In the last four seasons under chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox have been delicately balancing the present with the future in hopes of building a run of sustained excellence.
They haven’t gotten there yet, but the club will have another key opportunity to thicken the foundation of the franchise beginning on Sunday with the 2023 MLB Draft.
And that is when the team’s new amateur scouting director Devin Pearson will be ready to reward the organization for the faith they’ve instilled in him.
Pearson came to the Sox in 2017 as a pro scouting intern straight out of the University of California, Berkeley.
In the past six years, he’s earned promotions to assistant of amateur scouting and then to assistant director of amateur scouting before earning his big promotion to leader of the team’s Draft board for this season.
“From being an intern to being an assistant to being assistant director, I feel like I have a really good understanding of how this process has evolved over the last couple of years,” Pearson said. “I’m just more thankful than anything to be in this position now, but it’s been a pretty smooth transition, kind of getting to see it all the way through.”
With his two predecessors in the role of amateur scouting director with Boston (Mike Rikard and Paul Toboni) still heavily involved in the team’s scouting process, Pearson has two mentors and close friends to lean on as he adjusts to his new role.
“It’s been huge,” Pearson said. “I’m thankful, first and foremost, that I’m really good friends with Rik and Paul and view them as mentors and really good friends.”
Pearson appreciates the latitude provided by Bloom and general manager Brian O’Halloran.
“The great thing about Chaim and BOH is they have a lot of trust,” Pearson said. “We had our first group meetings [Wednesday] and it went well. They do a good job of kind of letting us do our thing but also asking really good questions. I think it’s a really nice blend of experience in the room and we’ve got a good group. It’s special to be a part of.”
Here is the relevant info on this year’s Draft.
When is it?
The Draft starts on Sunday as part of the All-Star festivities in Seattle with the first two rounds. The event starts at 7 p.m. ET on MLB Network. Day 2 (Rounds 3-10) will be held on Monday, with streaming available starting at 2 p.m. on MLB.com. Day 3 (Rounds 11-20) will also be live streamed Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET on MLB.com.
When do the Red Sox pick on Day 1?
Boston has picks 14 and 50 on Day 1 of the Draft.
“We’re preparing for a bunch of situations,” Pearson said. “I think we probably have a group of 10 players we’re hopeful we can get one of. But I think we’re also realizing that you could be in a situation where your top 13 go so it’s important to have at least your top 15 really vetted out, which is what we’re doing this week and have been doing all year. We probably have a group of 10 that are on our wish list and then five more because the Draft is the Draft and you never know what could happen.”
Pearson also thinks the Sox can find a difference-maker at No. 50.
“I’m really excited about that pick,” Pearson said. “I think our group has done a really good job identifying the depth in this Draft and I think we’re going to get a really good player at pick 50 for sure.”
Bonus Pool money
The Sox have a bonus pool of $10,295,100 for their Draft picks this year. Boston’s pool for the first-round selection is $4,663,100. The Sox have a pool of $1,698,000 for the second-round pick.