MINNEAPOLIS -- Every year, regardless of their first-round draft position, the Boston Red Sox claim to hold tight to a strategy of taking the best available athlete rather than selecting a player based on needs at the big league level.
On Thursday, as much as ever, they stuck to that philosophy.
With the 12th overall pick in the annual amateur draft, the Red Sox grabbed left-handed pitcher Jason Groome, a 17-year-old from Barnegat High School in New Jersey who most analysts believed was a top-five talent. ESPN's Keith Law had Groome ranked as the No.