...“It’s the youth that we have, the core group of guys that we have,” Price said...
Price was speaking in the visitors’ clubhouse this week at Camden Yards, where the Red Sox scored 29 runs in splitting a four-game series with the Orioles. He could have pointed to all corners of the room to illustrate his point. Dynamic young hitters surround him, and they should for years to come.
...their next generation of hitters seems ready to win big, as David Ortiz — who smashed his 16th homer of the season on Thursday — faces retirement.
“You look at the amount of success we had in the minors,” said third baseman Travis Shaw, another young cornerstone.... "...We have an extremely tight-knit group, on and off the field.”
...The 2011 draft was Epstein’s last with the Red Sox, and the last under the old collective bargaining agreement, when teams could spend whatever they wanted, without penalty, and stockpile high picks by losing free agents.
The Tampa Bay Rays had 11 of the first 75 picks that June, yet they found only two players who have appeared in a game for them: outfielder Mikie Mahtook and Blake Snell, a top pitching prospect. The Red Sox found Bradley, from the University of South Carolina, with the 40th overall pick; Betts, from a Tennessee high school, in the fifth round; and Shaw, from Kent State, in the ninth. Left fielder Blake Swihart, from a New Mexico high school, and three pitchers were also part of the haul.
...While the Yankees try in vain to develop position players — leaving them with an aging and feeble lineup — their rivals are well positioned for the future.
“We lived the growing pains and are reaping the rewards of them finally getting established in being productive, everyday players,” Farrell said. “On any given night, it’s a proud moment for the Red Sox when you look down and you’ve got nine of 10 guys in the lineup that are drafted and signed and developed in-house. I think there’s a tremendous amount to be said for that.
“There’s an ownership that those players have with their original organization. As a player, you feel a certain responsibility to your organization, and I think that changes when you shift to another organization. When you’re with your original organization, there’s an intangible there that runs deep.”
...The low salaries of players like Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley, Swihart and Shaw help the Red Sox survive mistakes, like Castillo and Sandoval, and afford other high salaries, like Price’s. And the athleticism of young players helps fuel the Boston offense.
“Look at Betts, he’s a total package; look at Bogaerts, he’s a total package; Jackie Bradley Jr. — total package,” said Dombrowski, who went on to praise others. “Other than Big Papi,” he said, referring to Ortiz, “and our catcher, everybody can score from first on a double. Everybody can score from second on a single. Everybody goes first to third. That’s kind of fortunate.”
...From the start of the 2015 season through Thursday, only one player in the majors had a higher average than Bogaerts’s .327: Cabrera, who was two points higher. Bogaerts has the most hits in that span, with 275, yet he cannot match Betts for power and could not top Bradley, over all, in May.
...The Red Sox would go on to lose another slugfest, 12-7, and they probably need another pitcher or two before the trading deadline. But life was full of promise