Eight years ago, the Red Sox took a chance on a shortstop at Arizona State University.
Monday night, with their first pick in the 2012 draft, they did it again, choosing Deven Marrero 24th overall. The Sox can only hope that he has the kind of career that Dustin Pedroia has had, whom the Sox took in the first round out of ASU in 2004.
Marrero is viewed as a superb defender, but there are questions about his offense, especially after he slumped to hit .284 this past season.
He was tabbed as the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 and made All-Pac-12 first team in 2012.
As a sophomore, he hit .315 after hitting .397 as a freshman.
Marrero was chosen out of high school by the Cincinnati Reds in the 17th round in 2009, but elected to go to college instead.