Boston Red Sox Top 20 Prospects in Review
This list was originally posted December 14th, 2007. This is NOT A NEW LIST!!! THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE OLD LIST AND OLD GRADES!!!!!!!!!
1) Clay Buchholz, RHP, Grade A
6.32 ERA with 71/37 K/BB in 73 innings for the Red Sox, 89 hits allowed. 2.47 ERA with 43/17 K/BB in 44 innings for Triple-A Pawtucket. Good example of why even Grade A pitching prospects carry big risks. He should still be really good eventually, if he stays healthy.
2) Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Grade A-
.271/.336/.375 with 38 steals for the Red Sox. He'll be fine.
3) Jed Lowrie, SS, Grade A-
Boy, I took a lot of crap for this one. Slow start looked bad, hit .268/.359/.434 in Triple-A but has looked great for the Red Sox, hitting .310/.368/.468 in the majors.
4) Lars Anderson, Grade B+
.317/.408/.513 at Class A Lancaster, .333/.427/.617 since being promoted to Double-A in late July. An elite first base prospect.
5) Michael Bowden, RHP, Grade B
2.33, 101/24 K/BB in 104 innings for Double-A Portland, 3.58 with 20/4 K/BB in 28 innings for Triple-A Pawtucket. Still reminds me of Jeff Suppan.
6) Justin Masterson, RHP, Grade B
3.36 ERA with 54/30 K/BB in 67 innings for the Red Sox, 50 hits allowed. Gets plenty of grounders, has probably been a bit lucky but a good young pitcher.
7) Nick Hagadone, LHP, Grade B
Went on the DL with a bad elbow after 10 innings of work for Class A Greenville.
8) Ryan Kalish, OF, Grade B
.281/.378/.356 with 18 steals for Greenville. Good strike zone judgment and speed, power hasn't blossomed this year.
9) Will Middlebrooks, 3B-SS, Grade B-
.241/.282/.340 for Lowell in the New York-Penn League.Strike zone judgment has been a big problem for him so far.
10) Josh Reddick, OF, Grade B-
.343/.375/.593 for Lancaster, but just .219/.282/.422 in 18 games of Double-A so far. Needs to make some adjustments.
11) Oscar Tejeda, SS, Grade B-
.243/.284/.310 for Greenville. Not very good hitting performance, but just 18 years old.
12) Aaron Bates, 1B, Grade B-
.275/.368/.411 for Portland. Capable of better, but was overrated at this grade.
13) Brandon Moss, OF, Grade C+
.282/.346/.528 for Pawtucket. Traded to Pirates, is a combined .256/.321/.432 in the majors. Should be a nice solid player.
14) Craig Hansen, RHP, Grade C+
Looked good at Pawtucket, 1.62 with a 17/5 K/BB in 17 innings and just six hits. Continues to struggle with command in the majors, 5.35 ERA with 25/29 K/BB in 35 innings between the Red Sox and Pirates.
15) Dustin Richardson, LHP, Grade C+
Pitched well in April, then fell apart, 7.13 ERA with 83/45 K/BB in 83 innings for Portland, 91 hits allowed. Good strikeout rate but everything else looks bad.
16) Reid Engel, OF, Grade C+
.248/.298/.396 for Lancaster in the Cal League, has had problems with the strike zone.
17) Yamaico Navarro, SS, Grade C+
.280/.341/.412 for Greenville, .347/.386/.525 in his first month for Lancaster. Just 20, looks like an intriguing player.
18) Ryan Dent, SS, Grade C+
.159/.266/.318 with 15 steals for Lowell, 70 strikeouts in 170 at-bats. Obviously has some serious problems making contact.
19) Zach Daeges, OF, Grade C+
.316/.420/.464 for Portland. Excellent strike zone judgment, but has hit just five homers making the full transition to Double-A.
20) Bubba Bell, OF, Grade C
.285/.363/.478 for Portland, showing more pop than Daeges though not as good at controlling the zone.
Overall things are going pretty well with the Red Sox system. Although Buchholz has had problems, I still think he's going to be a really good pitcher if he avoids health issues. Ellsbury hasn't been as lucky this year as last year, but I expect better in the future. I'm glad I took the chance with Lowrie. Bowden and Masterson look like solid inning-eaters.
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Comments
Superfically, next years list will be much weaker
But that’s a small price to pay when you are promoting so much talent to the majors.
Who will rate B- or higher? Lars, Bowden, Kalish, Reddick, Kelly?
by dkdc on Aug 15, 2008 11:59 AM EDT 0 recs
There's a lot of guys off this list looking good
Michael Almanzar, Daniel Bard, and Bryan Price could all be rated above a B- for the Sox. Don’t forget about Che-Hsuan Lin (Futures Game MVP) either. He’s got a ton of talent, and he may get around a B grade too.
by aspeninthewindow on Aug 15, 2008 12:38 PM EDT 0 recs
Stolmy Pimentel is a big sleeper
Could rocket to the top of this list by this time next year.
by Bravesin07 on Aug 15, 2008 4:01 PM EDT 0 recs
They've got a lot of guys like that
Brock Huntzinger, Pimentel, Bryan Price, or Drake Britton could all become great prospects. The weird thing is that earlier this year, all four of them were in the same rotation in Lowell.
by aspeninthewindow on
Aug 15, 2008 11:11 PM EDT
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How about Felix Doubrount?
Anyone got a scouting report? Great numbers.
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
by battlekow on
Aug 17, 2008 12:50 AM EDT
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go to soxprospects.com
they’ve got scouting reports on every red sox minor leaguer. it’s terrific.
by aspeninthewindow on
Aug 17, 2008 4:18 PM EDT
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Daniel Nava
Wondering everyone’s thoughts on Nava. Indy ball signee having a really good year as a 25-year old in the Cali League. Hitting .334/.419/.519 as a corner outfielder. Has some upside in the power department, though has only hit 10 HRs this year.
by StickRat on Aug 15, 2008 5:29 PM EDT 0 recs
Luis Exposito
Big (6’3"), young (21) defensively plus C got 2nd-round money as a DFA, then did nothing at the plate for two years before breaking out big-time this year, .283 / .328 / .508 with Greenville and .287 / .319 / .511 with Lancaster (including .341 / .368 / .671 on the road).
by emvan on Aug 15, 2008 11:31 PM EDT 0 recs
He's really been hurt
for most of the last two years. He injured himself early last year, but made up for the lost year of development by moving to High A this year and really showing off his power. Still needs to work on plate discipline but has been extremely impressive this year. He’s right now the Red Sox’ top catching prospect
by aspeninthewindow on
Aug 16, 2008 9:03 AM EDT
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Not a bad system.
Lost the top 3 to the majors, plus #6 Masterson, but Bowden and Anderson have become top prospects, and their ‘08 draft looks good (granted, it’s early), due in large part to spending over $10 million on it.
by abbreviatedman on Aug 16, 2008 1:11 PM EDT 0 recs










