Yes, Bryce Brentz shot himself

You literally can't make this stuff up.  Outfield prospect Bryce Brentz literally shot himself in the leg whilst cleaning his handgun in January, and cost himself a trip to big league spring training.

Luckily for Brentz, the bullet passed straight through his left leg after he forgot to empty it of ammunition before he began cleaning it. Said Brentz, “I understand it could have been worse. I’m mad at myself because I respect firearms. I have a license to carry a gun. I’m an outdoorsman and I’ve been around firearms my entire life. It was just one of those things that happened that will never happen again. I have to be more careful.”

Brentz certainly isn't the only player in the system who owns guns - many Red Sox are avid hunters, though this is the first time in my memory that one has managed to sabotage his own playing chances this way. Obviously, the team has no policy about players having or handling guns - these people are grown men, and beyond the general expectation that they follow the letter of the law, they are expected only to make responsible decisions.

Brentz made a mistake that could have been fatal, and luckily he walked away with a relatively minor injury. Though the outfielder had hoped to be invited to big league camp for spring training, GM Cherington seemed to imply that was off the table.

Adrian Gonzalez to Boston

As I'm sure you've all heard by now, Adrian Gonzalez is headed to the Red Sox. The slugging first baseman will cost the Sox three of their most highly touted prospects, Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo and Rey Fuentes, but you have to give up value to get value in return.

Also, it's possible that one or all of the minor leaguers going to San Diego will never reach their potential, and the Red Sox are getting about as close as you can to a sure thing in baseball. Gonzalez was in Boston today getting a physical (he had surgery in October after playing through some pain in the later parts of the 2010 season), and the deal will be official as soon as the Red Sox and agent John Boggs can work on a contract extension.

Fun Fact: A-Gon played in Portland for the Double-A Seadogs when they were a Marlins farm team.

Adrian Gonzalez is a premier player entering into the prime of his career. The former Padre is twenty-eight years old, and in his seven MLB seasons (2 partial, 5 total), his numbers look like this: .284 BA, .368 OBP, 168 home runs, .511 SLG, and 525 RBI.

Bill James projects 2011 to be a typically great year for Gonzalez: 161 games played, .285 BA, .378 OBP, .512 SLG, 33 home runs, and 102 RBIs. It's also important to keep in mind that James calculated these predictions under the assumption that Gonzalez would be playing 81 games in the cavernous Petco Park, and that his numbers will most likely improve in the friendly confines of Fenway.

Current members of the Red Sox roster are excited to have Gonzalez join them. Daniel Bard, after being reassured that the deal did not include him, was enthusiastic, and Dustin Pedroia had nothing but praise for the All-Star: "I'm excited to play alongside him. It's going to be fun. When you hear his name for three years, something might happen. It's awesome to happen now. We picked up a player who's one of the best hitters in the game, so everyone's excited. We've got an All-Star. He's outstanding. We're excited and I think everyone's pumped to get to spring training and start everything."

Tim Wakefield, the grizzled veteran, acknowleged the long-term nature of the deal, noting that after a few years of discussion between the Padres and Sox, the trade has "finally some to fruition. It's a great addition to our club. Not only are we getting a quality player but we're also getting a quality guy." I don't know about you, but I trust Wake's opinion when it comes to class acts.

Obviously, this means that the Red Sox will not be bringing back the other Adrian, Mr. Beltre, despite his amazing 2010 performance for Boston at the hot corner. However, this does mean that the Red Sox will be awarded compensation picks for Beltre, Victor Martinez, and Felipe Lopez, meaning that they'll have five total picks in the first round and the sandwich round between the first and second rounds. This is nothing to sneeze at, especially since Theo has been very successful with drafting, and the 2011 draft class is projected to be very deep.

All in all, this is a fantastic move. I couldn't be happier, and I was itching all day to blog about it, and to get your reactions. Do you think this makes up for letting Victor Martinez walk? What kind of extension do you think Gonzalez will see? Do you expect the Sox to go after Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford as well?


[All quotes from this post are from Boston.com's Extra Bases blog; credit to Peter Abraham and the Globe staff]

Down on the Farm

With all of the free-agent signings this winter, it's easy to forget Theo's comments early this offseason, warning of a possible "bridge year." When the Sox GM first dropped the b-word, fans panicked, thinking we would be in for a lackluster year while biding our time for the prospects to pan out. Clearly, that's not the case, but we are in between waves of big-league ready prospects.

The next year or so probably won't see any impact players coming from the farm system - at least, there won't be can't miss guys like Pedroia ('07), or Ellsbury ('08). However, in 2011 and beyond, brace yourself to see a flurry of talent coming up.

We got a sneak peak at Josh Reddick this season, as he had 63 plate appearances for the big club in the second half. The young outfielder hit just .169... but he did clobber two home runs. In 63 games in Portland (AA), Reddick hit .277 with an OPS of .871, but when he made the jump to AAA Pawtucket, those numbers fell to .127 and .373. There have been some theorizing that Reddick's pitch recognition skills just weren't at AAA or major league caliber yet... but that's certainly something that will improve with time. Fun fact: William Joshua Reddick is his given name, and though he throws right-handed, he's a lefty at the plate.

It's official: Casey Kelly is going to be a pitcher. At first, the big righty (6'3") said he wanted to play shortstop, and for the last two seasons in the minors has been pitching to his innings limit and subsequently playing at shortstop. Kelly's numbers as a pitcher are considerably more impressive than those as a batter, as he boasts a career minor-league ERA of 2.08, and a batting average of just .219. Fun fact: Kelly has an extensive baseball genealogy - uncle Mike Kelly and father Pat Kelly both played in the majors, while his brother Chris is currently in the Rays' system. [Bonus fun fact: I'm calling dibs on him. Right now. He's Off the Monster's Dustin of the future.]

Ryan Westmoreland is one of the most impressive young men in the Red Sox system, and that's really saying something. He was an all-star in high school, both on the field and in the classroom, passing on a full scholarship to Vanderbilt to sign with the Sox. He missed all of last season after breaking his collarbone running into an outfield wall, but performed admirably in 2009. Playing mostly as a DH for Single-A Lowell, Westmoreland hit .296 with an .885 OPS. Fun fact: Westmoreland is the first player profiled on Off the Monster who is younger than I (three months, 9 days younger, to be exact, with a birthday of April 27, 1990).

Ryan Kalish is the Golden Boy of the future - heck, he's even an outfielder. However, even if you look beyond the chiseled face (please, look beyond the chiseled face) Kalish is one to watch. Playing most of 2009 in Portland, Kalish hit .271 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs in 103 games, and according to soxprospects.com he has the potential to be a lead-off guy with some pop. Fun fact: he played center field as a kid, but is open to all outfield positions: "I want to get to the big leagues so it doesn’t really matter where I am at. I’d play first base as long as I make it."

In a position the Red Sox desperately want to fill, Luis Exposito is very promising. He has a career minor-league batting average of .280, with an OPS of .785, and has the potential to be an everyday catcher with good power. One criticism Exposito gets is that his game-calling needs some work - Jason Varitek, your skills are needed here! He has a good arm, and is adequate at throwing out base stealers, something Sox backstops have been struggling mightily with lately. Fun fact: Exposito speaks both Spanish and English, and, by all accounts, has matured into a very positive clubhouse influence.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the signing of International Free-Agent Jose Iglesias had some bearing on Kelly's final decision to embrace the pitcher's mound. Iglesias is highly touted as an excellent defensive shortstop, and even at the young age of 20, scouts are projecting potential Gold Gloves in his future. His bat is average at best, but an average bat and sparkling defense at shortstop would be a major boon for the Sox, who have been struggling to fill the hole since 2004. Fun fact: Wikipedia lists two different birthdays for Iglesias (January 5 and May 1, 1990), and his age has to be questioned a bit, given the fact that he's a Cuban defector. Still, it's not as if he's secretly 35, but an extra year or two wouldn't be unheard of.

On a totally girly and unrelated note, these boys aren't half bad-looking... I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to get my butt over to Portland this summer to catch some of these guys in action for less than $10. Hopefully I'll see some of you there!

[Thanks to soxprospects.com and baseball-reference.com for stats and insight!]