Red Sox grab four prospects

12/08/2005
DALLAS -- As has been the case in recent years, the Red Sox were active participants in the Rule 5 Draft, selecting one player in the Major League phase and three in the Triple-A portion.
Boston's Major League selection was right-hander Jamie Vermilyea, who was claimed from the Blue Jays.
As per rules of the Rule 5 Draft, Vermilyea must be on the Major League roster for the entirety of next season unless he's on the disabled list. If he does not make the team out of Spring Training, the Red Sox would then have to offer Vermilyea back to the Blue Jays for $25,000, which is half the purchase price.
"Vermilyea is a guy we had really strong reports on last year and the year before," said Red Sox director of player development Ben Cherington. "He struggled a little bit at the end of this year, but he's a guy who has a sinker, a changeup. We feel if he bounces back and pitches like he did before, he has a chance to help our Major League team. So we just felt it was worth the risk to get a look at him in Spring Training."
The Red Sox also scouted Vermilyea when he pitched for the University of Mexico.
"We like him -- we saw him last year in Double-A, he was very good," said Jason McLeod, Boston's director of amateur scouting. "He's a sinkerball pitcher with very good ground ball rates last year. I actually saw him throw a perfect game once."
Vermilyea is 19-9 with eight saves in 99 Minor League appearances, 22 of which were starts.
The Sox also plucked two righties in the Minor League portion of the draft, claiming Victor Ramos from the Cubs and Jason Richardson from the Braves. Infielder David Bacani was claimed from the Mets.
"Victor Ramos and David Bacani were both guys we felt provided good organizational depth," McLeod said. "Our scouts that had seen them, our Minor League staff, had good things to say about them. Obviously taking them in that phase of the draft, we're hoping they can come in and be stabilizers for us. Anything more than that will just be kind of icing on the cake."
Though recent Rule 5 Draft picks have had less than sensational returns for the Red Sox, they continue to look hard for that sleeper pick.
"It's a less expensive way to bring players into the organization," McLeod said. "By that time, another organization has really helped develop them, spent more money on signing them and developing them at that point. For us, it's trusting your scouts and our development staff. For those of us that spend a lot of time in player evaluation, you really do get amped up. Everyone thinks they're going to strike it rich and get Johan Santana. The data and history tells us that's not the case, but it's still a way to get your juices flowing when you can cherry-pick another organization."

Source: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/