the draft. The Sox drafted several players who slipped in the draft because of signability issues.

"I remember a conversation I had with John back in April, when he said to go all-out and scout the country and go after the guys that you deem worthy of getting," McLeod said. "He came down to talk to us a couple of times. You know you have the support of the owner when he does stuff like that."

Daniel Bard, who has yet to pitch a competitive inning for the Sox after signing in late August, is the draftee drawing the most early raves, as he reached 100 miles per hour during his work in the Florida Instructional League. McLeod, who used the 28th pick overall to draft the University of North Carolina righthander, said the radar gun readings are not urban legend.

"Obviously, Daniel Bard jumps out," McLeod said. "In my career, I haven't seen anyone throw as hard and as easily as he does.

"I was there for two of the outings where he threw 100, and he does so so easily that if you were standing on the side, you might think he was throwing 92 or 93. Tito [Terry Francona] was there one of the days and said, 'How hard is he throwing, 93?' The kid with the gun said, '99.' And those were legitimate guns. He was exciting."

But Bard was just one of the pitchers who have made strong first impressions. Others were lefthander Kris Johnson and righthanders Justin Masterson, Caleb Clay, and Bryce Cox, and Josh Papelbon, younger brother of the Red Sox hurler.

"Obviously they're not all going to make it," McLeod said, "but in Florida we could look at almost every position and see players to be excited about."

Among the position players who earned raves were high school first baseman Lars Anderson and junior college draftee Kris Negron, a shortstop/third baseman.

"Anderson has yet to play in a game," McLeod said of the California high schooler who worked out with the big-league club when the team was in Oakland, "but he's really big and has a very good approach for his level. Most of what we have seen has been in a batting practice setting, but you just don't see a high school kid hit with that kind of power.

"As for Negron, I wasn't here when Freddy Sanchez was here, but a lot of our development people say this is Freddy Sanchez. He's got great makeup, so athletic, he can run and play defense. When we drafted Dustin Pedroia, he is what he is, which we think is a very good player. But with Negron, it's like, 'Wow, what can he be?' "

The team's No. 1 pick, high school outfielder Jason Place, hit four home runs and batted .275 in the Gulf Coast League, a "very, very good first year," McLeod said. Place remains very raw, McLeod said. "He's the kind of kid Theo probably wouldn't have drafted in the past," McLeod said, "because maybe he's not as advanced as other high school players, but he has raw power and bat speed. It will take time to refine his approach, but I said to Theo, 'If we miss on this guy, he'll be Ruben Rivera.' "

The Red Sox also made official the promotion of Allard Baird to assistant to the general manager, in essence replacing Bill Lajoie, who served the Sox in that capacity until resigning last winter and later joining Ned Colletti with the Dodgers. Baird, 44, joined the Sox as special assignment scout earlier this summer after being fired as GM of the Royals, a job he'd held for six years. The New Hampshire native will oversee the team's pro scouting -- the club is expected to announce the hiring of several new scouts shortly -- but also will have a hand in amateur scouting while also serving as one of Epstein's key talent evaluators on special assignments. He just recently returned from a scouting trip to the Dominican Republic. It's worth noting that third baseman Alex Gordon, just named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, was taken by the Royals with the second overall pick in 2005, Baird's last full season with Kansas City. "This is a real good fit for me personally," Baird said. "You walk through the glass doors of the baseball operations, and you feel a real passion, energy, and desire to be the best." . . . Infielder Alex Cora filed for free agency, the sixth Red Sox player to do so.