Only
one Red Sox player was selected in this year's
ESPN Franchise Player Draft:
Xander Bogaerts. Each year, baseball "experts" (from a variety of backgrounds) are asked:
"If you were starting a franchise and could pick any player in professional baseball, who would be your franchise player?" Not surprisingly,
Mike Trout was taken with the first selection, followed by
Bryce Harper,
Clayton Kershaw,
Manny Machado and
Yasiel Puig. Boston's shortstop (and soon-to-be third baseman) was picked at the #19 spot by
ESPN.com's David Schoenfield. The Atlanta Braves had the most players (4) on the list of thirty.